Heater refurb question

[Selo]

My truck had spent a lot of time on the farm and when I first opened the heater box to clean it out I found a real variety of things. The biggest glob was the nest the mice had made from the firewall insulation, and then there were nuts, bolts, a pen, seveal 30-06 rifle cartridges, and a match book from a local bar. Once I got it all out of the way, then blend door worked a lot better.

Bruce

Bruce,

Maybe the mice were arming themselves! Yeah mine too was packed with rat bedding infused with the aroma of mouse pee and poop.

Selo

 

[chengny]

chengny,


Of course the deeper I get, the more issues I find. Taking the core out of the heater distribution assembly, found one of the "strap like" brackets was rusted through and in two pieces. I'm looking on Craigslist for heater parts. Wonder if those straps are the same in the AC equiped trucks as in my non-AC truck heater.

Whats with the vent hole in the replacement blower motors? My OEM does not have a vent hole. Once I'm sure which to order will be getting parts ordered. I need the motor AND the cage as my cage is missing a vane or two. Regardless will begin scrubbing rat pee and poo off housings and will get the fan motor housing off the truck today come hell or high water.

Thanks for your help.

Selo

1. On a non-AC system the heater core is retained by two "clamps". They are different - the P/N's are 3024673 & 3025501.

The heater core in an A/C system is retained by one "clamp" and one "strap". Those P/N's are 3024912 & 3028863.

So the answer is no - you can't use the brackets from an AC system to retain the core. See below. But don't restrict your search to 1984 trucks. The parts in question were used up until the 1991 model year.

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2. Here's the story on the hole in the blower motor housing. It is there to allow a cooling air hose to be connected.

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As originally supplied from the factory, the blower motor used with heat only systems did not have that hole while the motor for an AC style motor did. The reason for this difference is that the AC style blower motor is of far greater capacity than the heat only motor and presumably would run much hotter if no cooling air were supplied. I don't know what LMC expects you to do with that open hole - maybe put a piece of duct tape over it?

 

[Selo]

chengny,

Excellent information and much I needed to know to find a part. I assumed the two non-AC clamps were the same. The one at the inlet and outlet end of the core is the one corroded in two on my heater. I am having difficulty finding part-out trucks that are non-AC. Just like the 3 speed on the column, few were made without AC it seems. At the worst I may have to make one.

Thanks also for explaining the motor hole. Tape would work. Could glue a piece of aluminum over it too.

I appreciate the time you take to help me.

Selo

 

[Dmack]

To lube the cables, motorcycle cables recommend wrapping a plastic baggie around the end of the cable below the opening and secure it with a rubber band. Flare the open end of the baggie open like a funnel.leading to the opening in the sheath where the actuating wire enters it. Prop it up and fill the funnel area with wd40 and let gravity work it's magic, flowing the lube down the cable.

 

[dougbert]

as for the fan cooling tube I found it when I did my truck:

ACDelco 15-34062 on amazon

 

[MikeB]

Good luck getting that bolt out, regardless of tools used! Been there done that.

I'm not sure of the difference in motors. If you connect yours to the battery, does it spin smoothly and quietly? If so, I'd re-use it. If not, order the correct one from LMC. Or see what your local auto parts store has. I buy a lot of stuff from my local O'Reilly Auto because many of the parts have a lifetime warranty. And if a part doesn't fit, I can easily return it.

 

[Frankenchevy]

am I missing something from the original post? the inner fender takes 5-10 minutes to remove including the battery tray.

 

[chengny]

as for the fan cooling tube I found it when I did my truck:

ACDelco 15-34062 on amazon

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but I don't think he needs - or wants - the tube. Since his system is heat only, there is no place to connect the supply end of the tube - like there is on an AC equipped system:

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[Selo]

Hi Dougbert,

Appreciate your wanting to help, but it is a non-AC heater so hose would have nowhere to go!

Dmack,

Great idea to get lube into the cable housing. I may do exactly that, but probably will use liquid silicone lube.

