DISMANTELING DASH ON AE82 TO REPLACE HEATER CORE Know your enemy: 1. First open the glove box. Unscrew the screw inside (1) then the screw at the bottom of the speaker cover. Give the cover a pull and it will come out, there is a clip(2). Next close the glove box and unscrew both the screws holding it in(underneath it). Then undo the screws at the top and bottom of the black plastic in which usually sits a speaker. Take it out, and then undo the 2 screws holding the black bar to which the glove box was attached. 1 2 2. I have the complete interior, with the center console, so I will explain how to take the whole thing out.
Start by removing the box infront of the gear stick. Take off the carpet and there will be to screws. Then undo all these screws(on both sides): Pull the box out, then pull up the carpet inside the arm rest and undo the screws:
Pull it towards the car and pull out the front part of the center console: 3. Next undo the screws holding in the plastic around your stereo:
and these found inside the ash tray: Slide the metal ash trah housing out and the plastic should come off. 4. Remove the drivers side lower dash. I have no photos of this, but its very easy to find all the screws involved. There are no clips so if its not coming off easily you missed a screw. When its off unclip the dimmer and remove the bonnet release. 5. Next remove the stereo. There will be 4 screws around it(1) and it will slide out. Just unplug it from the back. Now unscrew the plastic that was holding the stereo: 2 1 It is held on with screws(2). And now unscrew the black panel with the heater/fan controls. Incase a cable falls off the control panel heres how it goes:
And now unscrew the metal braces it was screwed into. 2 screws in each one. 6. Next unscrew the duct between the fan and the heater box. There are 4 screws. It will just slide towards the back of the car: and undo the screw holding the duct on the drivers side in place:
7. Next take the black section that blows air up into the vests above and by the steering wheel. Wiggle it around, it wont come out easily. You will need to move wires and cabled out of your way and you can remove the drivers side vent. Finally got it out: It s a good idea to get the heat gun onto this area and dint it in as much as possible. This will make room for RCA connectors in the back of your headunit. 8. You will need to undo all the screws holding on the centre unit(big black thing) in place. There are some hidden at the top of it. 9. Get into the engine bay and remove the hoses off the old heater core (make sure you ve drained the fluid first), remove the grommets too (trust me, it will make it easier for you). 10. The heater core is actually secured in the big black box with a small piece of metal. Unfortunately I have no photos, but heres a pic (viewing from front of car).
The heater sits in the black box like this(viewing from passengers side): (the screw dose not go through the firewall) Unplug the ballast resistors You can unclip this cable to make it easier Heater site in here Now wiggle it out. Once its off the screws holding it in position, pull it out. It will not be easy, really pull at it. The reason we removed the grommets was because: I didn t, and I just cut the hose so when I pulled the box out the heater didn t want to come with it, and the metal holding it dented in a lot of fins. Also it was really hard to pull out. When putting it back I figured out the heater was secured in the box and it went in MUCH easier.
11. While you ve got it out, you can inspect the ballast resistors. They will control the fan speeds. The coils on mine where broken and fan speed setting 1 and 2 wouldn t work. A replacement cost me $5 from the wreckers. 12. The hard part is done. I recommend you use this opportunity to clean out all the dust from the ducts and behind the plastic panels, and vacuum those hard to reach places. 13. Unscrew and remove the old heater core. Throw it against the fence for causing so much trouble. 14. Slide the new heater core into the slot, screw in the piece of metal that holds it in. To get the big black box in, get the top of it in first, then push the bottom in. Won t be easy. Once its in, screw in one of the top screws to hold it while you screw in the rest. 15. That s it, at this point you should be able to put it back together. Just do everything in reverse. All done: Good luck Andy (toymods alias).