Heater Core Part III

I finally got the leaking heater core out of my old Nissan Frontier (’02 model year,  so now 23 years old) and found a couple of interesting things that you may find interesting – especially if you happen to own an older truck. Or an older car or crossover/SUV, for that matter.

The first thing is that my old core was clogged – as well as leaking. Once I got it out and on my workbench, I was able to see inside. The internals were gunked up with something and that almost certainly accounted for what I always thought was the mediocre heating of my truck’s passenger cabin, which I attributed to “just the way it is.” Some vehicles have better heat than others. But I no longer think it was that. I think the previous owner either used Stop Leak in the cooling system – which stops radiator leaks by plugging small holes, so as to mask but not really fix the problem while also filling the system with funk that plugs up the system. Or he used contaminated (tap) water radiator in the system, which can lead to calcification build-up.

I think so because I remembered the truck’s engine ran hot when I bought it about 15 years ago. I had to replace the radiator – which cured that problem. But it did not fix the heater core, which remained a latent (just not yet leaking) problem for the next 15 years. Stop Leak is n expedient. It isn’t a repair. It is often used by people selling a vehicle with a leaky radiator that don’t want to pay to replace the radiator before they sell (or trade) the vehicle in. Using tap water is another expedient in that it’s easier than going to the parts store for a jug of coolant. But you ought to – if you want to avoid down-the-road (and possibly expensive) problems with your vehicle’s cooling system. It is also important to be sure you use the correct, factory-specified coolant that is compatible with your particular make/model’s cooling system. This information will be in your owner’s manual and also sometimes on the radiator fill cap.

The other thing I found out is something you may already know about. It is that critical parts for older vehicles may no longer be available – from the manufacturer

In my case, the critical parts are a pair of transfer tubes that convey the warm engine coolant from under the hood to the heater core under the dash and then back to the engine, to be warmed up some more. These two tubes bolt to mounting bosses on the core and so you absolutely have to have them for the system to connect. You’d think just having outlet nibs on the core that generic hoses could be fitted onto and tightened up would be smarter but it actually isn’t because those hoses are made of rubber and they will eventually deteriorate and leak.

Then again, so will plastic – which is what these tubes are made of. As I mentioned in my earlier report about this project, I decided it would be smart to replace those 23-year-old plastic tubes with brand-new ones that would last another 23 years. Also, they’d come with new o-rings to replace the 23-year-old crushed and tired o-rings that were attached to the old core.

So I went to the Nissan store. And it was there that I learned these parts had been discontinued. This surprised me, a little. In part because even though my ’02 Nissan is almost old  enough to qualify for Antique Vehicle plates, I do not look upon it as old. Also, Nissan made so many of these trucks. I see doppelgangers of my truck every time I go for a drive. You’d  think (well, I’d think) Nissan would continue to stock parts for popular   models, even if they’re no longer making that model.

That used to be the case – and still is, in some cases. I have a nearly 50-year-old Pontiac and I have never had any trouble finding service parts for it. Part of the reason being that it is a popular model, of course. But there is another reason. When it was made – back in late 1975 – American cars generally shared many parts and these interchanged between makes and models. For example, my Pontiac’s suspension parts are in many cases the same as the  past used not just in other Pontiac models of the period but also Chevys and Buicks, too. Plus, models used to stay mostly the same for longer.

So parts were around for longer.

Today, cars have a much shorter shelf life. A new model generally gets “updated” after four years and totally revamped not long thereafter. After which, the older design is shortly no longer supported – very much like an aging-out smartphone. And because critical parts – especially electronic parts – are very specific not just to that make/model but also to that particular year/vehicle – it can mean you can’t fix whatever it is that’s not working. Not unless you can find a used part that’s still working. There are fewer and fewer of them as the years pass.

On the upside, it is also true that replacement parts for discontinued parts are available from aftermarket suppliers, as on eBay. That’s where I found a set of new tubes for my truck and I’m waiting for them to arrive so I can put everything back together and have heat – hot, this time – again!

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