Replacing the E30 Heater Core and Valve

[falcon64]

does anybody have pics of replacing the blower fan?

[Jean]

Fan box is part of the heater / ac box. You can't get that out w/o removing the dash. You can replace the blower fan, resistor and outer fan cover from the engine compartment side though.

[AV325i]

Access to lower fan box?

Nice description of heater core removal. Do you recall if you have access to removing the plastic box that the blower motor sits in? Mine is broken up after a front end collision and I need to replace it. I assumed I needed to talk off the dash, but if you can get the heater core out without dash removal, then I wonder about the fan box. Thanks!

[nefarious7907]

If the valve is not working, than it is either allowing coolant to pass through the core all the time giving you heat when the fan is on regardless of the temp position or if the valve is stuck closed you would not have heat.

Try removing the drivers side knee bolster and center console and let it warm up and try feeling the line before and aft of the valve to see that coolant is flowing to it and through it. It might be that the valve is just unplugged, or it may be just your temp switch is not functioning correctly.

[speedhop]

Is there a test that can be done to see if your current heater valve is working?

[nefarious7907]

Only one thing gets rid of grease/oil, and thats soap. I would use some liquid hand soap or just car wash soap, and when you have washed your windows then go back with your windex although I suggest using stoners window cleaner over anything else.

[kronus]

bumping a useful thread.


Until I replace my heater core, what's a good solvent to clean the window grease off with? I think I tried windex before and it just kinda moved the grease around and made it even harder to see at night.

[FredK]

Yeah, you can also slot the fracture bolts and remove them with a flathead screwdriver, using a cold chisel to break them loose. Those bolts are HARD, and aren't receptive to being drilled out.

[De //m3]

You probably can't get a good grip on them with the dashboard still in but I removed both an E30 and a 2002 steering column with a pair of vice grips, and I reinstalled the same "break-off" bolts when I put the cars back together. This may not work in this situation, but just FYI that it does work in some situations. Just clamped on and they came loose, and I was able to tighten them down pretty well after that. At least something to try before having to drill them out and go to alot more effort.

[Ferdinand]

This write up pertains to E30's with the metal heater core/valve pipes. That is the first thing I wrote at the top of the writeup. I dont know why there are not any write ups for E30's with the plastic pipes. As I dont have any info to contribute about the plastic pipe style maybe you should create a writeup for it.

Ah, I see. I didn't realize that's what the difference was, as mine has one of each. The pipe through the firewall to the heater solenoid valve is plastic, but the second pipe going through the firewall is metal.

I do know that cars with a/c have the condensor/dryer/whatever located higher in the heater box and the heater core located down deeper. In your case the heater core slides out real easy below the steering column. On my Cdn 86 325, without an air conditioner, the heater core bumps into the steering column when you try to slide it out.

The only way to get it out is to drop the steering column and pedal cluster, or remove the entire dash so that the whole heater box can be removed with the heater cluster still inside it. Other than that non-trivial difference the procedure is exactly the same as your writeup describes.

To drop the steering column you have to drill out, from below, the "Fracture Bolts" shown as #12 in this RealOEM drawing. That wasn't easy.

Otherwise you can remove the entire dash, then go in through the access hatch in the firewall from the engine side to remove the blower fan and undo the bolts holding the heater box.

The red arrow in this photo points to one of the Fracture Bolts. There are two that go in from the sides like this. There are another two that go in from below that are difficult to access. The owns from the side are easy to get to only if you remove the dash first. But if you're going to remove the dash, then you might as well remove the complete heater box. It's already removed in this photo.

[DCColegrove]

Only a very few early production e30's and non US cars

The job is quoted at 7 hours.

There's just one little thing to watch out for.

As described above this 60-minute job is really quite simple, but only if your car is equipped with an air conditioner. Note how the heater core in the photo above sits low down right behind the corrugated connector for the floor ducting.

In my non a\c 86 325 however the heater core sits much higher up, as shown in the photo below. The red arrow points to the heater core, the yellow to the heater solenoid valve, the green to the steering column.



Before tackling this job I read all the DIY articles on how easy it is to replace the heater core, only to discover that there's not enough space available to slide the core out of the heater box. It only comes out so far then bangs up against the steering column.





In my case there were only two options for extracting the heater core. Remove the entire dash and heater box assembly, or drop the steering column and pedal cluster.

I dropped the column and pedal cluster, but that was no fun at all as the steering column is held up by special shear-bolts with no heads on them. They had to be drilled out, and getting access to them was a bitch.

I have since done it the other way too, removing the entire dash and heater box assembly. That was no fun either.

[nefarious7907]

This write up pertains to E30's with the metal heater core/valve pipes. That is the first thing I wrote at the top of the writeup. I dont know why there are not any write ups for E30's with the plastic pipes. As I dont have any info to contribute about the plastic pipe style maybe you should create a writeup for it.

[Ferdinand]

This job should only take 45-60 minutes to uninstall and reinstall while goofing off and taking breaks to stretch...[snip]

There's just one little thing to watch out for.

As described above this 60-minute job is really quite simple, but only if your car is equipped with an air conditioner. Note how the heater core in the photo above sits low down right behind the corrugated connector for the floor ducting.

In my non a\c 86 325 however the heater core sits much higher up, as shown in the photo below. The red arrow points to the heater core, the yellow to the heater solenoid valve, the green to the steering column.



Before tackling this job I read all the DIY articles on how easy it is to replace the heater core, only to discover that there's not enough space available to slide the core out of the heater box. It only comes out so far then bangs up against the steering column.





In my case there were only two options for extracting the heater core. Remove the entire dash and heater box assembly, or drop the steering column and pedal cluster.

I dropped the column and pedal cluster, but that was no fun at all as the steering column is held up by special shear-bolts with no heads on them. They had to be drilled out, and getting access to them was a bitch.

I have since done it the other way too, removing the entire dash and heater box assembly. That was no fun either.

[el bob]

Do you guys end up replacing heater cores when they start leaking or just if you suspect they may be partially clogged?

[Jean]

Yep, deffinetely remove the seat and steering wheel to make this job easier.