Heater Core Woes. Need Help.

[ShhhhhDougsHere]

Okay @Rick W I will take what you said and run with it.

The summer I was 12 about to turn 13 I was in our house watching T.V..

My brother Patrick came into our living room where I was.
He held out a heater core and three core hoses.
Two of the core hoses where attached to each other with a flushing tube with the lid on it. ( I hope everyone knows what I'm talking about, when I say " Flushing Tube. " ).

Anyways:
Patrick told me to go out to his truck he had at the time. I believe it was a Ford F-100 or an early F-150.

He told me to look for the old hoses that match the ones he was holding in his hand. Disconnect the hoses and replace them with the new ones.

Then where they went into the heater core at the firewall, unscrew the panel that was right there before I hook the new hoses back up.

Take the panel off the firewall and then pull the old heater core out.
Then put the new core into the old ones place.

Once the new core was in place get in the truck and get a tube of blue glue and put the blue glue around where the panel goes in place to seal it to the firewall.
Then put the panel back in place and screw it closed.

Once that was done replace the new hoses on to the spouts coming out of the new heater core.

Okay I say all this to get to my question.

The question is:
Has anybody ever thought about cutting the firewall around the heater core of our trucks, then go to the junkyard and cut another firewall so you can make a door panel like I've just talked about?

 

[Rick W]

Electrolysis is another killer of cooling systems, make sure the ground between the engine to firewall is good and clean.

Electrolysis can and does kill heater cores, radiators, soft plugs and water pump impellers.

I thought that’s how old women got hair off their back?

 

[Rick W]

Okay @Rick W I will take what you said and run with it.

The summer I was 12 about to turn 13 I was in our house watching T.V..

My brother Patrick came into our living room where I was.
He held out a heater core and three core hoses.
Two of the core hoses where attached to each other with a flushing tube with the lid on it. ( I hope everyone knows what I'm talking about, when I say " Flushing Tube. " ).

Anyways:
Patrick told me to go out to his truck he had at the time. I believe it was a Ford F-100 or an early F-150.

He told me to look for the old hoses that match the ones he was holding in his hand. Disconnect the hoses and replace them with the new ones.

Then where they went into the heater core at the firewall, unscrew the panel that was right there before I hook the new hoses back up.

Take the panel off the firewall and then pull the old heater core out.
Then put the new core into the old ones place.

Once the new core was in place get in the truck and get a tube of blue glue and put the blue glue around where the panel goes in place to seal it to the firewall.
Then put the panel back in place and screw it closed.

Once that was done replace the new hoses on to the spouts coming out of the new heater core.

Okay I say all this to get to my question.

The question is:
Has anybody ever thought about cutting the firewall around the heater core of our trucks, then go to the junkyard and cut another firewall so you can make a door panel like I've just talked about?

Is this one of those tests like “how many stops did the bus make?“

I think @bobbywalter already suggested that.

I wasn’t talking about the heater core, I was talking about the ductwork that runs all around the inside of the dashboard and up on the windshield and down below, etc. If there’s a mouse house, and you turn the heater on, it may just blow the stuff to one place or the other, and still plug up the whole system.

I said I used a shop vac and a leaf blower, but be aware that both of those have a whole lot more power than the blower motor in the truck, and you can do damage to your system. Be careful when doing that.

I have also used a simple coat hanger, stretched out, with a little hook on the end, to reach in and around all those ducks to see if I pull out anything that might be part of a mouse house. If you’ve got a plug from a mouse house, and you do the coat hanger thing, you can maybe pull out enough of it usually so that you can then blow out or suck out the rest as I mentioned above.

When I did all that when I replaced the engine four or five years ago, it worked fine around the neighborhood and the little trips I take. The little brunette is about 35 miles away, which is anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half, and half on the interstate. I realized when it got cold this winter, that my heat isn’t doing what I wanted to do, and I suspect it’s because some of the ducts may still be blocked a little.

Hope it helps

 

[ShhhhhDougsHere]

@Rick W . I think we have a misunderstanding.
I know you was talking about the ductwork.
However I said, I'll take what you said and run with it.
Because you said " ask your question wherever you want to. "
That's what I was talking about when I said I'll run with it.

The beginning of this thread was talking about heater cores.
So I was trying to keep the thread on topic talking about heater core replacement.
By asking if anybody had thought to do it by cutting the firewall and then making a plate that they can place over the hole. Like it used to be in the old trucks.

I'm sorry for the confusion or if you think I misled you.

 

[ShhhhhDougsHere]

I have no data and am at my brother Larry's house using his wi-fi.
I have to go home so I won't be able to see or reply to anything until tomorrow, after I send this post out.

Have a nice night everyone.

 

[mr_manny]

Are all b2/ranger heater cores aluminum?
I'm looking to replace mine, and was curious if brass was an option.

 

[bobbywalter]

they are both aluminum and sometimes copper/brass

 

[Jim Oaks]

I'm pretty sure my 1996 still has the factory heater core in it, unless I changed it when I got it in 2004 and forgot. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone having problems with heater cores before. What's happening that's making you replace it?

 

[bobbywalter]

i constanly had heater core issues with my gas v8s.

the tubes would swell from flow and decrease efficiency. but i was shifting so high that i was tearing up water pumps too.

this was partially due to system contamination from always fixing stick damage to the radiator or purge damage and running ditch water or tap water hear and there ect instead of distilled and coolant.

 

[sgtsandman]

Does anyone even know if @StrangerRanger is still a TRS member?

After reading what's in this thread I have a question.
However I don't know if I should ask it in this thread or start a new thread.

I will leave it up to you guys.
Do I ask it here?
Or start a new thread?

According to forum data, he was logged in on Tuesday. So, he is still coming around. No telling when he will log in next though.

 

[ShhhhhDougsHere]

@sgtsandman Thank you for truly answering my first question in this thread.

I don't believe I've got an answer to the other question I asked however.

I had to edit this post.
I originally misspelled @sgtsandman's screen name.

Then I had to re-edit it because I left out the word question when I thanked @sgtsandman.

 

[sgtsandman]

I've only ever replaced a heater core once and it wasn't on a vehicle I owned.

It might be because I stick to changing the coolant every three years and switch the inlet and out let hoses while the system is empty. I prefer 50/50 mix but if I'm using concentrate, I only use distilled water.

Of course, that does nothing for any lack of maintenance or poor maintenance practices of the previous owner. It just minimizes the damage done by them.

Concerning the multiple core changes, I don't have much to offer than new parts are a role of the dice as to if they are any good or not. Recently, there seems to be a higher chance of them not being good.

While not always in a person's budget, OEM parts seem to have a better track record.