How long will it take me to replace my heater core (2000 Civic)?

[Xist]

The high this week will be 92° here in the mountains. I think I only used the heater when I needed the defroster last winter, but that was probably dozens of times.

I keep having other projects which are allegedly more important. I want to start as soon as I find and install the crankshaft pulley bolt.

[Shaneajanderson]

Originally Posted by Xist

The high this week will be 92° here in the mountains. I think I only used the heater when I needed the defroster last winter, but that was probably dozens of times.

I keep having other projects which are allegedly more important. I want to start as soon as I find and install the crankshaft pulley bolt.

I have a serious question Xist, why not just get a second job? Costco starts out at like 13-14 per hour most places, and that sure beats zero. From what I hear of your life it sounds like you made a very poor career choice but don't want to admit it.

You could also get into manufacturing, I started on an assembly line 5 years ago, now I'm a salaried QC specialist, and all I did to climb was show up on time and work hard.

[Piotrsko]

Last I heard, he has a second job. Just like the first, I suspect.

Not a lot of opportunities where he lives for full time gummint employment.

[Shaneajanderson]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Last I heard, he has a second job. Just like the first, I suspect.

Not a lot of opportunities where he lives for full time gummint employment.

So work in the private market? I don't see what's so hard about that.

[Xist]

These are the parts that I am missing:

This is what the nearest dealership to my friend in the valley would charge, before tax. This data has been modified from its original version. It has been formatted to fit on one screen:

[Piotrsko]

That's all stuff a true value hardware place has, worst case big box hardware, despot,lowest,orchid,TSA, the like

Never seen a grade 9 nylock nut since you should only use them in shear.

[Xist]

Shane, I am an independent contractor for a therapy agency out of Phoenix. They always say they are not receiving vendor calls and the owner of another agency said there were not any clients waiting for speech therapy. When I look for jobs on Indeed, Craigslist, and other sites the best-paying job that I find in the area is usually teacher.

Well, SLP, but I need a Master's for that.

I would need a teaching certificate to teach.

You know, the district that I attended pays teachers an extra $3,600 for having their master's. Teachers somehow manage to earn their Master's in two years while teaching full-time and allegedly sleeping. I am sure that some of those have families that are periodically needy. If you figure that you could complete a Master's in Education program in two years averaging 20 hours a week, a public graduate school in Arizona would charge about what a teenager would earn working the minimum wage the same number of hours. If that teacher worked a second job just earning the minimum wage and put everything into retirement (you couldn't), the teacher getting $25,000 into debt for a Master's would never catch up, despite the $3,600 raise.

Meanwhile, many districts pay SLPAs around $30,000 and SLPs around $55,000.

[Xist]

It looks like AutoZone took down their repair library and replaced it with five minute crafts, but Google has the cache. For posterity, it is:


1996-97 Civic and Del Sol
Removing the heater core may require removal of the dashboard and the air conditioner evaporator. Removal of the air conditioner evaporator requires the A/C system to be discharged. The legal ramifications of discharging A/C systems without the proper EPA certification, experience, and equipment dictate that the A/C components on your vehicle should be serviced only by a Motor Vehicle Air Conditioning (MVAC) trained, and EPA certified automotive technician using approved equipment.

If you insist upon servicing the heater core and you are not a Motor Vehicle Air Conditioning (MVAC) trained, and EPA certified automotive technician and/or you do have the approved equipment for discharging and recovery of the A/C refrigerant, before disabling your vehicle, take your vehicle to an approved repair facility and have the A/C system discharged prior to beginning the heater core repair procedure.

