Heater core in commodore
Michael Culley
looks like the heater core should just slide out the side of the heater with very few parts removed. The only thing stopping it is
that the metal pipes coming off the core extend all the way up into the engine bay. So what could have been a pretty easy fix turned
into a massive job with the removal of pretty much the entire dash required. In the end I just cut the pipes on both cars, slid out
the cores and joined the pipes back up with heater hose and 4 clamps. If you cut the pipes the job could be done in an hour,
otherwise it might take 2 days. What I'm curious about is, is this what you are meant to do? It almost seems like they designed it
that way.
--
Michael Culley
Noddy
"Michael Culley" <mculle...@optushome.com.au> wrote in message
> What I'm curious about is, is this what you are meant to do? It almost
seems like they designed it
> that way.
Cut the pipes?
That's certainly not the "proper" way to do it, as you invite a couple of
opportunities to have a coolant leak. Especially with pipe ends that were
never properly designed for a hose connection.
The proper way to replace it is to spend a couple of days pulling half the
car apart :)
--
Regards,
Noddy.
Clockmeister
"Noddy" <dg4...@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:40c3b9f0$2...@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
I did them in less then a day, back when that particular job was my niche
speciality ;-)
Michael Culley
> opportunities to have a coolant leak. Especially with pipe ends that were
> never properly designed for a hose connection.
The only difference would be that the ends were slightly flared. I've done plenty of dodgy fixes in my time but I didn't really
consider this to be dodgy. I guess the best solution would be if someone manufactured the heater core and a set of pipes as seperate
components with the properly flared ends.
> The proper way to replace it is to spend a couple of days pulling half the
> car apart :)
I just know if I did that I would break something, even if it is just a small clip or something :-)
--
Michael Culley
Michael Culley
> I did them in less then a day, back when that particular job was my niche
> speciality ;-)
Shows how damn hard the job is if after much practice it is possible for an expert to get it done in just under a day :-)
--
Michael Culley
@byplane.com Jason James
Whilst it's a bit butcherous. I can sympathise. I too would have done the
cut and shut on my XD-shape LTD if its design allowed it,....as removing the
entire dash and front seats which were electric and thus had those large
connectors which wont come apart 'cause the locking tabs have gone hard..WAS
THE BIGGEST BASTARD of a JOB I have EVER DONE in a car's interior.
Jason
D Walford
Why remove the front seats?
Standard repair time allowed to remove and refit the entire dash from an
XD is 1.0hr, can't think why it would be much more for an LTD.
Its a very easy job (compared to most other cars) and making it easy was
part of the original design of the XD as the XC was such a pig in that
area.
Did you have a workshop manual?
Daryl
Kieron
wrote:
>> The proper way to replace it is to spend a couple of days pulling half the
>> car apart :)
>>
>
>I did them in less then a day, back when that particular job was my niche
>speciality ;-)
Decent backyard mechainc here, I did the A/C evap on my EF XR6 in less
than a day, including running around getting the right friggin tools.
Shit of a job though :)
Toby Ponsenby
> Whilst it's a bit butcherous. I can sympathise. I too would have done the
> cut and shut on my XD-shape LTD if its design allowed it,....as removing the
> entire dash and front seats which were electric and thus had those large
> connectors which wont come apart 'cause the locking tabs have gone hard..WAS
> THE BIGGEST BASTARD of a JOB I have EVER DONE in a car's interior.
>
> Jason
The Canadians hve it figures - they attack the clips with heated air before
they try to 'clip' them.
Might be an idea, since I guess must of us wait for winter to get at stuff
behind the dash - unless we're into saunas big time, that is.
--
Toby
quidquid latine dictum
sit, altum viditur
Warning: All posts to be treated with a grain of salt.
By Order
K.K.
Michael Culley
> Standard repair time allowed to remove and refit the entire dash from an
> XD is 1.0hr, can't think why it would be much more for an LTD.
There can be plenty of reasons, it is a luxury car. It's quite amazing the crap they put in these models, eg motorised heater vents
:-)
--
Michael Culley
Clockmeister
"Kieron" <kiero...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:40c53e9e...@reader.news.telstra.net...
Try doing a Commodore, especially an early one some time and redefine your
perception of what a shit job is ;-)
Graham W
> Try doing a Commodore, especially an early one some time and redefine your
> perception of what a shit job is ;-)
Mutters darkly.... More nightmares tonight.
