Heater core

[N A]

I'm having heater core issues. My first box's heater core ('89 Town Car) went around 120,000 miles. My '90 Mercury Grand Marquis's heater core is going now at 83,000 miles. What causes this problem exactly? I'm taking care of this problem ASAP and hope I never have it again.

[Archangel]

Some Mustangs have a flow restrictor in the heater core supply hose, so my guess would be that when the engine revvs up the coolant pressure tries to baloon the heater core.

[Enigma]

my Ranger truck had that restrictor in it too. Even with that, I have to change the heater core in the truck about every 30-40k miles. Go figure. Luckily it's super easy (30 minutes) to change a heater core in the Ranger.
In the Wagon, so far no problem in the 3-1/2 years I've owned it. Hopefully it stays that way.

[N A]

It's just such a nuisance. Replacing the valve cover gaskets and the exhaust were on the list of problems I had to deal with before our meet. Now I have to replace the heater core too. Can the hoses be replaced with silicone hoses? Is there a "better" heater core out there I could use? Something that would last 50,000, 100,000 miles? I guess if the stock parts lasted 83,000 miles, bolting stock parts on again wouldn't be so bad.

[Blaze86Vic]

The heater core in our Panthes is the heaviest heater core I have ever seen. I would suggest replacing with a Ford core if you aren't already. Weights at least twice what my mom's 90 Bronco II heater core does.

[Tiggie]

Replaced the heater core in my Mom's '87 T-Bird about 80K ago. Replaced it with a Ford one and we have been satisfied so far. That was about ten years ago. Had to pull the whole dash out like a lot of cars these days. My '82 is still on the original heater core at 123K... I'm getting scared. I'm convinced it's waiting to go catastrophically at the worst possible time. It really has hardly any heat, so it's probaby stopped up or something.

[Southern_Pride]

My heater core is probably factory. Doesnt leak and I dont use the heat.

[Archangel]

I think I'm also running on factory heater core, 144k miles so far and works like a charm.

[DuceAnAHalf]

The one in my 85 was bypassed when i got it. when i removed it, i could see where it had at least 1 pinhole leak in it that rusted through

[N A]

Removing the dash must be a pain in the ass. I'm dropping it off and having my mechanic do the work. (While he's in there, I should have a 2 5/8" Auto Meter tach put in the driver's side vent. :heyhey: ).

[DuceAnAHalf]

Removing the dash must be a pain in the ass. I'm dropping it off and having my mechanic do the work. (While he's in there, I should have a 2 5/8" Auto Meter tach put in the driver's side vent. :heyhey: ).

I dont know about the 90, but in my 85 a 2 5/8 wont fit in the vent. a 2 1/16 will though.

[gadget73]

Often cores fail from lack of cooling system service or bad grounding. Connect a volt meter to the ground terminal on the battery and stick the other lead in the coolant in the radiator. If it reads voltage, you have a bad ground somewhere. Check, clean, replace all grounds to the engine and body and re-check it. I think its something like 0.1v or less that you should be reading.

[85crownHPP]

I just hung on to e paper that came with a heater core talking about that... I think it said 0.3 volts max.... Ive been meaning to check mine but never remeber when its warm.

[Sanitarium 73]

Mine is getting somewhat bad in my '88 LX...this morning, after driving it at speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour, the interior became quite smokey. Very similar to if someone in the vehicle was smoking a cigarette...

[N A]

I didn't in my old '89 Town Car and it dumped coolant all over the passenger side carpet. The "fog" on the windshield and "smoke" coming out of the dash don't help either. Take care of the problem ASAP.