Heater Core Alternative - Escort Core into 260/280

[Captain Obvious]

7 hours ago, Zed Head said:

Pretty sure that CO moved his coolant flow control valve to the engine bay. 

Yup, true that. And because I have already removed that rats nest of short hoses under the dash, making the connections to the Escort core should be pretty easy. I'm not sure how easy it would be if you were trying to make connection to the original water kock valve.

[Mike]

Nice pics!  What's your plan for bend in the coolant line?

[gwri8]

 

46 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

Yup, true that. And because I have already removed that rats nest of short hoses under the dash, making the connections to the Escort core should be pretty easy. I'm not sure how easy it would be if you were trying to make connection to the original water kock valve.

I recently had to help Jai out with Redwing not having heat.  Turns out that when she had her aftermarket AC installed, the guy who did it put in a petcock valve on the water hose in the engine bay. Is that how you did it CO?

[Zed Head]

Here it is - 

Could probably be an Article, just for the explanation and pictures alone.  Not that it isn't a good idea also.

 

[rcb280z]

9 hours ago, S30Driver said:

Wow ... $36 shipped from Rock Auto

Autozone has them for $26.00 so it may be cheaper at local part stores.

Edited December 23, 2016 by rcb280z

[Captain Obvious]

The plan for the bend in the line is to leave the core as is and make the bend with the rubber coolant hose instead of the metal tube coming out of the core.

That's the kind of detail that I won't really be able to finalize until I have the box in the car. I'm pretty sure I can come up with something, especially since I have already relocated my water kock to the engine compartment, but that's exactly why I'm jumping the gun a little with this post. I just figured with the talk about heater cores and someone was getting ready to do theirs, I wanted to get this out there with potentially a better alternative.

[siteunseen]

On 12/22/2016 at 9:42 AM, siteunseen said:

Looks promising. 

I wanted ask you if you've read or seen someone putting a switchable valve in the engine bay that would bypass the core until cold weather? I'm almost positive I read where somebody did that in the past. I'm not using my laptop at the moment or I could search around. Any thoughts or have you heard of this? I'm pretty sure it was a 240 because those allow some hot air releasing in the cabin when you don't need any. Maybe it was an A/C thread?

I'm thinking more simple, something like these.

 

And put it in an extra hose I'll run.  Something like this.

 

 

[sweatybetty]

39 minutes ago, siteunseen said:

I'm thinking more simple, something like these.

 

And put it in an extra hose I'll run.  Something like this.

 

 

seems i read somewhere that by-passing the heater core is not a good thing

[siteunseen]

14 minutes ago, sweatybetty said:

seems i read somewhere that by-passing the heater core is not a good thing

People say it creates hot spots on the head not flowing out the back fitting.  I have never had a working heater core in a 240, two I owned were bypassed without problems.  Mine is plugged where that 45 elbow is coming out of the head.

Edited December 23, 2016 by siteunseen

[siteunseen]

That's why I want to get the heater hoses back in, so I can tie all that in together and get it back to stock configuration. 

[Zed Head]

This guy, TimZ, found a rebuild kit for the original capillary control valve.  Interesting reading.  http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/126131-280z-heater-water-valve/

I've found that the heat supply available from the stock core and coolant flow rates is waaaaayyy more than needed.  I have a similar valve to the one CO used and I had to extend the arm on it so that it only opens a small amount.  Even so, I only use about 1/4 of the range of the heat control lever in the dash.

Still waiting for somebody to find a complete assembly that we can transplant over that will do normal things like blow hot air from the dash vents, and fresh air through all of them at the same time.  Those Z designers must have worn heavy coats and sandals all the time, based on their choices.

[Captain Obvious]

Zed, I found the same thing. The heat output from the stock core at full flow is way more than I need as well.

My "solution" was to put a second valve in the engine compartment in the line leading back to the water pump inlet. It's a small brass ball valve from the big home improvement store. I closed it about halfway and then took the handle off. The handle lives in my center console if I need to adjust it again. With that additional (fixed) restriction in series with the temp control valve, I now use about 3/4 of the adjustment range.

In theory, the Escort core will impart a little less heat to the air stream because of the narrower thickness. If I get incredible lucky (doubtful), I might just end up exactly where I want to be!

As for heated air out of the vents, I've given that considerable thought as well because I've got circulation issues in my hands and would love to have warm air to blow on them. I think the easiest way to achieve that would be to stuff a small heater core between the blower motor and the air distribution box. Essentially replace the plastic accordion duct with a heater core instead and then remove the original core completely.

That way, the airstream would be hot by the time it got to the airbox, and the only thing the box would do would be distribute that already heated air.

But... For now, I'd settle for a frikin' heater core, even in the stock location, that doesn't leak.