And why it takes eight freaking hours to do a heater core in some cars.
I did a lot of dashboard work in my day. Under them, in them and removing them completely.
I still have special tools I had to use on the Fords, some I actually fabricated or did the Frankenstein thing to.
I actually did so many heater core jobs on cars like the Lincoln Town Car that I could have the dashboard unbolted and everything unplugged and have the passenger side sitting on the front seat so I could get to the heater core, in less than 45 minutes.
I could do a heater core job in about three hours and it paid 8.
This video is about a more modern dash that has the entertainment screen on it but what I would like you to pay attention to as they build this dash is how many screws are in it and where they put them.Also how many wire connectors there are and components in it.
Ford was notorious for hiding screws in crazy places.
Another thing Ford and Chevy both were notoripus for was using different size heads on basically the same diameter screws.
On the Fords I would use 6, lots of 7’s and 8’s, 9,10’s and even 11′ Millimeter sockets.
Plus all the different Torx bits and Phillips heads. It was absolutely ridiculous.
All of those in one dashboard.
The good news is that everything except the crash structure is plastic.
My BIL found out that you don’t do anything below -20° when he went to pop the hood on his newish Highlander and it snapped the cable right out of the plastic bracket under the dash.
I have found the dash assembly of 2nd Gen Dodge trucks to be easy to remove, mostly because they disintegrate and not because the whole thing comes out in one piece.
I hear you on the bolts – I had to change out the battery on my wife’s 2015 Buick and I ended up using the 6, 8, 10, 11, an 12 mm sockets – for a fucking battery change. They could have easily made everything 8 mm, but did they? No. Fuck them.
I’ve done some under dash repairs on various vehicles in the past and cussed every minute of it. Fucking impossible. No wonder, after seeing that. Next time I’m just going use a 5 gallon gas jug and a book of matches.
If I got that right, 3 screws to hold the steering column cover and one bolt to attach the steering column itself. Fkn engineers.
Last time I did a heater core was on my 89 Taurus. It was deep winter desperation tactics. I did employ a Sawzall and the dash rattled afterwards, but I had heat.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
I’ve got to replace my 1989 SHO heater core one of these days – I’ll call you up and invite you over…
I wonder what the plane ticket will cost…
On an SHO, I would use kid gloves and made sure everything went back the way it belonged. No butchery allowed.
I always wanted to own one.
Knowing our government, we are probably ALL on a NO FLY list. My driving out your way would either look like a remake of Cannonball Run, or me in Federal custody because of the previous.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
OMG. I sincerely apologize to all those engineers I cussed out who designed the
F-4. After watching this video, they were not so bad after all. Again, I think engineers should have to spend 4 years on the shop floor before they begin designing cars. No wonder cars are so expensive.
I have farm tractors that have SAE and Metric bolts. A real pain in the ass to have to keep running back to the tool box for another wrench or socket. Then there are the damn near impossible places to reach especially with my XXL hands. I’ve made wrenches and socket holders so I can get into some of those tight spots but I’ve also had to get someone with small hands to get into areas I can’t.
I had a small heater core leak in my ’94 f-150 couple years back, used that barrs-all radiator leak fix, ran truck (in Florida summer) with heat on full blast: haven’t had a problem since.
Now undo most of that while in an enclosed 8 x 2 space with all sorts of scratchable, dentable, pieces around you, steering wheel installed rear view mirror and plastic that wont let loose. The center console with shifter and start button also holding the dash board in, along with AC connections and coolant connections. Mind you you cannot rotate the dashboard but “YOU”, have to rotate to have access to all fasteners while sitting in the front seat of someones car, removing that razor sharp dash support. Those electric connections cannot be seen sometimes when doing the dash in the car and then ask yourself why did engineers not make AC and Heater components easy to get to? NO repair ability, just new cars, they don’t make it to be repaired, they make it that way to save themselves production costs. Now, how about engineers and MFG’s? Repairability is the cost of all safety and economic decisions making cars. God forbid a windshield leak on that body computer also.
This is a VW assembly plant in China. I did stop action on the video until I found a clear part label with the VW Logo. VW has been making cars in China since the late 1980s. Who else remembers the VW Fox in the USA ? They shipped the machines to make the parts to China and changed the name to Santana. Shanghai taxi cabs in the 1990s were all Santanas, until 1997 or 98 when new VW models began to become available. The drivers would beat the sh$t out of the cars until they would not run.