1. Take your vehicle to an approved repair facility and have the A/C system discharged.
2. Record your vehicles radio anti-theft code.
3. Disconnect the negative battery cable.
4. From under the hood, locate the heater control valve on the lower passenger's side firewall area just below the fuel filter. Manually turn the heater control valve to the opened position.
5. Make sure the heater valve is in the full hot position by pressing the arm toward the firewall.
6. Allow the engine to cool if the coolant temperature is above 100°F (37°C).
7. Drain the engine coolant from the radiator into a suitable and sealable container.
8. Remove the heater control valve.
9. Place a drain pan below the two heater hoses at the firewall, release the tension on both heater hose clamps and slide the clamps up the heater hose away from the firewall and remove the two hoses.
   
   
10. Drain the coolant from the hoses into the drain pan and then into a suitable and sealable container.
11. Remove the nut attached to the stud protruding through the firewall, just above and to the right of the heater hoses.
    
12. Remove the dashboard assembly.
    On del Sol models, remove the steering hanger beam bolts.
    
    
    
13. Remove the heater duct.
14. Detach the heater unit from the firewall.
15. Remove the self-tapping screws and the bracket.
16. Pull the heater core out of the housing.
    To install:
    
    The installation procedure is in reverse order of disassembly making note of the following points.
17. For the air conditioning system:
    • Replace any removed A/C O-rings and coat them with a light coating of refrigerant oil before installing them.
    • Make sure any replaced O-rings are compatible with R-134a refrigerant.
    • Once the repair procedure is completed, have a certified repair facility add the proper type and amount of refrigerant oil if necessary, charge the A/C system, and test for normal operation and refrigerant leaks.
18. For the heater system:
    • Apply a suitable sealant to the grommets.
    • Make sure the heater inlet and outlet hoses are installed in the correct location.
    • Refill the engine coolant with a 50/50 mixture of approved coolant and water, and bleed as necessary.
    • Once the heater core repair is completed, make sure the heater control valve is properly adjusted by placing the temperature setting to the max cool position. Unclamp the heater valve cable sheathing and move the heater valve arm away from the firewall. The apply a light pull to the cable and cable sheathing to make sure all slack is removed from the cable, and reinstall the cable.

1998-00 Civic
Removing the heater core may require removal of the dashboard and the air conditioner evaporator. Removal of the air conditioner evaporator requires the A/C system to be discharged. The legal ramifications of discharging A/C systems without the proper EPA certification, experience, and equipment dictate that the A/C components on your vehicle should be serviced only by a Motor Vehicle Air Conditioning (MVAC) trained, and EPA certified automotive technician using approved equipment.

If you insist upon servicing the heater core and you are not a Motor Vehicle Air Conditioning (MVAC) trained, and EPA certified automotive technician and/or you do have the approved equipment for discharging and recovery of the A/C refrigerant, before disabling your vehicle, take your vehicle to an approved repair facility and have the A/C system discharged prior to beginning the heater core repair procedure.

1. Take your vehicle to an approved repair facility and have the A/C system discharged.
2. Record your vehicles radio anti-theft code.
3. Disconnect the negative battery cable.
4. Under the hood, open the cable clamp, disconnect the heater valve cable, and turn the heater valve arm to the fully opened position.
5. Drain the coolant. The engine must be cool.
6. Remove the mounting nut to the heater.
7. Push the hose clamps back.
8. Place a small drip pan under the heater hoses.
9. Remove the nut attached to the stud protruding through the firewall, just above and to the right of the heater hoses.
10. Remove the inlet and then the outlet hoses from the heater unit.
    
    Always keep engine coolant away from painted surfaces. If a spill does occur, rinse it off immediately. Never wipe it with a shop rag, this may further smear it into the surface.
11. Remove the mounting nut from the heater unit.
12. Remove the dashboard.
13. Remove the heater duct.
14. Detach the heater unit.
15. Remove the screws and then the bracket that holds the heater core in the air box.
    
