heater core replacement

[DAIZEE]

OK I read this thread but skipped the last back and forth and I need to ask questions. I will ask them in the Dashboard Removal in real time thread so I'm in one place. Please, hopefully I can ask the right questions and get answers. I really need the help. Thanks Z
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'09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 98 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (sold)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold)

[Wildthings]

[DAIZEE]

WildThings: Is that where I need to drill a hole (just past the D)? My motor is out and I've been spraying the top. Could you give me advice please? Yes motor was seized, now freer but needs more work before I can tell if working or not. Thanks


Edit: re motor, as I have it out and it's only $59.00 + shipping, I'm going to go with new motor. Thanks anyhow. Z
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'09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 98 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (sold)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold)

[Terry Kay]

<<<Your memory is still selectively bad.

This unit is still running today many years after it was first sprayed circa 2005>>>.

Not all that bad.
Seeing as your hiding to other's who are posting, why don't you tell them you abide on the left coast in temperate temps--and only have used the heater maybe 3 times since 2005.

For somebody in the snow & really cold belt a lubed up frozen shafted heater motor shouldn't be depended upon.

That drilled hub really burnished that galled bearing & shaft surface up real nice--

Whoo Doggies--It's like new.
Yep--I can see it from here.
Gotta bolt on my Ray Bans it's so shiney & clean.


Been thinking about this thread today---

And here's what I came up with.

Instead of screwing around with the pee hole's in the front end of the Van--whay in the heck didn't one of you procratinator's come up with a decent hole to work in?
A serious area to maniputlate your oil cans--whatever.

I'd taked a cut off wheel--4.5" or 6" and cut a service door in the front end--no scewing around here boys-

Weld some tabs on it so it'll close up tight with a gasket--BANG--your all done.
You actually might be able to service the heater assembly faster.
Drill holes---
Kiddy Stuff.

I'm really suprised none of the pulitzer prize winner's here hasn't already done this operation already---
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T.K.

[Wildthings]

[Terry Kay]

Just for grins--don't you think that here in the flats is gets cold ,& stays cold for 5 months outa the year?

I'd much rather depend on a new motor.
I'd much rather install a new core.
I'd much rather serivice the heater box unit so it can be depended upon when I want it to function.

The hit or miss oil drilling is a haphazzard approach at best.

Why do the job right when you could be boring holes in the header panel?
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T.K.

[Wildthings]

[Terry Kay]

<<Don't remember anyone saying it didn't get cold in Chicago or elsewhere, most be the walls talking to you again.>>

Nupe, not me.
That was Faron Young--"Hello walls"


<<A dependable OEM motor would be a great thing, but they are not so dependable which is why we have this thread.>>

Now who in the hell said that?
Who's we anyway?
Gotta frog in your pocket?

<<A core will last as long as three new motors, maybe longer if you run a corrosion inhibitor.>>

Don't be changing that coolant--just add a rust inhibitor.
Huh--I'll have to ask We, Them or Somebody about that additive only.

<<Will anyone reading this thread who owns a Vanagon and hasn't lost a "dependable" heater motor please speak up.>>

I'm speaking up.
Spoken for.
Talking out loud--my heater motor's have never failed.

Next up---

I take that back.
My 86 325's heater / AC motor quit in September.
I had it fixed in september--3 days later.
I knew cold was on the way--I looked at the calander.

<<Spending hours in the cold to replace a faulty heater motor with a short lived replacements seems pretty haphazard as well>>

Here's what's haphazard---
if your depending upon the sky for roof only, I'd be doing some serious thinking about getting my stuff awfully straight prior to old Man Winter making my gonads ice balls.

I think this is called planning ahead.

I service my house furnaces, garage furnaces, motorcyle for winter, boat, as well as winterize the vehicles I'm not going to be driving in the winter.

If a guy was smart--( I said was ) he'd take a week or two dedicated to getting his stuff & his Vans shit together prior to winter hitting.
Tune up, Full PM, and make sure everything is ready.

Ahh, but then we wouldn't be having this conversation again--again-- & again.
There would nothing to converse about.

Don't winterize anything you own.
Don't check anything out you justmight be using when it gets cold.
Cast your fate to the wind, and be able to bond with the other mad men out there--who want to be chilled to the bone working on thier worn out toilets in the drive, lane, or path--
No thanks.
I'd at least be buying a good snowmobile suit if there is no planned parenthood here.

Perfect.

Too simple of a concept I know.

Let me ask this one--

What time of the year is best to be boring for oil in the front header panel?