I got into work one morning in the summer of 1991/2 to be faced with a
VB Commodore with fibreglass "bookme" bits everywhere and a tatty home
bodged attempt at installing an SLE dash and aircon into a base model.
My task for the day?
Make it work.
I did, too, but it was just one of a series of experiences that summer
which gave me a healthy respect for japanese cars.
Clockmeister
"Graham W" <zeb...@alphalink.au> wrote in message
news:40c5...@news.alphalink.com.au...
Similarly, I got the job of fitting a late model A/C kit (VS from memory)
into a VN. It required a fair amount of sheet metal alteration but two days
later the bastard was in and it worked a treat.
Told them they could shove the next one fairly up their collective arses...
Noddy
> > Try doing a Commodore, especially an early one some time and redefine
your
> > perception of what a shit job is ;-)
>
> Mutters darkly.... More nightmares tonight.
>
> I got into work one morning in the summer of 1991/2 to be faced with a
> VB Commodore with fibreglass "bookme" bits everywhere and a tatty home
> bodged attempt at installing an SLE dash and aircon into a base model.
>
> My task for the day?
>
> Make it work.
Jesus...
What did you do? Get caught fucking the boss's daughter or something? :)
> I did, too, but it was just one of a series of experiences that summer
> which gave me a healthy respect for japanese cars.
I'll bet.
--
Regards,
Noddy.
Graham W
>>I got into work one morning in the summer of 1991/2 to be faced with a
>>VB Commodore with fibreglass "bookme" bits everywhere and a tatty home
>>bodged attempt at installing an SLE dash and aircon into a base model.
>>
>>My task for the day?
>>
>>Make it work.
Noddy wrote:
> Jesus...
> What did you do? Get caught fucking the boss's daughter or something? :)
No, I'd just done several "dashboard remove and replace" by then without
any left over bits. This seemed to be considered something of an
accomplishment. Bear in mind I was just the student working summer to
pay his rent!
D Walford
>
> Clockmeister wrote:
> > Try doing a Commodore, especially an early one some time and redefine your
> > perception of what a shit job is ;-)
>
> Mutters darkly.... More nightmares tonight.
Owning a VK and needing to do what should be a simple job like replacing
a heater fan switch made me realise I should have bought a Falcon
instead:-)
Daryl
Kieron
wrote:
I would have thought its a similar job, pull all the shit off and the
dash lifts out as a complete unit? on the surface, the VN dash looks
just as easy.
Chucked factory air into an XC GS Falcon many moons ago, KNOWONE would
even give me a quote on doing the job, bloody pansy mechanics :) so
did it myself, bitch of a job including new firewall holes, but got
it back together in a day, gassed up and working a few days later.
Kieron
wrote:
>part of the original design of the XD as the XC was such a pig in that
I can vouch first hand for the XC pig statement :)
Steve Magee
thermostat. It used to be a 20 min job on previous models. The car was off
the road for a week! Remove all the extra drive belts and pulleys - break
the plastic Xmas trees for the anti-pollution shit. Bend the air pump out of
the way - smash the air pump pipes leading to the exhaust. Etc etc etc. In
the end, to save my sanity, ended up fitting a Genie extractor system and
set of (IIRC) sump plugs with exhaust sealant goo where the air pipes went
into the head. Then discovered that, due to corrosion, the seal was poor
between the heater at the bottom of the intake manifold and the top of the
extractors. And the extractors didn't fit - kept banging on the curve of
the firewall where it became the floor. All to change a fucking thermostat.
So, idiot that I am, when I traded it in, I bought another Holden. New
bugger this time - well, so far, 6 years old and given me not one ounce of
trouble apart from a noisy supercharger belt which has been changed 3 times.
Touching wood...
Steve
Clockmeister
"Steve Magee" <sjm...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Soyxc.7545$%r.10...@nasal.pacific.net.au...
Do you get your car serviced at a dealership?
Clockmeister
> On Tue, 8 Jun 2004 17:57:25 +0800, "Clockmeister" <no-...@nowhere.com>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >"Kieron" <kiero...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> >news:40c53e9e...@reader.news.telstra.net...
> >> On Mon, 7 Jun 2004 08:59:13 +0800, "Clockmeister" <no-...@nowhere.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> >> The proper way to replace it is to spend a couple of days pulling
half
> >the
> >> >> car apart :)
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >I did them in less then a day, back when that particular job was my
niche
> >> >speciality ;-)
> >>
> >> Decent backyard mechainc here, I did the A/C evap on my EF XR6 in less
> >> than a day, including running around getting the right friggin tools.
