I have looked at info on removing the heater core in the 850.
Most is simple but..
I'm down to removing the last screw / bolt that is in between the Hose pipes..

At least from the schematic I have, there is a screw in the little hole on the engine side where the pipes enter the Case.

Can anyone help with How to get the screw out from between the pipes &
possibly what type/size of tool is required.

Or advise otherwise.

THX for any help you might provide.

 

The screw should go from the front and it a t-25 screw.
It shouldn't come from the front side.

 

haha have fun.... i never ever want to have to take a heater core out of a volvo again in my life

 

If you've been able to remove the engine bay heater hoses from the PVC joiner in the firewall without damaging anything and it's not necessary to remove the plastic housing which houses/connects the engine bay flexible hoses and cabin rigid steel pipes - then leave it there, you're just making extra work for yourself.

However, if you do need to remove the PVC housing then a lot of patience and a Torx key is needed (I don't know the size off the top of my head - if you buy a set - you will soon see which one is the correct one). Also tie a piece of string or similar onto the Torx key because, if you don't you will, as sure as hell, drop it down the back of the engine a few times and possibly lose it, so having something to retrieve the Torx key with just makes common sense.

There is quite a good write up by jod t5 about removing heater matrixs on volvoforums.org.uk. The information that might interest you is contained in the bright green permanent sticky post section, under maintenance. Open this section up and you will find some good information under 'Cooling Systems'.

P.S. There are two screws holding the metal plate onto the PVC housing on my 850 - how come yours only has one?

 

He is most likely talking about the screw inside where the pipes attach to the bottom of the heater core.

 

Thanks for that.

Here is the diagram. The screw on the bottom left. Which is to be extracted
towards the engine. There is very little space between the pipes where the screw is and then
the pipes move together so getting a tool in there seems/is difficult.

Thx again for all those who help.. including the encouragement.




[IMG]local://upfiles/15508/00EC2BE8AD3D48018643B4B4128047E4.jpg[/IMG]

 

I have never seen one go in that way.
All the ones I have done go in the opposite way.
If yours does go in that way you may need to use a T-25 bit and a wrench to get it loose.

 

Worked it out.

Who in their right mind would make the screw extractions so difficult?
The person who drew the diagram in the manual! With the screw on the wrong side.

OK.. so I've been fooled by the diagram. This 20 minute job to remove it has taken a few hours.
Luckily Logic ended up ruling over the embeded visual.

Cheers to all.. hope I dont' have to come back on this one.

 

When you're done, would you mind mentioning how long the entire job took? My heater core is leaking, albeit very slowly, and will need to be replaced eventually.

 

240s were worse and our evap is hell. Heatercore is easy on the 850.

 

[hr]
This is for a Volvo 1996 850.

Honestly..
Putting the drying of your carpet time out of the equation & Assuming you have the correct tools. You need a T-15 & a T-25. I didn't have a 25 so used a 5/32 standard to fit in. Screws aren't tight so no need to force/strip them.
Works great.

I'm stating this without having completed the job as it's Easter long weekend here.
I'm looking for an OEM or affordable heater core here in Australia so maybe someone can give me some advice on that.

Actual 'Labour' time of taking it out once I worked out the last screw.. 20 minutes. Give yourself 1hr ?
Install? I can't see any problems once I have the part(s) (Think I'll do the O-rings as well).
I'll be surprised if the install takes me an hour.
You'll do it in 2hrs easy.
Seriously. After I've done it the one time I'd expect to do the removal and install job easily in an hour.

A couple of points/Tips that might help.
I have time up my sleeve as I put a U hose at the engine block to divert over summer.
In hindsight I really left it because my mechanic (decent guy) said the job was 'huge' (it's not). I actually started thinking the whole dash was coming out until I searched the forum. Great resource. Possibly he'd done another difficult Volvo before.

My 'time' issue now is winter is on it's way and I already did a drive 6 months ago where it got to 2c in the car at night on the way back from Canberra and I had to run the aircon to defrost! Lucky I took my ski gear & didn't get stopped by the police with balaclava on.

If I haven't lost any I'm pretty sure there are 15 screws! Thats it.

Pulling and pealing the carpet etc.. is plain logic.
I can't see putting things back as too much of a challenge.

To help dry out the carpet/car I bought a cheap bag of kitty litter - the type that is crushed silica gel (you know the little packaged granules that come in a jar of tablets or boxed electrical. This worked a treat and will speed up the drying process. You can wrap it in paper towels or even a towel if you want. I just spilled it all over the area and vacuumed it up after. Even turned green from the coolant.

If you are going to leave the job for later you might do the divert or get in there & put some sort of fluid super sopper to collect the drips.. save yourself drying time, coolant refills & carpet damage. You could then throw the silica gel in there to help dry up in advance as well. Make sure you pull the carpet back to get some right underneith. I also left some on top and put the mat over the top of that. I was lucky as it went to the passenger side only & a cat never jumped in to do its business. Left it there over summer (a wet one here). Again, with the divert there was no rush for me - a good thing as I look back on it.

I'll let you know if there are any major hurdles on the install.
I think it's taken me longer to write this than it should to do the job.

Hope this helps.

 

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