If you have
coolant leaking on the drivers side floor of your S-80 and
you think the heater core is at fault, most of the time it's just the
o-rings on the end of the pipes going into the heater core that are at
fault. This will shine a little light on the process of
replacing those o-rings.
Start by removing your lower
dash trim 2-25torx screws and the lower
console trim. This picture shows the fastner on the console trim,
rotate it so it's straight up and down, pull it away from the
console (at the fastner is) then slide the trim towards the rear of
the car releasing it from the console.
With that the
trim is out of the way you can see the heater core and the aluminum
piping feeding it.
The above
picture shows the metal levers that activate the blend door
flap. You will need to turn the key on and turn your heat selector to
full hot in order to get those levers out of the way. The below picture
shows the full hot heater setting.
Now
that you have clearance your next step is to remove the
aluminum clips holding the pipes in the heater core. I personally use a
pick tool to remove these(as shown below)Yes they are tight and can be
difficult to remove, however a bit of patience and finesse will get
them
out.
They may bend a bit while
removing but thats ok,you can straighten them out for reassembly.
Remove the
bottom clip first. Then place an old metal
coffee can with shop rags placed around it, pull your
lower tube out of the heater core (but don't bend the tube) and let the
excess coolant run out of the core into the can. Take that tube and
slide it towards the console (once again without bending it ).
Now remove
your upper tube the same way but I slide that tube towards
the firewall. You will see the o-rings on the end of both tube's.
Replace those o-rings with O.E. or equivilant.
I spray down
the o-rings with silicone spray to make them slippery and
for ease of re-assembly. Now slide your tubes back into place. The
above picture shows me using a very DULL flatbladed screwdriver to push
the tube back into the core. You will feel a bit of a snap once the
tube is seated into the core. If it's not seated the clip will not go
in. However you don't want to force it and tear the o-ring's or damage
the tube's or core then you'll be back to square one or worse. You can
tell if the tubes in all the way by trying to slide your retaining clip
back in, if it comes across the tube flange then your in. Do the upper
tube first then the lower. This process does require a good bit of
finesse but like stated before, "Just be patient and don't force it"
