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Car Forum / GMC Cars / March 2005Plastic heater core connectors ????
My daughter had an 81 Chevy Citation and I was surprised to hear that the tailpieces of the heater core to which the heater hoses connected were plastic. 1) How long has this been going on ? 2) How many other car makers do something this stupid ? 3) Is this a cost cutting measure on the manufacturer's part ? Must be since I read that the replacements come as all brass like years ago. 4) How common is it for these to break on older cars ? 5) Is the only fix a heater core replacement = $$$$ ? TIA > My daughter had an 81 Chevy Citation and I was surprised to hear that > the tailpieces of the heater core to which the heater hoses connected > were plastic. > > 1) How long has this been going on ? Since 1981. > 2) How many other car makers do something this stupid ? All of them. > 3) Is this a cost cutting measure on the manufacturer's part ? Yes. > Must be since I read that the replacements come as all brass > like years ago. Not true. Few are brass. Most are plastic or aluminum. > 4) How common is it for these to break on older cars ? It happens. "Common" is a relative term. Everything will fail eventually. > 5) Is the only fix a heater core replacement = $$$$ ? Yes. > TIA «» wrote: > > My daughter had an 81 Chevy Citation and I was surprised to hear that > > the tailpieces of the heater core to which the heater hoses connected [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > > TIA I changed my 83 chev core and the old was brass/copper and so was the new from NAPA. GM might of started using plastic around 1980? My 89 Cavalier Z 24 heater core split open ( luckily ) while backing up the drivewway one night after returning from the theater at 2 am. Anitfreeze pour out at a rapid rate all over the driveway thanks to the drain tube in the firewall. The plastic heater hose pipe broke right off the side tank. The core was 8 or 9 years old. My 91 Bonneville heater core is also has plastic tanks & aluminum core. It had a very slow seepage leak that sealed itself up for awhile. Upon replacing the ECM in 2004, I noticed some dried up residue on the bottom of the HC cover under the dash. About two months later, wetness began showing so I replaced the core. It was 13 years old. Its is probably cheaper to make plastic rather than all brass or all aluminum. Also reduces weight which manufacturers are always trying to shave off cars. Good Luck Harryface Ø¿Ø 1991 Pontiac Bonneville LE 300,811 miles GM might of started using plastic around 1980? > Its is probably cheaper to make plastic rather than all brass or all > aluminum. Also reduces weight which manufacturers are always trying to > shave off cars. Actually I think it's more expensive to make plastic/aluminum rather than all aluminum. I think the reason they do plastic tubes is that aluminum isn't resiliant enough for the tubes and when you clamped down on the tubes with the heater hose clamps they would probably fracture at that point after a few years, unless you made the tubes really thick (like as thick as A/C evaporator core tubes) I suspect they went to aluminum heater cores because soldered copper/brass will rot out if the antifreeze isn't kept changed. (like if someone runs water instead of antifreeze for a long time, or they use old antifreeze that has had all the corrosion inhibitors used up) Of course if they don't design the plastic to aluminum sealing area right, it will leak there, and if they use the wrong materials for the plastic, the plastic will get hard and crumble. By contrast soldered copper brass is a bit easier to get right in the manufacturing. Ted |
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