> >> Shit of a job though :)
> >
> >Try doing a Commodore, especially an early one some time and redefine
your
> >perception of what a shit job is ;-)
>
> I would have thought its a similar job, pull all the shit off and the
> dash lifts out as a complete unit? on the surface, the VN dash looks
> just as easy.
Please don't doubt me on this one, I've done a heap of them. Not hard as
such (nothing is if you're competent), but certainly time consuming.
> Chucked factory air into an XC GS Falcon many moons ago, KNOWONE would
> even give me a quote on doing the job, bloody pansy mechanics :) so
> did it myself, bitch of a job including new firewall holes, but got
> it back together in a day, gassed up and working a few days later.
>
XC's were not particularly difficult.
Michael Culley
was stuffed. I was taking the core out of a VN and putting it in a VR so I guess it is to be expected. They sold me a new one for
$150 compared to the factory one which is $180 or more. He said he pretty much always cuts the pipes and chargers $300 if it's done
that way, or $1200 to do it without cutting the pipes.
--
Michael Culley
"Michael Culley" <mculle...@optushome.com.au> wrote in message news:2ihr3qF...@uni-berlin.de...
Kieron
<no-...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>> I would have thought its a similar job, pull all the shit off and the
>> dash lifts out as a complete unit? on the surface, the VN dash looks
>> just as easy.
>
>Please don't doubt me on this one, I've done a heap of them. Not hard as
>such (nothing is if you're competent), but certainly time consuming.
I don't doubt you Clock, any dash r/r is a shit of a job. Have you
done an EF?
>
>> Chucked factory air into an XC GS Falcon many moons ago, KNOWONE would
>> even give me a quote on doing the job, bloody pansy mechanics :) so
>> did it myself, bitch of a job including new firewall holes, but got
>> it back together in a day, gassed up and working a few days later.
>>
>
>XC's were not particularly difficult.
Nothing is if your half decent with your hands, Note Daryl (ex Ford
regional tech bloke in those days iirc) said the XC was a pig, its
certainly not as modular as the EF.
Clockmeister
> On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 22:35:41 +0800, "Clockmeister"
> <no-...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>
>
> >> I would have thought its a similar job, pull all the shit off and the
> >> dash lifts out as a complete unit? on the surface, the VN dash looks
> >> just as easy.
> >
> >Please don't doubt me on this one, I've done a heap of them. Not hard as
> >such (nothing is if you're competent), but certainly time consuming.
>
> I don't doubt you Clock, any dash r/r is a shit of a job. Have you
> done an EF?
Yes, one or two. I used to get all the dash out jobs :-/
> >
> >> Chucked factory air into an XC GS Falcon many moons ago, KNOWONE would
> >> even give me a quote on doing the job, bloody pansy mechanics :) so
> >> did it myself, bitch of a job including new firewall holes, but got
> >> it back together in a day, gassed up and working a few days later.
> >>
> >
> >XC's were not particularly difficult.
>
> Nothing is if your half decent with your hands, Note Daryl (ex Ford
> regional tech bloke in those days iirc) said the XC was a pig, its
> certainly not as modular as the EF.
I think I have a "knack" for certain things, like dashes (I was the only
Daihatsu A/C fitter in the state that *didn't* remove the dash from a
Charade to fit the evaporator assembly for instance, and as a consequence I
did them in about half the time)
Kieron
<no-...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>
>"Kieron" <kiero...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:40cd395d....@reader.news.telstra.net...
>> On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 22:35:41 +0800, "Clockmeister"
>> <no-...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> >> I would have thought its a similar job, pull all the shit off and the
>> >> dash lifts out as a complete unit? on the surface, the VN dash looks
>> >> just as easy.
>> >
>> >Please don't doubt me on this one, I've done a heap of them. Not hard as
>> >such (nothing is if you're competent), but certainly time consuming.
>>
>> I don't doubt you Clock, any dash r/r is a shit of a job. Have you
>> done an EF?
>
>Yes, one or two. I used to get all the dash out jobs :-/
you poor bastard :)
Clockmeister
<OzOne> wrote in message news:pf6tc0pcjiru8tdkf...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 06:02:00 GMT, kiero...@hotmail.com (Kieron)
> scribbled thusly:
> >>
> >>Yes, one or two. I used to get all the dash out jobs :-/
> >
> >you poor bastard :)
>
I didn't mind doing them at all ;-)