At 01:37 PM 3/6/99 -0600, you wrote:
>Once you have the box out, you want to do three things:
>
>1.) Clean the interior of the core using the above methods but, now that it
>is out, the cleaning can be supplemented by adding a little draino or
>toilet cleaner to the core and letting it sit for ahwile. Then pressure
>flush and control where the effluent goes.
>
>2.) The other thing is to clean out the passages between the fins. You
>might be surprised by the amount of debris that can get lodged in there.
>When clogged, the air has to run around the core on the sides of the air box.
>
>3.) When putting it all back together, use foam tape to form a seal on the
>outsides of the core. That is, use foam to seal the spaces between the
>outside of the core and the inside of the heater box. That way, all the air
>going through the heater box must pass through the core and cannot work
>around the edges.
>
I just went through this with my GT. Currently everything that gets removed
gets rebuilt/refurbished or replaced. (The theory being when I eventually
start putting stuff TOGETHER again I'll have all new shiney clean parts.)
Bob's comments are right on the mark. I opened my heater for the first time
since it left Abingdon and found the passages around the heater core all
blocked with thicknesses of felt. Surprisingly all but one piece of felt
was in good reusable condition. Reinstalling the core in the heater body
without the felt left the core so loose it would have rattled itself to
death in no time.
My only other comment is that, rather than muck about with dangerous
chemicals, why not do what I did and take both the heater core and rad to a
good radiator shop for cleaning. The shop I took mine to I have used before
and they took both pieces, cleaned them inside and out with caustic soda,
flow and pressure tested them and repainted them for the princely sum of $80
Canadian (that's about $50-$55 US) and I got them back in three days.
Both pieces good as new and they even installed a new brass drain cock in
the rad.
Some things just aren't worth doing yourself....
Ross MacPherson
TC-3528 , `66 BGT, NEMGT - #11849
Surrey, BC, Canada
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