December durring the Christmas holiday, New years day,maybe the first of Feburary?

It can't possibly be during the summer--the heater ain't on & frying the windings--
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T.K.

[Wildthings]

Well Terry, if you don't change out your heater motor every fall when you are prepping your van for winter, how do you know that it will make the winter? Of course you don't know and like everyone else you aren't just going to change out a heater motor if it isn't showing signs of failing. the Mullendore Port allows you to run with confidence that you have much less chance of having to change out a motor during inclement weather.

What is wrong with running cooling conditioner? When I buy a service kit from Caterpillar it comes with a bottle of conditioner. I will take Cats advice on servicing an engine over VW any and every day.

[Terry Kay]

Nothing is wrong with dropping the conditioner into that Cast Iron Cat cooling system.

Nothing is wrong with spinning on a water filter with the conditioner pill in it on a Cast Iron Mack engine.

I take a coolant litmus paper test at every service to check the DCA levels of the coolant.

You might do that to them Kitty Cats.

How many guys do you think do this sort of operation on a Vanagon?
I'll bet I can count them all on one hand.
None.

Their biggest saviour in the survival in their aluminum blocked squirrel cage is knowing that they should change their coolant bi-yearly, and I'll bet that half of the guys that do know, don't do it anyway.

Adding conditioner all by itself without servicing the coolant too when it's all worn out is like pissing in the wind.
The acids are still there eating up the head seals--radiator , heater cores--whatever.

And--I'll admit --yea I sure don't know if the factory installed original heater motor's are going to work on my Vans when I turn them on.
Your right.

But I will tell you this.
The dash would be out in a hurry.
No holes, no playing Helen Keller hoping the shaft lets lose after it's locked up.

This is a Disney Fairey tale.

But I have heat in a garage to get this all done--no snow boading as I yank out the heater box--
Nupe.

I'll also bet that half the folks bitching about the access to the heater motor knew damn well that it was cooked way before the winter hit--and did zero about it.
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T.K.

[DAIZEE]

Well I for one knew my motor stopped working months ago but I knew I was stripping the dash outside this winter (with a heater via hydro in our none winter.)
So reading all the threads on the subject I have decided this is a job I don't want to have to do again any time soon, so new motor, new core and new foam on flaps etc.... Thanks for everyone's input.
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'09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 98 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (sold)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold)

[Wildthings]

[RicoS]

[Terry Kay]

The King of the Carpathian Mountains sez;

Cry about no heat in the dead of winter.
Wait till your teeth rattled your back molar filling's outa your mouth.
then cry about playing Sqt. Preston of the Yukon when you have to yank the dsah outa the van to fix the heater.

Cry more about the AC not keeping up with the searing heat in middle of the summer.
Wait till your Jockies are stuck to you crotch.

Do not ever, for any reason do a bi-yearly change to your anti freeze to prevent the cooling system from turning into jello.
Just add a conditioner to help hold the electroletical ion mass at a half assed level in the once green or blue fluid that's still in the the cooling system.

Do Not for any normal reason plan ahead--zero preventative maintainence is the name of this game in Vanagonland.

Then--after you skipped repairing the defunct heating system that you knew all about last fall, sqeal like a little piggy on it's way home because it's a bitch to get the dash out in the driveway at -20 below, then decide it's easier to play Mike Nelson and bore some discoveryholes in the header panel to try & locate the heater motor, and then blow some Spam into the blind hole & hope you get a C-hair of lubritorus minimus onto the end bearing & shaft--maybe--and call it de-buring, cleaning & oiling it up for maxiumum speed---as good as new.

Yea Baby--
Dream a little dream for me.

I think that a piano hinge stratigicly placed on the passenger front A Pillar--with a slice all the way around the sheet metal of the front end--secured with velcro--so the front end opens up similar to a Isetta, would be the real answer.
Now a lay back guy could work on anything buried in the dash area without any whining--
Swing open the front end & work away with no crying to the chorus.
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T.K.

[RicoS]

[crazyvwvanman]

I have purchased countless replacement parts in the aftermarket that clearly had the VW/Audi logo and part number ground off. To me that means they sometimes make the same parts for VW as for other outlets.

Mark

[MarkWard]

I was told this at VW school when I was an apprentice. VW/Audi/Porsche at the time would inspect a delivery of a partcular part to their system. If one part failed inspection, the entire order would be refused. These parts rather than being destroyed, would find their way into the aftermarket, but usually with the VW/Audi logo ground off.

