So, my motor got QUITE the workout in neutral, as I was trying to do some tweaking and the throttle cable became stuck open. Wide open. Anyway, the poor girl got a huge workout, and there's a sticky film inside on my windshield -- looks like it was deposited by the vents (coolant?) also, she now squeaks when running -- think I spun a belt. No knock or anything though, so I didn't throw a rod... I'm a little scared to drive her, we'll see... Anything else I should check?
Your heater core may have a leak. Does the inside of the car smell like coolant? Sounds like the engine will be fine.
I'm guessing that might be what I did. Fogs up inside pretty harsh. Damn, heatercore is an expensive repair.
Even free it's not a fun job. Good luck. It may have already been leaking some. Just bypass it. You don't need a stinkin heater-------- in Florida.
Lmao, I definitely need one. My blower hasn't been working and that was an expensive fix too, due to the control module. Now if it's the heater core, I'm gonna be pissed at myself because it's totally my fault. Bah.
It wasn't your fault the throttle stuck wide open. Things happen. The heater core had to be weak or it wouldn't have leaked unless you left it reving high for awhile. Even them I can't see how this affected the heater.
Sounds like the heater core was already about toasted, but otherwise, it sounds like you got off luck. The heater core itself is not an expensive job. Normally, they are somewhere around $60 - $70. Not bad. The problem in the labour charges. If you have time, just take your time, and you can actually do them yourself. I don't know what it is like on your car, but my 78 Thunderbird, and my old 78 Buick Electra, the cores are under the hood. Undo half a dozen bolts and there it is once you life the cover. Even on the ones you have to pull the dash, you can normally manage to do it, with a second pair of hands, in well under a day. Just get the service manual, and away you go. If the blower motor is working but the control unit is gone, there is a way to get around that, too. Pick up a manual fan switch from the local salvage yard. It doesn't matter what car donates the switch, as long as it has the same number of speeds. Disconnect the fan wires from the heat unit and fab up pigtails to allow that harness to connect to the fan switch. Find somewhere unobtrusive to hide the switch, and you should have a fan working in very little time. If worst comes to worst run a new supply to a switch and then run a new line to the resistor, and just plug into the resistor for high speed. Way it goes. Only high, but that will do the trick.
Bypassing the heater won't effect the A/C or defog! Must get to a low of what - 30 twice a year! Get a blanket!
bris i live in a suburb of Brisbane and agree just bypass your heater with a loop hose and check heater contorl mec if you realy need it to work. best of luck with whatever you decide to do :banana:Banana benders is the common term for Queenslanders which is the state in Australia where i live , just found today how you guys put these little things in thanks for the lesson
This is for all GM 77-90 B-Body full-size "boxy" cars. Its actually pretty easy. The heater core is located under the hood, passenger side. Disconnect the two heater hoses running into the firewall. Remove the leaf guard then start pulling bolts on the black housing. (remember where they go of course, 3 different sizes!) You may have some black tar-tape holding everything together. That stuff is messy and hard to get off your hands...sticky. You will need to disconnect the wiring harness on the top of the housing and remove the blower fan before removing the housing. Once you have undone about 25 bolts you can remove the housing (again may have tar-tape here). You will see your AC Evaporator and your heater core. (the heater core is the one closer to the middle of the firewall) You may also see dirt and leaves in here. Good time to pull out the shot vac. Just be careful around the a/c evap core...it's somewhat fragile. The core should just slide out of its little home, replace it and you can then put it all back together in reverse order. It's a good idea to buy a roll of tar-tape and seal the evap box as much as possible when you're done...especially where the lines go into the box. The more you seal it, the stronger your dash vents will blow. That'll fix you up. Again it's not a hard job on these since it's under the hood, not under the dash. No reason to bypass the leaking core, unless you just do not want a working heater. -Mike
Oh and if you DO have a sick 307, remember an Olds 350 from 1968-1979 will drop right in place of that 307 and will make your Electra RUN. You'll even get better mileage because you won't have to floor the car to make it move!
Thanks guys! Since it's a parking lot job, I'll definitely do it myself! The instructions Mike gave are awesome. The 350 will be an option after I pull the fender, someone smacked me, and fix the heat. I need to get the blower running but I don't wanna shell out for the module. I don't even know where it is on the car.
