Re: [DML] Cleaning off heater core to improve airflow

[Marc Levy <malevy_nj@xxxxxxxxx>]

I have had luck cleaning the heater box out through
the air inlet outside the car.

Remove the wiper blades, and (carefully, it is easy to
break) remove the black plastic grille over the air
inlet.  Also remove the blower motor inside the car.

I use a shop vac with a small diameter hose, and push
the hose in the air inlet as far as I can...  Usually
you can hear the dirt get sucked up by the hose.  When
the noise stops, I then use compressed air attached to
a long piece of solid brake line down in there WITH
the shop vac hose.  The combination of the compressed
air and vac gets the dirt moving around so it can be
sucked up.  Move the vac inside the car, you can
usually pick up small bits on the bottom of the box by
feeding the vac hose in through the blower motor
opening.

Then, move the vac down to the drain hose under the
car..  Shoot the compressed air in the top again while
vac at the bottom.

As a final step, I will remove the front passenger
seat and carpet (so the carpet does not get wet).. 
Then shoot some water down the air inlet and watch the
last bits of dirt drain out the drain hose under the
car.  Keep the water flowing till it drains clean.  If
you are brave, you can also shoot some water in
through the blower motor hole.

When your done, run the AC for a while to dry it all
out.

I have done this on a few cars with good results.  It
is a lot easier than removing the whole air box. 
There are some that claim they can remove the bottom
half of the air box INSIDE the car, but I don't see
how it is possible without causing damage to it.


--- ksgrimsr <knut.s.grimsrud@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi guys,
> 
> I'm getting pretty low airflow through my heater/AC
> system and suspect 
> that I have an accumulation of lint on the heater
> core restricting 
> airflow (which would be reasonable for my 190K mile
> car).
> 
> I reviewed the workshop manual that outlines how to
> remove the core 
> (including discharging the AC system, emptying
> coolant, etc). I don't 
> really need to remove/replace the system, I just
> need to expose it 
> sufficiently to allow me to vacuum it off well.
> 
> Does anyone have first-hand experience with this
> that can provide 
> recommendations for how to best clean off the core
> (hopefully without 
> wholesale removal of everything)?
> 
>     Knut
>  
> 
> 



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