Anyone have a way to remove the upper right torx screw on the heater core cover? The dash support blocks it. Bentley ignores the support problem.
Working on the 325 reminds me how much I LOVED my old Jeep Wrangler. A bus ate it.
Your replacing the heater core? AFAIK the whole dash has to come out. Also note most heater core leaks are due to the o-rings.
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No dash removal according to Bentley for the convertible. The cover is off. PITA mostly because Bentley missed some things. Once it is all done I will do a write up.
I've read the Bentley section on the heater core out of curiosity when I was pulling the dash and complete HVAC out of my car (also vert but I don't how it would matter) and didn't find it to be very clear. I looked closely at the heater core in various stages of dash removal and don't see how it could possibly be done without pulling the dash. Pulling the dash and HVAC isn't so bad except for removing the two bolts from the steering column to its support.
Not very clear is a nice way of putting it. I didn't see any way to get the upper right tors screw off without drilling through the metal dash support that is right in front if it. Bentley has no mention and no pictures of getting the cover out. Just shows it out. The clearance is fractional here. I needed to cut a zip tie that holds the air control cable to the cover because the lock tab of the zip tie was hitting a screw that holds the top half of dash to frame. Had to remove the screw too.
Here is the space. I don't know how deep the core is but from pictures it looks like it should come out the side after pulling it back.
Working on the 325 reminds me how much I LOVED my old Jeep Wrangler. A bus ate it.
A convertible isnt going to be any different than a coupe or sedan in front firewall or airbox. If you have to drill a hole in anything, thats not how its supposed to be done, hence why its not in the manual. Remove the dash, pull the airbox to remove. Otherwise your going to have to break some stuff, if thats what you want to do thats fine, but no one here is going to say thats the way to do it right. Its not a difficult thing to do and can be done in a couple hours while taking your time. Just read the diy on dash removal, or the heater core removal, watch for the details about the clips and screw spots, and how to assemble it correctly, and you wont have any broken plastic ratteling, or wires getting caught, or a unknown issue after.
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Pretty much if you break anything on the airbox, you migjt as well just ditch the entie system since youl be blowing air inside the dash instead through the vents. That would be an entire waste of time. Which im sure you dont want that.
Nobody would recertify these machines after somebody screwed with them without any visibility into what they did.
HONK! HONK! Clown car coming through!
-Oakdizzle
Well I just have the drain and disconnect to test the "Bentley" method. When I get home we will see.
Had a 89 Taurus SHO that I replaced the heater core. Said 15 hours with dash and steering column drop. Then I found someone had a short cut down to 8 hours. It was December when it decided to blow and not just leak. 35 degree weather and no garage. Layerd up and got to it. Glad there was no wind. Lot of sharp metal under there.
So far i can't see a leak. Nothing visible on bottom of the core. Nothing around the inlet pipes. Nothing in the drain pipe. Haven't pulled the core to inspect it and won't until I have new O rings. Tempted to just buy a new core and O rings for both ends of the pipe anyway.
Finally got a chance to continue. The old core is out and the new one is in place. Just got to bolt the pipes to the core. Now that I've done it once it isn't so bad at all. A few tricks along the way I will point out later with pics.
Don't know why the pic uploaded sideways. This is the old one coming out.
Working on the 325 reminds me how much I LOVED my old Jeep Wrangler. A bus ate it.
How dirty was the drain at the base?
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Hard to say. Coolant leaks down when you uncouple the pipes. Some gets in the pan and the degraded foam core cushion pieces get wet. The drain pipe itself was clear. I checked that before pulling the cover off. I know this may be for nothing and the core isn't the culprit but since i couldn't find this minor leak and I had already ordered the parts I just decided to replace it. Even if it was just the O rings to the core not sure how I would replace those without pulling the heater core. Those pipes don't pull out very far. Later I will replace the O rings at the firewall/wiper motor basin.
I may find a way to pressure test the old core just out of curiosity.
