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Mk1 Toyota previa heater core change trick.

Home Forums Stay Dirty Lounge Repair Central-The ‘How To’ Forum Mk1 Toyota previa heater core change trick.

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  • #881387
    BlueSedanBlueSedan
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      Have a previa that’s fogging the windshields with coolant? Well i’m here to help.

      Did you know that you can change the heatercore without actually ripping the dash apart? Crazy huh. But let me tell you a neat trick.

      Okay First of all you need to take out the plastic cover next to the heatercore.. It’s held on by 3 screws. Take that plastic shield out.
      Then pull out the carpet and put a jack and some block of wood under the glove compartment.

      Then you need to take a heat gun and blow in the glovebox in a circle matter so it doesn’t melt.
      Once it’s hot enough to bend but not break, Start jacking it up slowly while heating it.. Don’t worry if it looks horrible. It’ll straighten out later.

      Once you have jacked the glovebox up enough so it clears the heater core, leave the jack in and let it cool down so it stays in the shape.
      Once it’s cool enough, remove the jack and put plastic on the floor so the coolant wont mess up your carpets.. The coolant should drop and leak trough the plastic all the way trough the door in a catch pan..

      Okay. Now you need the blade of a saw if you can’t afford a sawzall. Cut the brass pipe off the heatercore so you can pull it out.
      I cut it in two places. right on the heater core and about two inches from the pipe on the floor side.. You will need the pipe on the floor for later.

      Disconnect all the linkages to the heater core and pull it out.. This will require a little wiggling but it’ll pull out and clear the wheel well barely..
      Take the new heater core and cut the brass pipe so you can push the new one back where the old one was.. Remember to let an inch or two for the brass pipe because we need to connect it to the pipe on the floor.

      Now once you wiggle it back in.. Connect all the linkages and get some rubber hose and hose clamps and connect the two brass pipes..
      Make sure that the hose clamp is very tight so it wont leak. I advise using RTV silicone as “lube” when pushing the hose in so when it solidifies, it’ll act like rubber glue..

      Once you’re sure it’s tight, you’ll need to modify the plastic cover a little bit because the back screw won’t be able to screw into anything because the new system deletes the old pipe clamp thing. But it’ll hold on with the two front screws just fine without any rattle.

      Then take the heat gun and warm up the glove box again.. This time take a wooden block or stick so you can push the hot plastic back in it’s regular shape.. It’ll either look seamless or have some tiny white marks where it was bent but it won’t be a problem because you have stuff in your glove compartment anyways so it’s hidden..

      Then put the carpet back up, add some coolant and start ‘er up.

      No more coolant smell.

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