92-99 GM H-body heater cores are just plain evil

[AMCJeepMJ]

H-body: Bonneville, LeSabre, Olds 88/LSS

 

Heading back from the bank, I smelled coolant and and saw the passenger floormat wet and steaming...

 

This makes the THIRD time the heater core has split, using genuine GM parts. To replace it in the LeSabre, the dash has to be removed to get the core out... the entire dash... which is a $1k job to do at a GM shop. Even the Haynes manual says to take it to a shop for the work to be done. I understand the 91-96 FWD GM C-body cars have a similar dash setup in regards to the heater core (Park Ave, Olds 98, DeVille).

 

Replacing the heater core in the Buick for the 3rd time in 8 years is getting really old really quick.

 

So, who has run into a similiar reoccuring issue? Will aftermarket cores be any better?

 

 

Side note: none of that orange GM coolant was used in this vehicle, only Prestone antifreeze in appropriate ratio with distilled water.

[Pete M]

...using genuine GM parts...

 

 

well, there's your problem. :laughin:

[WBKrazy]

i had a '99 lesabre for 4 years, luckily i never had to change to heater core in that... on crown vics/grand marquis/town cars it's just as much of a PITA, the whole dash has to come out as well... it's like they put the core on the assembly line and built the car around it... i've never replaced a heater core with a factory one, i've used either autozone or carquest ones with no problems... couple different things i can think of, is usually the heater core has some kind of foam surrounding it to insulate it from vibration, if it was reinstalled without the foam surround it can move around and spring leaks... and i'm guessing this won't apply to you, but on the road service truck we use at work (95 F3fixme), with all the electronics and extra grounds for everthing we added to the truck frame (strobes, start-all, air compressor, etc) the antifreeze is getting electrically charged somehow (never seen that before, and noone here can figure out why) and it eats through a heater core about once a year.. luckily it only takes about an hour to change it though, so it's not too bad

[dfreeman616]

if your antifreeze is getting electrically charged, it's caused by improper grounding...i've heard of it before but it's not all that common.

[WBKrazy]

if your antifreeze is getting electrically charged, it's caused by improper grounding...i've heard of it before but it's not all that common.

 

yeah this truck is the first case i've ever seen of it.... but when we installed everything we made all new 4 gauge cables for it all and everything is grounded out to the frame itself... :dunno:

[DirtyComanche]

Even the Haynes manual says to take it to a shop for the work to be done.

 

They say that about a lot of things, most of them being complicated enough procedures that you'd actually benefit from a manual. The reality is they're a crappy substitute for a real manual, and they skip over a lot of things that one would be perfectly capable of doing at home if they were provided with a few pointers.

 

Rip and tear. Take pictures. If it ends poorly, be sure to post about it. I enjoy reading about the misfortune of others.