73 Heater core replacement W\AC

[Old Ford Blue]

How does it come out? I'm pretty sure its one of these deals in any case lol.

But my shop manual doesn't say and i tried to search on here but didn't come up with anything helpful so I figured one of yall can help me out.


Thanks guys. Oh and it is factory AC with a regular cab so no HO heater.

 

[Mil1ion]

Heater Core Removal and Installation For 1973-1979 Ford F-Series Trucks
By Thomas Hogan

1. Disconnect the battery ground cable.
2. Remove the air cleaner.
3. Drain the engine coolant below the level of the heater core.
4. Remove the heater hoses from the heater core.
5. Remove the screw fastening the A/C hose support bracket to the firewall.
6. The expansion valve is located on the right side of the evaporator core housing. Remove the insulating tape covering the valve.
7. Remove the two screws holding the plate over the opening that the A/C hoses exit the evaporator housing. Remove the plate and the seal.
8. Remove the glove box liner.
9. Separate the A/C duct from the register in the instrument panel and free the clip holding it to the plenum. Remove the duct from under the dash.
10. Remove the vacuum hose from the vacuum motor on the right hand side of the air box.
11. Remove the rear housing cover from the evaporator housing. The cover is retained by 4 nuts and one bolt. Disconnect the fresh air tube from the rear cover. After the cover is removed reinstall one nut to secure the evaporator housing to the firewall.
12. Gently remove the capillary tube from the evaporator core. Disconnect the wires from the icing sensor. Remove the plate the sensor is mounted to.
13. Remove the plenum by extracting the two screws above the transmission tunnel that hold the plenum to the dash.
14. Remove the screws securing the evaporator.
15. Pull the evaporator from the case and secure it above the case.
16. Remove the heater core.
17. Remove the heater air control door. There are no screws this is retained by a spring clip and snaps off.
18. Remove the arm that supports the air control door and the retainer that secures the pivot arm.
19. Remove the blower motor.
20. Transfer the blower wheel to the new motor.
21. Reverse the disassembly steps to assemble the heater A/C box

 

[miottimouse]

one thing the instructions dont mention is to take the seat out,grab 2 beer,and get nice and comfy laying on the floor other wise you are hanging half in half out
the door and that makes a hard job harder when your hurting done both my trucks with air and cursed the mechanic that got caught in bed with the ford enginners wife and that my freind is why that job is one of fords "better ideas" just take your time, i would realy suggest you change out the heater motor also while every thing is apart trust me on this one you will not want to redo this job again regurds joe

 

[LEB Ben]

I put this link in the 'Tips, tricks and references' thread in the threads of importance. It will definitely help as a reference:

http://www.ncspecialties.com/autobody/heater/index.htm

 

[miottimouse]

ut thats a great link would have helped me out the 1st time but any way you look at it its still a job i dread i laughed a the "4 hour time" seemed it took me all day both times any one else do it in that time? what me and a mechanic freind had trouble with was un doing the air cond hoses on the fire wall man were they tight needed snipe bars on open end wrenches and lots on sweat like i said
"one of fords better ideas" NOT!!

 

[LEB Ben]

Actually Joe, I keep cutting my time when I do HC replacement. The first time I ever did it, it took about 6 hours, now I'm down to around 4 hours...and even less on non-AC trucks.

 

[fatherdoug]

Again, if you remove the lower bolt holding the right side of the dash to the side of the truck, you have MORE room to maneuver things around.

 

[miottimouse]

yes seemed a little faster 2nd time around also not sure of the time but seemed like all day like any thing it seems i finaly know what i am doing when the job is done!

 

[Alvin in AZ]

Taking out the seat and loosening the dash and stuff like that, all sound like
good ideas to me. Anything that helps you do a better job, I'm all for.

Something a paid mechanic can't and/or won't do.

So I went at it from the outside and loosened "outside parts" for that same
reason. I loosened things like the fender apron and I don't know what all.

Not suggesting that to anybody else, especially those in the rust belt. :/

But it gave me the opportunity to take the whole thing apart.
Made it easier to modify it etc, see? LOL

That's the fun of working on this stuff for me, is figuring out ways to
"improve it"! But only "improved" from my point of view and uses only tho,
others prob'ly wouldn't see my modifications that way any more than I see
lowered pickups as an "improvement". LOL

-----------------------------

The broken rubber grommet Ben shows here...
http://www.ncspecialties.com/autobody/heater/heater005.jpg
was different on my '75, it was thicker and broken into -more- pieces.

