I blew a small heater bypss hose on my Sedan delivery. No problem right? I cut the old clamps off with a cutoff disk not to hurt the old parts, and found the nipple on my water pump disintegrated. So, Now I changed the water pump, knid of a bear. Then the fan belt was bad so I got that. Now the lower radiator hose is split, so I have one coming. A 45 cent hose job will end up costing me about 75 dollars! Ah the joy of a 31 year old car!! Wait until I attack the brakes! Question, how does one replace the heater hoses they seem to disappear into the firewall? Thanks!
The heater hoses shouldnt go into the firewall the heater core has metal tubes that stick out the firewall about 2 inchs and the hose should be clamped on those.
Hoses DO go through the firewall. The tubes do not stick out on a Pinto. The hoses go through the firewall and attach to the heater core inside the car.You may be able to reach up and un hook them , I dont rember if you can reach them with out pulling the heater box .When I put in a new heater core I put the hoses on first, then fed the hoses through the firewall from the inside.
You are 100% right!!!! Been there/done that/many times.
Quote from: flash041 on September 14, 2011, 09:47:39 PM
Hoses DO go through the firewall. The tubes do not stick out on a Pinto. The hoses go through the firewall and attach to the heater core inside the car.You may be able to reach up and un hook them , I dont rember if you can reach them with out pulling the heater box .When I put in a new heater core I put the hoses on first, then fed the hoses through the firewall from the inside.
Thats weird my bobcats hose dont go inside. they connect right outside the firewall to the heater core.
Big timmy, you may have an aftermarket core in yours?
I know what a snowball is like when working on an old car! Been there a multitude of times.
As for the heater hoses, the box has to be dropped and the hoses disconnected from whatever they connect to under the hood. I found this out when I did my 78 Sedan, and repeated the procedure when having the heater core, in my 73 station wagon, pressure tested.
It was pretty simple when I did my 78, it has no A/C so less stuff under the dash. The 73 was a different story though. I always heard that dealing with stuff under the dash of an A/C equipped car is a pain, now I can speak from experience!
Here are some tips for the heater box removal:
1) Remove the passenger seat, more room makes a WORLD of difference, and less sore of a back!
2) Remove as much as you can on that side of the dash. This includes the under dash bracket and cuby, the heater controls, fresh air vents and ducts, the glove box door, and the ash tray and radio.
3) See if you can get a bounce light, they are great for working under the dash, as they are small, durable, and bright since they use a fluorescent tube instead of a regular light bulb. I use my dad's bounce light every time I work on the car and it helps immensely when working in tight spaces where light is limited!
4) Put some plastic on the floor before removing the box, as there will still be antifreeze in the tubes/heater core. You don't want that stuff all over your carpet. Try to keep the tubes elevated as much as you can to help prevent any spills. It takes some acrobatics with the box but it is doable.
5) Handle the box carefully and don't pry against it, it is very fragile. I snapped a corner off on my 73's box assembly and now the floor vents don't mount properly (they stay put, but are not secured properly).
Hope this helps! The process is still fairly fresh in my mind (I did my 73's box this spring), so feel free to PM me with any questions if they are not answered already.
Thank you for the info, I will have to take the heater box out. Hopefully the ends of the core are not corroded, one of the metal pipes has the end slighly corroded. The s/d was a commercial vehicle until I got it, and I guess they did not bother to change the anti-freeze. I plan to put the lower hose back on as soon as I get it, and if nothing leaks I will have the car back again! I plan on redoing the interior seats and carpet (I have most of the parts, I just need a carpet), and when I rip the interior apart I will do the heater thing. I plan on changing the dash pad as I have a new one. It really runs and drives nicely. Everything under the hood must have been original as it had the old vertical screw clamps on the hoses still.