On my way to work the other morning, I could smell antifreeze coming from the heater vents. I checked my coolant reservoir today and sure enough it is a little low. (about 2 cups) I'll probably have to look at replacing the heater core this summer before something catastrophic happens. My question is, does the evaporator absolutely have to be removed to replace the heater core? Wisconsin has a ban on the purchase of AC refrigerant which means I have to take it somewhere to get the refrigerant vacuumed and recharged when finished. I really don't want to have to do this if I don't have to as it can get quite expensive. Since the state won't let us do it, the dealers have an advantage and can gouge us pretty good.

Has anyone ever changed the heater core before and know if this can be done? The car is a 1996 Civic LX with AC.

Thanks for any input!

 

Anybody?

Boy, this forum seems slow lately...

 

have fun u have to pull the dash i would press check the system first and see if it holds

 

I'm going to...

My wife's uncle is R134A certified and offered to evacuate the system and recharge it when I'm done.

 

i was just gonna say i can send u a an ac recharge kit, looks like u got it covered