Working on the 325 reminds me how much I LOVED my old Jeep Wrangler. A bus ate it.
You might want to pressurize the cooling system at the cap before putting the dash back on. Obviously you wouldn't be able to get all the air out of the system but it should fill 90%. You could see if it holds pressure. Looking forward to your DIY
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You mean fill, burp and observe? That I plan to do. But my dash hasn't come out. OK it is most of the lower dash or as Bentley calls it the center console. Got the pipes back on but haven't torqued to that massive 27 in-lbs. So far the hardest part has been trusting the Bentley manual. Technically the instructions are correct but the details could be included. Let's also be clear. It's not all back together yet.
Working on the 325 reminds me how much I LOVED my old Jeep Wrangler. A bus ate it.
Pipes torqued and no leaks so far. I have a 600 mile run this weekend and will confirm no leaks before putting it back together with a write up. I can say I don't smell the slightest coolant odor in the cab with the heat at full.
Working on the 325 reminds me how much I LOVED my old Jeep Wrangler. A bus ate it.
Congrats, that must be a huge relieve. The constant nagging reminder of a tough job to be done from the sweet smell of antifreeze in the cabin just looms over your head and ruins every drive until fixed, or get lazy and bypass it, only to be miserably cold the next winter.
I had one go bad in my first gen grand Cherokee, dash had to come out but it wasn't too tough.
Overall not a big deal. It's the uncertainty that slows the process. I hope to clear that up. Some hard to reach stuff but not impossible. I'm away but will install the blender bar later.
Working on the 325 reminds me how much I LOVED my old Jeep Wrangler. A bus ate it.
OK this was silly. In the FAQ section Kevlar did a writeup. Looks complete and even drilled to get access to that last torx screw on the core cover because who has stubby L torx set. I'll look it over more closely and see if I can add anything of value. Don't know how I looked past this before.
Working on the 325 reminds me how much I LOVED my old Jeep Wrangler. A bus ate it.
The hardest part is the cover removal and installation. It is back on. Time to get the bits together.
Working on the 325 reminds me how much I LOVED my old Jeep Wrangler. A bus ate it.
Ah more old car drama. Of on another 600 mile weekend. First stop for gas. Check coolant warning. Damn must need more bleeding. Pop hood to see bleed screw leaking. Tight a bit. Off I go. Stop after 200 miles and check coolant warning. Thinking it is just that I haven't properly bleed it after the screw being loose I check again. Bleed screw spewing more. Go to tighten and the head twists off. Patched it with an unused underdash screw and another washer from Lowes. Got me the next 100 miles. Brass bleeder on it's way from Amazon.
Working on the 325 reminds me how much I LOVED my old Jeep Wrangler. A bus ate it.
Brass bleeder is just a better way to strip the thread. You probably need a new expansion tank.
Post the DIY link!
Last edited by Eric93se; 07-04-2019 at 01:42 AM.
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The expansion tank is just a mere 25 yr old plastic part under heat and pressure. Doesn't anything last anymore? Kidding. Yeah was thinking that would be a good idea too.
Here is the link. I will add my personal tips and observations later.
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...t)%96-Late-E36
Working on the 325 reminds me how much I LOVED my old Jeep Wrangler. A bus ate it.
I looked through it looking for the part about drilling the hole but noticed that they didn't recommend replacing the o-rings on the heater core
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I didn't notice that about the O rings. The new core came with O rings. I think you are right about the brass bleed screw. I kept that in mind when I was tightening it. I think it still slipped a thread at the end. Doesn't seem to be leaking past it though. At least it is on the old expansion tank. It will get me home. I haven't installed the new one yet. I'll order another or 2 plastic bleed screws to use on the new tank. The old plastic screw was so deteriorated that the piece left in the thread hole was crumbling as I backed it out.
Working on the 325 reminds me how much I LOVED my old Jeep Wrangler. A bus ate it.
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