MikeB,

I gave up on the freakin bolt and took the fender well liner out tonight. Piece of cake after that. I'm going to see what OReilly has. Even if I reuse the oem motor, fan wheel is missing a vane. Really don't know which one to order so seeing what parts stores have may be the way to go.

Frankenchevy,

Remove jack etc, disconnect battery, remove battery, remove overflow reservoir, remove battery tray, remove hard plastic splash guard at rear of well, remove well fasteners, grind heads off two spinning bolts, remove the tire/wheel.....5-10 mins? Well, I think you were making the point that the fender well remove was the way to go. Next time I'll be faster. Maybe never 5-10, but faster than this time!

chengny, you are correct. Thanks for the pic.

So tonight I took the fender well out. Due to rust out, some from battery corrosion, I'm going to replace the fender well. I got the motor housing out. Full of mouse bedding, pee and poop. Pictures of housing are after I scraped handfuls of bedding out. Lots of pee corrosion. Will clean and paint.

I need to get parts ordered. The heater straps are the only parts I can't order. Working on Craigslist OR will have the corroded in-two strap welded, will need to splice a small piece.

Thank you all. Apprech! At my slow pace I will have the heater ready for summer!

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Selo

 

[Selo]

Good luck getting that bolt out, regardless of tools used! Been there done that.

I'm not sure of the difference in motors. If you connect yours to the battery, does it spin smoothly and quietly? If so, I'd re-use it. If not, order the correct one from LMC. Or see what your local auto parts store has. I buy a lot of stuff from my local O'Reilly Auto because many of the parts have a lifetime warranty. And if a part doesn't fit, I can easily return it.

Hey MikeB,

Took your advice and checked with O'Reilly Auto. They had exactly what I needed and no vent hole etc. Comes with the fan wheel. Shipped to my home at no charge. Shakes my confidence in LMC. So I looked at O'Reilly heater cores and ordered that too.

Murray Heat Transfer Heater Core MHT 94553

Murray Climate Control Blower Motor MRY PM138

I'll let you know how it works out.

Thanks, Selo

 

[Selo]

Update. I've been ordering parts and cleaning up the heater parts. Spending money like I have it!

I've ordered and received:

Heater motor and core, (O'Reilly).
Resistor. (LMC)
Passenger side, inner fender. (PartsGeek)
Front and rear splash guards for both sides. (LMC).

Once I removed the fender liner and then the motor housing I discovered the housing had some rusted out holes from mouse urine. I once found a black snake shed skin in the truck, now I know why!

This is not yet a restoration so my goals are for everything to work and no additional rust not a perfect restore. So, I've washed all the parts. Small rusted parts and metal sections of the air distributor will be coated with Fluid Film (https://www.fluid-film.com/). My biggest concern at this point is the rusted motor housing. I may soak it over night with OSPHO and then paint it with Rustoleum. May just epoxy pieces of plastic or aluminum on the outside to seal up the holes in the housing after derust and paint. It won't be pretty but will work until I can find another non-AC motor housing. I am going to use an insulated copper wire? or similar to replace a rusted out heater core mounting strap.

I plan to place some weather stripping on the air doors. I'll have to see how that goes. If anyone has pictures I'd love to see them.

A tip....I had a few bolts that connect the fender inner liner to the fender and body rusted or frozen and damaged when removed. On one I needed a new U-nut that mounts in the sheet metal and I needed a bolt. I was amazed to find Lowe's had both (5/16 x 18).

Found liquid silicone at Walmart to lube control cables and air door/flap hinges.

Here's are some pictures.

Wonder why LMC doesn't carry this motor with fan? It is an exact fit...no vent hole.

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The holes!

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Cleaned up interior air handler

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Defrost door needs weather stripping

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Air handler in good shape except for the rusted out core strap.

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Selo

 

[Selo]

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These are the screw bolts and u-nuts I mentioned in previous post.