Heater core replace? (Town car)

I smell antifreeze and get steam when I run hearer on 1986 Lincoln Town
car. Tried Bars stop leak and it reduced it but still steams 4 days
later.

Is there another type of pour in stop leak that works better for heater
cores?

How long does it take for Bars stop leak to fully work? Will it fully
plug the leak over the next few weeks?

If heater core needs replacement, can an amateur mechanic do the job?
Does the dash have to be completely removed or just slid away from fire
wall a few inches?

How many hours does it take to replace a heater core on an 86 Town Car?

As a last resort. If I have to bypass the heater connections at fire
wall, how bad is it to go through a midwest winter with no heat or
defrost?

Finances are a problem so just paying some overpriced repair shop is at
the risk of not having rent money and eviction. So don't assume that
every one is rich an can get more money from the money tree.

wrote:
> I smell antifreeze and get steam when I run hearer on 1986 Lincoln Town
> car. Tried Bars stop leak and it reduced it but still steams 4 days
> later.
>
> Is there another type of pour in stop leak that works better for heater
> cores?
>
> How long does it take for Bars stop leak to fully work? Will it fully
> plug the leak over the next few weeks?
>
> If heater core needs replacement, can an amateur mechanic do the job?
> Does the dash have to be completely removed or just slid away from fire
> wall a few inches?
>
> How many hours does it take to replace a heater core on an 86 Town Car?
>
> As a last resort. If I have to bypass the heater connections at fire
> wall, how bad is it to go through a midwest winter with no heat or
> defrost?
>
> Finances are a problem so just paying some overpriced repair shop is at
> the risk of not having rent money and eviction. So don't assume that
> every one is rich an can get more money from the money tree.
>

If the leak is still there then it isn't going to get stopped by the
bars leak. That stuff works in a few hours not days. It also has a nasty
habit of plugging the heater core, radiator and helping to destroy the
water pump seals. But too late for that.

On an 86 TC the core isn't that bad. You need to pull the dash out then
remove the access panel and the core. Not fun but not real bad. Now on
the newer ones you have to pull the engine due to lack of clearance to
even get to the core!

As for bypassing it and driving it in the winter. I'm in the northeast
and we have one fire engine that NEVER had a heater, care to guess which
one NEVER moves in the winter?

--
Steve W.
Near Cooperstown, New York

> wrote in message
...

> As a last resort. If I have to bypass the heater connections at fire
> wall, how bad is it to go through a midwest winter with no heat or
> defrost?
>

Are you serious?

Would you ride a bike in the winter? Yeah, I know, some do.

Consider the safety aspect. When you're shivering while driving, how much
attention are you giving to your driving? Answer = not much. How well can
you see through a frosted-up windshield? Not too good.

I'd say "park it" if you're not going to get it fixed.

> As a last resort. If I have to bypass the heater connections at fire
> wall, how bad is it to go through a midwest winter with no heat or
> defrost?
>
> Finances are a problem so just paying some overpriced repair shop is at
> the risk of not having rent money and eviction. So don't assume that
> every one is rich an can get more money from the money tree.

As Steve W. said, BarsLeak isnt going to fix this one, it would appear.

If you have pretty severe winter weather where you live, trying to deal
with loss of defrost and heat through the winter would be unpleasant and
maybe dangerous. Not that people havent done it before....the old Camaros
had heater hoses that connected to the firewall connectors under the
fenders.
Lots of people ran for years with the heater hoses bypassed. (It was a lot
easier to cut a hole in the wheeltub than to do this job in the more
traditional
way!)

Last, you can probably do this job yourself if you have tools and are fairly
mechanically inclined. If you can get to a library with good repair manuals
you can get an idea of how to proceed. It may take you hours....the first
time
you do it. But if you have more time than money, it IS possible.

I recently replaced the air conditioner evaporator core on my vehicle, which
should have been a snap, according to the manual. It took me a lot longer
than
a snap, because the manual doesnt tell you everything, usually. I did it
because
I wanted to know how to do it. Now, if I had to do it again, I could do a
much
faster and cleaner job.

Good luck, should you decide to do it yourself.

in michigan ?? i can do it

wrote:

> I smell antifreeze and get steam when I run hearer on 1986 Lincoln Town
> car. Tried Bars stop leak and it reduced it but still steams 4 days
> later.
>
> Is there another type of pour in stop leak that works better for heater
> cores?
>
> How long does it take for Bars stop leak to fully work? Will it fully
> plug the leak over the next few weeks?
>
> If heater core needs replacement, can an amateur mechanic do the job?
> Does the dash have to be completely removed or just slid away from fire
> wall a few inches?
>
> How many hours does it take to replace a heater core on an 86 Town Car?
>
> As a last resort. If I have to bypass the heater connections at fire
> wall, how bad is it to go through a midwest winter with no heat or
> defrost?
>
> Finances are a problem so just paying some overpriced repair shop is at
> the risk of not having rent money and eviction. So don't assume that
> every one is rich an can get more money from the money tree.

hls wrote:
> I recently replaced the air conditioner evaporator core on my vehicle, which
> should have been a snap, according to the manual. It took me a lot longer
> than
> a snap, because the manual doesnt tell you everything, usually. I did it
> because
> I wanted to know how to do it. Now, if I had to do it again, I could do a
> much
> faster and cleaner job.

I asked here a couple of times for help on my '89 Grand Marquis and no one
volunteered a syllable that I saw. I and a friend did it on his driveway
over several hours one afternoon. Ruined the rubber surround liner that
was around it, because I didn't know it was supposed to be one piece.
Auto parts store had given me the wrong part; had to go back and get the
core for an '88, which was an identical replacement. It didn't go 100%
perfect, but it was far from a train wreck.

--
One phrase that explains 99% of all idiot driving:
"You can't block traffic if you're not in the way."