Is cold,time to change heater core

[rallyak]

My heater core is blocked so my car is colder than it should be. These are the things I did to come up with my conclusion. Changed thermostat (Subaru oem) completely blocked the radiator with cardboard with no change to heat out put. I flushed the core and helped a little but still not as hot as my wife 92,I'm tired of my feet freezing. I know this is not going to be fun.

[rallyak]

Ordered heater core yesterday from the dealer, ouch!!!! Over 300$, if it keeps me warm its worth it.

[mike-tracy]

Yeah I just replaced mine last weekend. I'd rather do an engine swap than a heater core lol

[Legacy777]

Those that have done these, what is their mode of failure? Do they crack and leak or just get plugged up?

[cj91legss]

Heater cores are no fun... Josh, i think they just clog up. I haven't seen one crack in my experiences.

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[Legacy777]

Hmm....well I'm planning to pull the dash to do some wiring, and would hate to do it again in the near future, but then again I can't say I use the heater much down here in Texas. Fluid is always flowing through the core, so as long as the fluid is maintained, it should be good. I'm probably going to role the dice and take my chances.

[mike-tracy]

On my 96 the heater core burst, and has a visible crack. On my 91, the leak seems to be under one of the tubes. I can hear a leak when I put pressure on one tube an block the other.

I'll bet mine was caused by someone putting regular tap water in for extended periods.

[rallyak]

Subaru called me and Merry Christmas to me, that part has been discontinued. Why dose it take a week to find that it's not available.

[Legacy777]

That sucks! Unfortunately, there's a lot of stuff like that for these cars that are becoming discontinued and you can't find any more. I've run into that several times. As for why it took a week....they may have been waiting for some of the warehouses to call the parts dept back.

You can see if you can find an aftermarket one, or try and find a decent used one. I'd probably go with a decent used one. I haven't had good luck with aftermarket type radiators....and learned my lesson just to buy stuff from Subaru.

[rallyak]

I have a good account at performance radiator I just wanted an oem one.

[rallyak]

One on order, should be here within the week yeah!!!! Wheather has been mild in the last 4 days (25-30) and my heater is able to keep me warm. It's the days that is -44 below that is very cold i need to wear my thermal underwear and heated socks.

[rallyak]

Heater core is here, the dash wasn't hard to remove it was the heater box that gave me trouble. Now I have heat, I don't think it has ever (that I remember) worked that well. I will say that reading up on here helped but also made me nervous with a lot of people reporting its a PITA to change, I didn't think it was to bad.

I can now say I've turned every nut and bolt on this car. The dash was the last on my list.

[cj91legss]

Well congratulations, you finally popped your dash board cherry!

I'm probably due for a new heater core, my heat has been fairly cooler for the last few months.

[Legacy777]

Yeah....I too was hesitent about the dash, but it really wasn't too bad. It would have been easier getting it out with two people, but I did manage

[cj91legss]

Ive done it a few times. Goes pretty quick for me bow.

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[rallyak]

Just wondering, the gaskets that go between the tubes and the heater core are they still available? I pretty much destroyed one of them, so I siliconed it to make sure it wouldn't leak so far so good.

[Legacy777]

You could try looking in the parts book and see. I'm not sure which gaskets you're referring to.

[cj91legss]

Talking about on the firewall?

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[mike-tracy]

He's talking about the gaskets that go between the two aluminum tubes and the heater core itself.

[rallyak]

The heater core has the lines that go through the firewall. You need to unbolt the lines from the old heater core and transfer to the new one. In between the lines and core there is a fiber gasket with like a flat rubber washer in the middle. The fiber part of one broke in half and the other one the rubber was deteriorated badly. I wasn't aware of the gasket or I would have searched for them before I took it apart. After I got it out, I had to finish it with what I had. If I have to do it again I will find new ones.

[Legacy777]

I don't see that gasket in the parts book, but I may not be looking in the right spot.

[rallyak]

I went to Subaru the other day and asked them. They told me that would of came with heater core but they don't sell it by it self. The parts guy knew what I was looking for, but he to could not find a part #.

[Legacy777]

Yeah, that sucks. I was looking on my heater core this past weekend and I believe I see the gasket/flange you're talking about.