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Fox-Body Ford Mustang Heater Core Replacement

Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
Unbolt this bracket from the... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
Unbolt this bracket from the firewall that holds the heater case in position at the top. The case doesn't have to be removed, but it must move enough to allow you to open the evaporator case and remove the heater core.
Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
Under the hood, unbolt the... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
Under the hood, unbolt the nuts that hold the evaporator case to the firewall.
Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
To avoid replacement, a previous... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
To avoid replacement, a previous owner bypassed the leaking heater core by rerouting the heater hoses. Remove the hose clamps to allow the core to come out.
Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
With both the heater and evaporator... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
With both the heater and evaporator cases loosened from the firewall, access the heater core by removing the four bolts on the cover of the evaporator case.
Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
Carefully pry up the cover... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
Carefully pry up the cover to access the core.
Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
When the cover is removed,... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
When the cover is removed, the heater core is finally visible.
Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
Remove the core by pulling... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
Remove the core by pulling it up and out of the evaporator case. If the core is still connected to the heater hoses, remove them. In this case, the core had long been bypassed by cutting the two hoses off the core and joining them together with a nylon fitting and other clamps. Removing the old hose clamps allows core removal. Once that is done, remove the core as shown here.
Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
This is the evaporator case... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
This is the evaporator case with the heater core removed.
Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
Thoroughly clean and vacuum... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
Thoroughly clean and vacuum the evaporator case before installing the new heater core.
Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
The new heater core looks... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
The new heater core looks like this. The cost is the least worrisome part of the project as the labor to install the core is about 95 percent of the job.
Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
With the evaporator case cleaned,... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
With the evaporator case cleaned, the new core is set into place. Once the core is in position, put everything back together. It's basically a reversal of the disassembly.
Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
Once the heater core is installed... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
Once the heater core is installed and the evaporator case is back in position, the A/C lines are reconnected in preparation for recharging the system. The lower line presses and snaps back into place onto the fitting as shown.
Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
The hose fitting from the... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
The hose fitting from the A/C accumulator is reinstalled as shown. This can be done with the correct-sized wrench.
Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
With everything back together,... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
With everything back together, the core must be reconnected. This involves hooking up the existing hoses to the core or installing new ones. In our car, one of the hoses used when the core was bypassed was long enough to reach to the core and is reconnected, shown here.
Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
The other hose used to bypass... 
   
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Ford Mustang Replacing Heater
The other hose used to bypass the core wasn't quite long enough, so we replaced it with part of the blue police hose kit already installed. It is trimmed to length and installed with new clamps. While most of what we show doesn't cover reassembly, you can see that it's a big job. But after getting this clean '88 LX 5.0 convertible back together, it is worth it to have heat again.
Mac's Radiator and Air Conditioning Service
9681 Alondra Blvd.
Bellflower
CA  90706
Mustang Country International
14833 Lakewood Blvd.
Paramount
CA  90723

www.mustangcountryintl.com

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