Monday, September 24, 2012

Heater core repair, day two


Began the process of putting everything back today.

Work log

  • Worked from ~6:00-7:15 p.m., at which point I called it a night on account of darkness (shaded driveway means cooler but gets dark faster).
  • Took some time to properly re-route the wiring for the fog lamp to the fog lamp switch...will have to re-solder another wire, but worth it, for me, to do it in a cleaner fashion
  • Looked inside the A/C Evaporator Core Case (#19850) at the evaporator core, which looks similar to the fins of the heater core : o ) Want to read more about this and learn how it works.
  • Looked inside the heater box (HVAC Heater Assembly, #18478) and played with the controls to watch how the various pieces work together to route air
    • The hot-cold control seems to simply move a cover up or down over the heater core, which allows more/less hot air into the cabin
    • The control on the other side has several different positions, each of which lift/close various flaps within the heater box : o )
    • Getting interested in the engineering behind all the various parts really represents the most time-consuming part of the process, for me ; o )
  • Re-installed the heater box, almost forgetting to re-attach the Heater Core to Dash Panel Seal (#18529), which I had left on the passenger mat : o P
  • Re-attached the HVAC Outlet Duct Extension Center (#18C505) after rinsing out coolant residue and drying
  • Re-attached the left and right Windshield Defroster Nozzle Connectors (#18A435) to the heater box
  • Dusted off a lot of the interior pieces with a shop towel
  • Re-installed the dash into the cabin 
  • Re-attached the blue cable and companion electrical connectors to the dash
  • Bolted on the two driver/passenger bolts and the three under-windshield bolts.
  • Made sure to re-attach the dash to the left and right Windshield Defroster Nozzles (#18490)
  • Made sure to route the instrument cluster electrical connectors and the speedometer cable through the proper holes in the dash
  • Managed to get everything back on without cracking the dash any further....
  • Feeling paranoid I am missing something, or I will miss a connector, or forget to route it properly and have to retrace my steps...I think that probably seems normal though, the first time. Next time (next time!?) I will probably feel more confident and miss something due to lack of attention ; o )
  • Almost forgot: I noticed my rear-center console, which covers the emergency brake, broke a plastic piece inside of it. x_x
  • At the same time, I noticed an unused connector under the rear-center console which the emergency brake had sheared two of the wires in half : o P I wish I knew the purpose of the wires!
  • Noticed the air box next to the blower motor...I want to know more about that as well.
* all parts Motorcraft unless otherwise specified

Next steps
  • Bolt on the four 10mm "tunnel" bolts
  • Replace green connector to fuse box
  • Replace driver's side console kick plate
  • Replace blower motor electrical connector
  • Replace vacuum line behind glove box
  • Replace electrical connector to blue plastic box 
  • and so forth... 
Not sure I will finish it all on Tuesday night. 

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