97 tbird Heater core?? Steam from vents!

One day I turned on the defrost on my 97 tbird and noticed that steam started to come from the vents and it smelled sweet. My guess it is the collant and heater core!

How do I get to the heater core? is it easy to replace? Cost of the part?

What would cause this, any help is appreciated!

Cameron

I aint sure about the 97 but the 95 isn't very easy to replace at least if its your first time. I would expect it to take you a full day to do it.

There's another thread around here somewhere showing you what a pain in the ass it is. I'm not trying to discourage you, but it should help showing you what you're up against.

The price of the heater core should be less than $100, not sure about Ford OEM price, though. And for the amount of labor involved, it's a toss up to pay someone or do it yourself if you've never done one. Me personally, pick a warmish weekend, get a Chiltons, and tear into it. For someone that hasn't ever done one, I would bet on 12-14 hours. 6 or less if you have.

how do i bypass the core for the moment to stop the little bit fo steam that keeps messing the window up?

If you have a 4.6, it is an easy bypass. The short heater hoses are located at the left rear of the engine. It is just a matter of taking them off and connecting a hose between the two engine ports that the other hoses came off.
I am on my fourth heater core in less than 15 months and am in a battle with Ford. There is an electrolysis problem that seems to be caused by the aluminum heater core. TSB 01-15-6 covers this issue but my local Dealer will not do it because he claims it will not fix the problem. As a matter of fact, the Dealer says that once it stars, there is no fix. The good folks at Ford say otherwise, so now I am in the endless loop of the Corporate world/Dealer Vs. the poor consumer. If you have a volt meter, read the DC voltage at the pressure canister (stick the positive probe into the coolant) and the negative probe on the ground post on the battery. If you read over .4 VDC, you have THE problem. I am looking for a copper/brass heater core (rumor has it that cures the problem) and will try to change it myself. It is a 10 hour job from what I am told. Good luck.

If you have a 4.6, it is an easy bypass. The short heater hoses are located at the left rear of the engine. It is just a matter of taking them off and connecting a hose between the two engine ports that the other hoses came off.
I am on my fourth heater core in less than 15 months and am in a battle with Ford. There is an electrolysis problem that seems to be caused by the aluminum heater core. TSB 01-15-6 covers this issue but my local Dealer will not do it because he claims it will not fix the problem. As a matter of fact, the Dealer says that once it stars, there is no fix. The good folks at Ford say otherwise, so now I am in the endless loop of the Corporate world/Dealer Vs. the poor consumer. If you have a volt meter, read the DC voltage at the pressure canister (stick the positive probe into the coolant) and the negative probe on the ground post on the battery. If you read over .4 VDC, you have THE problem. I am looking for a copper/brass heater core (rumor has it that cures the problem) and will try to change it myself. It is a 10 hour job from what I am told. Good luck.



Ok which 2 hoses are they?

Kerdon,

If you are in front of the car looking at the engine, locate the last spark plug on the left side of the engine. One heater hose is directly to the right (3 o'clock position) of the spark plug and the other one is at the 10 o'clock position from the same plug. They are short "U" shaped hoses. Hope this helps.

The haynes manual says to bleed the AC system, how much to get it recharged?

I don't think refrigerant is too expensive but mechanics and shops love to bill you alot for service charges. On my 97' bird you hvae to take apart pretty much everything in the cab. Mine has been broken, i just re-reouted the heater hoses and no more steam or anti-freeze leak.

I don't think refrigerant is too expensive but mechanics and shops love to bill you alot for service charges. On my 97' bird you hvae to take apart pretty much everything in the cab. Mine has been broken, i just re-reouted the heater hoses and no more steam or anti-freeze leak.

yes but i have no heatand I live in Canada

I'm all set up to tackle this tomorrow, oh boy and it looks to be about 4*c tomorrow also....

ANyone want pics of the progress?

Sure, I would. I had a rough time getting past the steering column getting the instrument cluster out.

SO i had everything out and all the dash screws etc...I cant get the dash out!!! ARGH

I gave up and i'm taking it to a mechanic tomorrow. $200canadian for the whole job.

What a piss off....damn dash

i had the same problem with my 95 and the shop over here said they would fix it for about $600. Since I live in texas and it only gets cold about a week a year i bypassed the heater core and bought a portable heater for cars from wal-mart

i live in Illinois and it is very cold right now and i am having the same problem but i don't have a leak in coolant refer to my thread for my prob.