This would not indicate the parts were no good, only the VW/Audi refused the lot and the resellers are required to grind off the logos. The same thing is probably still going on.

On topic, we were changing heater cores at the Audi dealer mid 80's on the 5000's all the time. New parts would show signs of weaping within 6 months. The coolant would leave a small stain on the tunnel carpet. We got pretty fast at swapping them out, but Audi never did provide an improved core. They would leak at the O ring seam between the plastic cap and the aluminum core.
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[Terry Kay]

This is exactly why I have the cores I offer custom made way beyond the spec's of the original VW issue.

No plastic tanks,and a bunch heavier duty.

It's a one time replacement--no repeat performances.

But--it's more expensive than the the Non-OEM stuff offered at the other places.

You only get what you pay for.
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T.K.

[davynavy]

Here are the pics, video of the situation:
https://plus.google.com/photos/105094302839367297393/albums/5711228596185592161

Thanks, was on the road with the day job all fall and didn't have the time to update until now. didn't run into any wolves but did see alot of cougars on my trips home:

1) Drove to the airport and back quite a few times (35 min ea way) and nothing catastrophic going on but I have to get this fixed for next summer fun.
2) Found my coolant tank level dropping over time, (original) had some kind of seam leak so replaced it.
3) Pressure test, saw water pump weep hole leak-new water pump bearing already shot? sux so going to replace this
4) Had personally installed New radiator and 90% new hoses installed last summer thanks to great info here and on Ben's list following AVP rebuild (2011). I have never driven when I saw the blinking red light demon come on: stopped the car and dealt with coolant level drop. AVP sent the 87C thermostat with the rebuild but it was running too damn hot so under good advice for Oregon coutry travels I installed 80C last summer on my 85 van. On the new radiator with the 80C thermostate see normal temperature fluctuation on hills.
5)Not screwing with the in dash right core right now but plan to later since I agree the bubbles can't be coming from there.

Bottom Line: Seeing the expansion tank bubbles after long (2hr drives) and the expansion tank level rising, and gas accumulation at radiator bleed screw. I have suspected a small gasket issue all along but hey whats wrong with a little denial? thanks for your advice. Pressure test cold was ok, hot saw issue at Water pump. Will go from there but also plan to do the cylinder pressure test , complication is doing that test with 2hr run,hot engine
Not seeing any change in oil level or foaming in oil but I have suspected gasket issue since last fall when the car gets hot due to the gas accum. I guess the pressure can bleed by the gasket to the exaust side into the coolant but doesn't leak back into the engine cylinder or oil when it cools since it all tightens down cold? Oil level seems to be rock solid.

<<The fan has never worked since I bought this from an artist a few years back, and I have smelled some coolant over the years.>>

The starving artist obviously didn't need any heat--or any money to get the job done.
He just passed it off to the next unsuspecting buyer.
That's you.
If you smell coolant as your driving it could be coming from two of 27 different places.
I'll narrow it down --- the front or rear heater core.
You have to figure out which--
Put some pressure on the system and find out where.


<<The one disturbing thing is following the new rebuild I put in last summer I keep getting gas showing up in my system after longer drives (bleed some from front heater, <<but also see bubbles coming up into that extra plastic tank in the back for expansion, it has even gone to high level on a really long drive). I have bandaided by bleeding off but I have to either find the leak in the system (Front core suspected since everything else has been redone by me or my mechanic) or else my rebuild AVP is leaking by on the head gasket.>>

The "Extra Tank" is the fill or overflow tank.
If your seeing bubbles in a tank, it would be your expansion tank, and that would immediatly tell me you've got a leaking head gasket--not the head seal--the copper ring sealing the top of the cylinders to the head---

And here may be the demon--AVP.

You never mentioned what the engine temperature was as the coolant was foaming into the fill tank as you were hill climbing.

May not be the thermostat, might be the coolant can't recover as it passes through the radiator.
If the starving artist didn't attend to the front heater motor, I doubt he properly maintained the coolant system.
Might be a half choaked up radiator.



<<Do you know how to tell the difference between the two ( to isolate which)?>>

A cooling system pressure test will tell you right now.

PS---the front heater core will not create any bubbles in the expansion tank.

<<I have a good local mechanic>>

If he was that good, he would have put a pressure test to the cooling system a long time ago, to pin point the problem.

Time to call AVP for some warrantee work---
After your trusted mechanic determines that the cooling system is all up to snuff & working as it should be.[/quote][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img][GVideo][img][/img][/GVideo]
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'85 V-again w/AVP rebuild

[RicoS]