What to know about replacing heater core (help nee

Well, my heater core took a turn for the worst on my way home, as i discoverd when my sister asked "Why does it smell like fish food?" What I need to know is how hard is it to get to? and more improtantly, replace? I'm going to just bypass it for now so it will stop leaking on my carpet, but I want to arm myself with as much knowledge and tips i can before tackling this project. what's the best way to get at it? what dash pieces need to be removed to get to it? I have a 90 5 speed if it makes any diffrence. As all my SC problems they all happen as soon as i spend my day off detailing I guess I should just neglect my SC J/K
Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Greg Roll

My uncle is a mechanic and he just replaced an LX heater core. It takes a professional Mechanic up to 7 and a half hours of straight work to do... You have to pull out the steering colum and all

Yes, it is a lot of work. The entire dash and console must be removed, the steering column can be left in the car, but it needs to be unbolted from the dash and dropped down. Good luck.

-Rod

Thanks for the speedy replies,
I just got finished bypassing the heater core about an hour ago and cleaned up the antifreeze mess from my carpet (luckly it wasint much at all) I was dreading what it would take to do this job, It looks like i'm in for some serious work then. Well, I seem to have worked my way through all the other jobs on my SC fine especially since I have this great board with all you knowledgable guys and gals. I havent taken any of my cars to a shop yet and I'm not about to start with my SC! So it looks like I will be gearing up for a big project. Thanks for the info. Any other tips or sugestions would be helpful.
Thanks,
Greg Roll

I ran across an interesting fix for a similier problem. I had a 5.0 mustang and when the heater core first went south I also had to remove the dash and all related parts to replace the darn thing. The second time it went bad I spoke with an outfit here in Phoenix and they had a guy come in and used a dremal tool to cut slot/hole in the heater box and then he just removed hoses and slid the core out and replaced it with a new one and then placed the section he cut out back in place and used a plastic weld/glue and put it back in place. Took him about an hour and the cost was WAY less and well worth it. Soooo, I wonder if a similier fix could be done on our SCs when the core goes bad. May be worth talking to someone about it.

Hey Jim,
I was looking into your possible solution, or should I say shortcut, and researched where exactly the heater core was, what I found was suprising, Ford had a little bit of common sense and created a similar trap door behind the heater core in the heater box. It looks just like what you said but instead the access plate is bolted into the heater box. I guess the Ford engineers thought they would give us a break somewhere! LOL I guess I'll have to see what else is involved as I go along. But thanks for the possible solution, If it wasin't already there I would definatly do that.
Thanks,
Greg Roll

Hey Greg,

I just developed the same problem with my 95 SC. I have the car parked right now and am arming myself with all the intelligence and data I can find in the meantime. I'm told that it is well worth the money to purchase a shop manual as it deals with the topic or heater core replacement. I've also heard that there are 10 "key" bolts that (when removed) will drop the dash fairly fast and completely. Keep in touch and let me know what you find and do. I'll do the same.....Earnie Bullock

hey Earnie,
I do have a shop manual for my car which shows the location of the bolts and removal instruction, I was just looking for hope that there was an easy way out. At least I have that much, I hate not knowing if I have all the screws loose then breaking a retaining piece due to it. Though, it's a good thing most of the interior dash pieces are interchangeable with the base model in the event I do break a piece. This couldint have come at a worse time, I finally just pieced my dash back together after my stereo installation and got all the rattles out of it and now i get to do it all again, and then some. I am probably not going to take this job on just yet as I am planning on going to the Fl Keys for my summer break, but I will keep the progress posted and even try to take some digital pics of the process to use as a refrence for others on this board. The scheduled time of this project's start is going to be about the 10th of May. Untill then I'm in the same boat as you, knowledge is one of the most powerful tools when working on our cars, the other is a really big hammer!
Good luck and thanks for the support,
Greg Roll

remove the passenger seat. You have to remove the heater plenum because there is foam between it and the fire-wall, this keeps the 45? degree inlet/outlet from easily pulling out. You can usually drop the steering colum on the driver seat and swing the passenger side of the dash outwards. It took about a week for me to do it before( an hour or two here and there), now I have it down to under 3 hours . I would also remove the all the wiper cowls to access the heater hoses in the engine compartment. Have a rad shop pressure test the new heater core to double check for leaks before installing.