Driving a '94 loyale 4WD, 171k mi., and refuse to give up on her, but now im told that the heater core is clogged and has to be replaced to the tune of 1k.

 

Anyone faced this issue before? Are there used blocks on the market?

 

Hopeful in MN.

i think you should be able to get a heater core at any good auto parts store.[napa] etc.

 

 

i have not bought one yet but i think i remember people saying they are less than 100 dollars.

 

the 1000 price must be for labor. is that at a dealer?

 

can you do any work yourself? its a big job, i think you have to pull the dash, but it is doable for the average diy backyard mechanic. it just takes some time. dont get me wrong, its a dreaded job but it is doable.

 

have you tried flushing it out or anything? are you sure its the heater core?

 

sometimes the blend door gets stuck part way on cold so you get lukewarm heat...

 

just some ideas, im sure more people will chime in.

1k is outrageous, even for a dealer!

 

if its not leaking, you might have some luck blowing compressed air, or water into it.

it's a pain in the ea82, but not too bad. I just replaced an old core with one from a board member. I had it tested first,and all was fine.

 

you have to basically remove the dash. I found some info on removing itin a haynes manual, but for the most part, I used a "pull and see what's still attached..." method

 

Napa quoted me $120 for a new one, but they'd have to contact the manufacturer....

Whoa... take it slow if you decide to flush it... I understand there are some delicate parts inside it that can blow out if the force is too much. Tim just flushed mine, it was clogged... there is still no real heat, now we think it's the water control valve thingy... the ingoing hose is warm and the outgoing hose is cold, but water goes through from the garden hose. I got the valve from Moosens... we'll give that a shot. Good luck! Mary

I had a old chevy truck that did that I took the hoses off and put a garden hose to it one side woudn't flow tried the other and blew a bunch of stop leak and pieces gaskets worked great. Be warned a garden hose will suppy a geart deal more pressure Charlie

Glad it worked out Mick...

$1000 is ridiculous. Do not agree to this!! Some sleazeball Service Manager is trying to pad his X-Mas bonus.

As stated above it is a difficult job, but you can probably do it with a good diagram, and maybe a helper. Expect some rattles and squeaks after it's all back together. Also, check all your electrical connections, switches etc, before bolting everything back together.

If you aren't up to such a big job, you should consider an aftermarket "add on" electric heater. JC Whitney may still carry these. Also, companies that deal in classic VW's should have them.

 

There was some discussion a while back about bypassing the bad core and relocating it with a good one in the spare tire area - then tieing into the ductwork somehow. I dont know if anyone tried it yet, but it certainly sounds possible.

good luck, John

Glad it worked out Mick...

 

$1000 is ridiculous. Do not agree to this!! Some sleazeball Service Manager is trying to pad his X-Mas bonus.

 

My bet is they are bidding the job that high because they don't want to do it.

Pulling the dash is just uncomfortable as all h**l ... get the seats out first... you'll need the room! Mine's been out and back in to try and repair it... it'll come out again soon to change it out to the new one.

 

The "pull and see what's connected" is the best method... be sure to label each cluster if you get skittish about the reassembly. You may want to grab some grease pencils, or color 2 twist ties each with different color crayons or markers, and put one tie on each thing that connects... or draw a line across the joint of the connectors before you undo them. When you line them back up, they would only go back one way. Good luck!

i'd say it's just clogged. i would definetly blow the heater core out with water. i used a very low pressure water hose and it worked great. all sorts of junk came out of my buddies nissan. worked great, no problems. it's really simple....disconnect two hoses and butt a garden hose up to it. and run some low pressure water through there. like the other post mentions, try both ways.

 

is your thermostat okay? is your temp gauge for your engine reading normal? is your coolant full?

Whoa... take it slow if you decide to flush it... I understand there are some delicate parts inside it that can blow out if the force is too much. Tim just flushed mine, it was clogged... there is still no real heat, now we think it's the water control valve thingy... the ingoing hose is warm and the outgoing hose is cold, but water goes through from the garden hose. I got the valve from Moosens... we'll give that a shot. Good luck! Mary

Totally agree about being VERY careful with water pressure!

 

Residential water service can have pressures from 35 to 100-ish PSI, far more than the 15 psi that the heater (and radiator, etc) were designed to handle.

 

The heater core is essentially sheet-brass Origami that is heated until the solder coating melts together. Unlike standard radiators, it doesn't even have the strength of tubing running through it. Overpressure it and the solder seams come apart and the sheet-brass Origami returns to being just sheet-brass. In general, they are just awaiting their time to fail.

 

No water-valve on the EA82s, they control temp using an air mixer.

 

Best bet to buy a replacement might be to find an independent radiator shop. They should be able to fix you up with either a complete heater or a core that they can solder your tanks to. (No reason for it to cost more than $35-65.) I used to work for one of these some decades ago, and one of my least favorite things was R&R'ing heaters. The EA81 that I helped tear apart recently really wasn't that bad, and I think the Loyale should be easier. Tedious, but not really difficult.

 

I do agree that $1000 bucks is outrageous, but so is shop-rate.

Advance can get them for around $65. I just replaced mine in my '87 4WD Wagon last weekend. It took just under 4 hours, including smoke breaks:cool: .

 

It's not as bad as it sounds. Subaru engineered the dach to come out for this reason. Unlike most manufacturers, Subaru's wiring harness designers know what a service loop is....meaning you can actually pull a component out then disconnect the harness instead of fighting with it behind/under the dash. Subaru is also good about using different size, shape and color connectors when large numbers are in close proximity, making it impossible to connect the wrong ones.

 

If you are unsure about something, label it. Bag and label your hardare and small parts. If you can take it apart, you can put it back together. It all depends on how carefully/logically you take it apart.

 

Here is what you are going after:

 

Here is where it is:

 

 

Leave a little something for the next guy!

 

... Leave a little something for the next guy!

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

 

Reminds me of the story of the owner of a new car that had a rattle in his new car. Drove him nuts. Finally started to tear things apart; kept tearing but couldn't find it. Finally cut some sheet metal off and found a nut dangling from the end of a string, with a note attached:

 

"Hard to find, wasn't it!"

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

 

Reminds me of the story of the owner of a new car that had a rattle in his new car. Drove him nuts. Finally started to tear things apart; kept tearing but couldn't find it. Finally cut some sheet metal off and found a nut dangling from the end of a string, with a note attached:

 

"Hard to find, wasn't it!"

 

 

LOL... reminds me of when my sister got married, the slightly sadistic best man put pebbles inside their hub caps when they went on their honeymoon...

 

Take your time and do everything in a logical order. It was 3 weeks between pulling ours and putting it back... we didn't label anything, it would have made things simpler. Hindsight is 20/20...

... Leave a little something for the next guy!

 

HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

excellent humor for the morning....thanks.

 

the nut thing...while funny...is mean, hopefully a tall tale of sorts.

... the nut thing...while funny...is mean, hopefully a tall tale of sorts.

It probably was. It was supposed to be a true story, and was told to me by a GM assembly line worker. BTW, it was a GM car...