Cas002

I installed a victor-x IM about 3 mo ago and when I was removing the coolant hose going into the heater core inlet in the firewall I must have broken a seal in the core. Bad call using pliers to remove it but it was stuck and I didn't think to cut it (duh). After the install was done before running the car, I let the car sit for about 8 hours to check for coolant leaks and did find a leak coming from the passenger underside of the car. I wasn't sure if this was from a heater core leak or just some coolant spillage from radiator refill that ran down the frame and leaked behind the firewall - the interior carpet wasnt wet. Just to be safe I immediately bypassed the coolant lines around the heater core and have been driving w/o heat since. Now that it's getting cold I decided to hook it up again and this time I ran the car with bad results. Both driver and passenger side carpet are saturated with coolant. <U>So the lesson learned: don't put too much muscle into removing the coolant lines on the inlet or outlet of the heater core - just cut the line and buy a new one for $1.50.</U>

Has anyone ever replaced a heater core and do you remember how long it took (the whole dash has to be pulled) and any pitfalls to watch out for? It looks like they sell used ones on eBay for under $40. A new OEM one is $316. Appreciate any thoughts, ideas, or experiences. Btw, I ran a seach and got 717 results...I'll look through them eventually.

Cas