Has anyone repaired a leaky rear heater core? (1 Viewer)

[RWBeringer4x4]

Hey all,

My truck came with the rear heater disconnected - today I decided to find out why.

First I just filled the rear core with water, and found a pretty considerable leak - not sure if it's visible in the picture, but the left-most tank leaks pretty heavily...

Confirmed by a jerry-rigged leak-down test:

It appears that it's leaking almost entirely from the tank at the corner where it meets the base plate. I don't see any bubbles from the core itself. (Running about 5psi as to not blow the core)

There is another small pinhole in the tank just above the joint:

Has anyone had any luck trying to resolder one of these tanks? If so, any tips? Is this something where I can clean the leaky areas, flux well, and melt in some solder, or should the whole tank come off?

Since these cores are no longer available and apparently worth their weight in gold - I'd like to try and salvage this one if I can.

Thoughts?

 

[JohnnyC]

I have repaired these before

That is an easy place ... you need a hot torch ... map gas works

need it good and hot and lot-o flux

 

[JohnnyC]

Your lucky the tubes are good ... that's the hard leak to fix ... it splits because they get crushed by little rug rat feet

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

I have repaired these before

That is an easy place ... you need a hot torch ... map gas works

need it good and hot and lot-o flux

Glad to hear this isn't uncharted terrain! Did you just solder-patch the leaky spots, or did you completely de-solder the tank and re-do it? My main concern is that if it's leaking in a couple of places, and I don't re-do the whole thing, it will just spring a leak from the next weakest link as soon as it goes back under pressure...

 

[JohnnyC]

Don't unsolder the tank... it will fup the tube connections ...

Scrape out the bad spot a tad ... heat up the bad area... flux it up and solder

If you have a radiator shop near ya they used to charge about $50 for this type of thing ... they are good at what they do... and that's removing the tank and reseating it

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Don't unsolder the tank... it will fup the tube connections ...

Scrape out the bad spot a tad ... heat up the bad area... flux it up and solder

If you have a radiator shop near ya they used to charge about $50 for this type of thing ... they are good at what they do... and that's removing the tank and reseating it

Radiator shops are few and far between around me anymore, but it sounds like my first attempt should be to do it myself, and if I bung it up badly, have the rad shop fix my mistake!

Is there a specific type of solder to use or is standard plumbing solder sufficient?

 

[JohnnyC]

Honestly I do not know the type I used... we have a huge roll at work ... I used it

I will see what type tomorrow when I go in

 

[JohnnyC]

The first two I fixed looked pretty darn good ... my last was somewhat a PO looking fix

I had just got a good one from @65swb45 recently and using that now... I have two others... one is a spare and one needs to have a tube split fixed

Both my spares have had tubes fixed/in need of fix ... I wasn't trusting them in a long run... good for spare however

Yours looks 500% better then my spares

I hear ya about the radiator shops... I've got none as well ... sucks these places are all going the way of the dinosaur... radiator shops, muffler shops, electric shops (alternator/generator/starter) and spring shops ... its all throw out and bolt-on now

 

[bikersmurf]

I had a go at fixing my original one... but didn't have a a lot of luck. I brought the better replacement to a rad shop and they pressure tested it and fixed it. it cost $85 but that's because prices suck here and the only shop in town can charge however much they want.

I got quotes for exhaust work on an old car... they wanted $700-800 for a 90 degree bend a few feet of pipe, a 20 deg bend, a muffler, and a turn down. $50 for a muffler and some hardware, a couple scraps of cruiser roll bar, and a couple hours, and I had a quietish exhaust. It rumbled a bit at idle, quieted down once you got moving... and growled at 4500 rpm when you stepped into it.

Go for it... I'm going to build my next cruiser exhaust... never been thrilled with the last quick and dirty one I paid for (who knew it would last 21+ years).

Yours looks better than both mine did.

 

[Racer65]

I always wonder, for a car this short, is there really a need for the rear heater? If you put in an AC system, you would typically get heat as well. You'd kill 2 birds with one stone. That's how most cars are like.

 

[White Stripe]

With the soft top on in the winter the rear heater helps overcome the poor insulation a soft top has. I would just take that to a radiator shop. Even though they are far from you it's a pain to get it leak tight. I've tried to repair radiators myself with little success.

 

[JohnnyC]

Upper north east + FST + kids = rear heater a must

Mine is in a direct loop, heater lines go it it first... then front ... then back to engine

 

[bikersmurf]

Throw an old sleeping bag over the rear passenger's lap and they be toasty warm with the heater... top or not.