I got a sheet of rubber from Ace hardware 1/8" thick and made a new one
by gluing two layers together with tire patch cement.

Last time I took it apart my homemade one had gotten hard and needed to
be broken to take it part but was able to use it again by just gluing it back
together, in place, with contact cement. LOL

Next time I'll prob'ly make another new one, still got enough of that square
foot sheet of red rubber and it's still nice and soft. Used it for lots of stuff
over the years too.

-------------------------

I lined the whole inside of that blower cage with foam+aluminum type of tape
insulation and crazy stuff like that just so the A/C would work a little better.

There are times when a guy can use the A/C here in January and February,
believe it or not.

Alvin in AZ

 

[miottimouse]

being up in the middle of no where i also have to fab the odd part or gasket and your right thats part of the fun ac in jan or feb now i know for sure i was born/raised in the wrong place!! lol its usualy -30 or 40 c here in alberta at that time you would be lucky to start the thing and get heat ac would be the last thing we would be thinking of! lol

 

[Old Ford Blue]

Thanks for all the great info guys! Especially you Ben, that link is great! I been puttin it off long enough and now its gettin cold here I guess im headed out to see what kinda mess I can make... hahaha

Thanks again, Gabe

 

[Old Ford Blue]

I do have one question though, in the first pic of the link it says if you remove the cover for the squirrel cage that you have ruined your unit, well my cover has several bolts going thru that flange holding it on so its pretty obvious that its been off at some point. Just how does this "ruin" the unit?

 

[LEB Ben]

Thanks for all the great info guys! Especially you Ben, that link is great! I been puttin it off long enough and now its gettin cold here I guess im headed out to see what kinda mess I can make... hahaha

Thanks again, Gabe

Not a problem, that's what we're here for.

I do have one question though, in the first pic of the link it says if you remove the cover for the squirrel cage that you have ruined your unit, well my cover has several bolts going thru that flange holding it on so its pretty obvious that its been off at some point. Just how does this "ruin" the unit?

I don't think by just taking the cover off that it's ruined...I think the guy meant more that digging around in there isn't necessary and you run a risk of causing more damage unnecessarily.

 

[Old Ford Blue]

Ahhh sweet! I kinda got to wonderin when i saw that right up there at the top. lol

 

[Alvin in AZ]

Not a problem, that's what we're here for.
I don't think by just taking the cover off that it's ruined...
I think the guy meant more that digging around in there
isn't necessary and you run a risk of causing more damage
unnecessarily.

Wow, never noticed the words until OFB mentioned 'em.

Who knows what he meant but either way it's just his Chicken Little opinion.
I removed mine and used 10-32 machine screws to replace the rivets.
And it works better than ever.

Because while I had it apart, that way, I lined the cover plate with insulation.

Alvin in AZ

 

[dakonthemountain]

I still can't find any info on the DEALER air, but now that I've seen this mentioned a couple times for factory integral AC, I'm going to try the right side dash bolt removal suggestion this week to see if that will work.
Dak

 

[SuperCab]

wow, I had no idea it was that bad with ac... i can do a non ac in about 20 minutes...

 

[LEB Ben]

I still can't find any info on the DEALER air, but now that I've seen this mentioned a couple times for factory integral AC, I'm going to try the right side dash bolt removal suggestion this week to see if that will work.
Dak

I dunno the difference between factory and deal A/C but I'm willing to bet that link should help.

wow, I had no idea it was that bad with ac... i can do a non ac in about 20 minutes...

Once you do it a few times, you can do an A/C unit in about an hour...hour and a half. The tough part for me is always re-installation, because nothing is secured...so you have to wiggle your ears and cross your eyes just right to get things where they need to go.

 

[dakonthemountain]

Ben, The dealer AC is ALL located under (behind) the dash. There is not evaporator under the hood for access. The hoses run direction through the firewall to the compressor. The good part is the 3 studs to release the heater box are readily accessible under the hood. The BAD, REALLY BAD design and part is that all the components are under the dash and next to impossible to get to!!! I'm SO frustrated! Doing the heater core is cake, but with the dealer AC it's horrible. I posted on the "other site" about this also. There are photos posted showing the difference. There is factory, deluxe dealer air and dealer air.
Dak

 

[Mil1ion]