    To install:
    
    The installation procedure is in reverse order of disassembly making note of the following points.
16. For the air conditioning system:
    • Replace any removed A/C O-rings and coat them with a light coating of refrigerant oil before installing them.
    • Make sure any replaced O-rings are compatible with R-134a refrigerant.
    • Once the repair procedure is completed, have a certified repair facility add the proper type and amount of refrigerant oil if necessary, charge the A/C system, and test for normal operation and refrigerant leaks.
17. For the heater system:
    • Apply a suitable sealant to the grommets.
    • Make sure the heater inlet and outlet hoses are installed in the correct location.
    • Refill the engine coolant with a 50/50 mixture of approved coolant and water, and bleed as necessary.
    • Once the heater core repair is completed, make sure the heater control valve is properly adjusted by placing the temperature setting to the max cool position. Unclamp the heater valve cable sheathing and move the heater valve arm away from the firewall. The apply a light pull to the cable and cable sheathing to make sure all slack is removed from the cable, and reinstall the cable.

Wonderful. I lost all of my directions and spent my available time preserving AutoZone's. So far the only thing that I have noticed that AutoZone specified that Honda did not was to evacuate the refrigerant first. I have not seen that step in the FSM yet.

It is pretty important!

[Xist]

I think that I finally finished replacing my head gasket the beginning of March. I took apart my dash and removed my heater core the second week, but haven't gotten back to it since. That was right when people realized that coronavirus was serious. I cleared out the shed to make an office and started setting up teletherapy. At least once I tracked down all of my instruction and got interrupted before I could get anywhere.

I never start working on my car without copying all of the steps from the factory service manual, researching on-line, and watching as many videos as I can. I always write out step-by-step directions with diagrams. I cannot find any of that now, so I needed to start over.

From what I have seen of the instructions from It Still Runs, they are vastly oversimplified and generic, although they may be adequate for someone much better with cars than I am.

The FSM only has 9 steps and 4 diagrams, but refers to other sections 5 times. Right now my instructions are 31 pages and 26 diagrams, but I did not set it up in columns like the FSM.

I like trees and stuff. I just shrank the relevant diagrams and set up most pages with two columns.

It is now thirteen pages.

I kind of don't want to know how long that took.

Remove the dashboard (see section 20) ended up being eight pages.

I need to write three sets of notes and upload some documents, but hopefully I iwll have enough time on Friday to put my Civic together.

[Xist]

I tried to spend all day on Friday working on my car, but stuff kept coming up. When I stopped for the evening I had only reinstalled the heater core, condenser, and blower.

I spent all Saturday on it and reinstalled the dash and most of the components, but stuff kept coming up, like while I was getting ready I discovered that someone knocked over my battery and did not pick it up. It sizzled when I emptied a box of baking soda on it.

I should have swept up that, shouldn't I?

It was going to be warm and sunny, so I unboxed my brand-new awning. It is also quite windy on top of the mountain, so I tied one leg to the No Parking sign and tied brake rotors to the other two legs that weren't right up against one of my cars. The awning leg transferred paint to my Accord, I moved the Accord away, and the awning managed to creep over.

Each time there was a strong gust of wind I watched the awning to ensure that it stayed put.

Then there are the weird neighbors, like the two girls that laid in the street in front of our house. Then the adorable little one use terrible language as they walked past.

When I removed the side mirror control the back broke into many places. I put it and as many bits as I found in a bag.

I did not think that I would find it cheaply and did not want to risk buying something that did not work, so I did not look into this in March. Many dealerships like Majestic no longer carry the part. The cheapest that I found was $133 shipped from Honda Parts Now. However, I found one in a slightly different color for $40 plus tax on eBay.

I am trying to save what I have.

I told a friend at noon:

I finally have my dashboard back in now I just need to:
1. Bolt it back in
2. Reconnect everything
3. Reinstall the brackets, cluster, glovebox, stereo, etc.
4. Reconnect the air conditioning.
5. Replace the battery acid and reinstall.
6. Close up the cooling system, fill up, and burp repeatedly.
7. Have an air conditioning shop replace the refrigerant.

I am still finishing #3.