I was told by a buddy that on my 1993 4 cyl Mustang that the AC has
to be disconnected in order to replace the heater core. Is this true?
Any help/ideas would be appreciated.
thanks

sanpablo wrote:
Yep. You have to remove the instrument panel and HVAC box to replace the core. I
usually remove the front seats for added working room. You WILL need a shop manual.
(Not Chilton or Haynes, the Ford manual).

If the car a/c is still r12, call around to see if any local shop will
evacuate it for free... or they might even give you a 134 conversion kit in
exchange.

--
Yeh, I'm a Krusty old Geezer, putting up with my 'smartass' is the price
you pay..DEAL with it!

it's around 500.00 at a shop... OUCH


"sanpablo" <rchapman (AT) mail (DOT) com> wrote

"sanpablo" wrote

Make sure to ask around before just yanking it apart.

T-Birds and Cougars with the "Fox" chassis (83-88) supposedly have
to disconnect and remove the entire dash too. Wrong wrong wrong.

On those, it's been proven that we just have to remove the 7 bolts/nuts
holding the dash to the firewall, then pull the right side back a foot or so,
leaving enough room to drop the plastic AC box those few precious inches
so the top cover can be removed and the core replaced. No disconnecting
anything (except heater hoses) required. Those who have done it a couple
of times have Ford's "official" 8-hour + recharge job down to about 3 hours.

"MasterBlaster" <Nobody's.Home (AT) My (DOT) Place> wrote:

Yeah but you still have to, at least, disconnect the accumulator from the
evaporator nipple.

--
Yeh, I'm a Krusty old Geezer, putting up with my 'smartass' is the price
you pay..DEAL with it!

MasterBlaster wrote:


MB, you are absolutely correct, BUT..... I would only recommend doing it this way
to someone who has already done it the "official" way on a similar vehicle. The
possibility of broken parts, air leaks, squeaks/rattles, damaged wiring, etc. goes up
exponentially when using this "shortcut" if the person doing it is unfamiliar with
what's up there in the deep dark recesses of the instrument panel. For a DIYer it can
take longer and be much more frustrating than the "official" way.
When I worked Flat Rate, I did many the way you suggest. On my personal vehicles, I
do it the "official" way. It's only a few more steps and is IMHO better than trying to
wrestle the HVAC box out through the passenger footwell. It also makes it easier to
spot and rectify other concerns as well.