Advice Required...

[Emily]

Holden Commodore VS Executive Series II 1997:

I have recently purchased the afore-mentioned vehicle from my local ‘trusty’ mechanic. Unfortunately, it is proving to be a rather questionable purchase, causing more expense than my meager disability pension allows.

Apart from numerous expenses already tallied, I am now being told that it requires a new heater core. However after several (conflicting) quotes and advice, we are trying to determine whether this particular model needs to have the dashboard removed in order for this process to be completed.

We have been quoted anywhere between $1,600- (from the local Holden dealer) and $500- (from another local mechanic). Several other quotes have come in at around $700-.

If anyone could offer advice or opinion, I would be most grateful.

Emily

[IBLOWN]

Dash needs to come out. Take the $500 option and run with it! Thats very cheap.

If you dont really want to spend the money and dont mind not having a heater then tell your mechanic to by-pass the heater core. Only costs 1 hose and an hours labour max.

[Deano3350]

just make sure heater tap stays shut and dont use it until you have money or a friend who can fix it

[hako]

The dash does not necessarily have to come out as there is a method which involves using a modified heater matrix - this will save heaps. I'll attach a link that goes into detail exactly how it is done. Maybe print it and show your mechanic. Replacing it this way is not rocket science and can turn out very cheap if you use a heater matrix from a wrecker....under $100 including a carton of XXXX Anyway read the post and see what you think. Good Luck.
heater core on VS

[Brett_jjj]

As hako said,dont remove the dash, its to costly doing it this way just to fix the heater core,do it the way it shows in the link hako posted.When my heater core finally dies in my VS,I will be replacing it the "easy" way.I know a guy who has done this,so Ive seen it first hand,and his heater works excellent now.A lot of older cars used rubber heater hose under the dash ,so its no big deal cutting the copper pipes off the new core and using rubber heater hose to connect it.This method turns a 10 hour, $1000 job into a 2 hour, $200 job.

[Emily]

Thank you all for your advice in relation to this matter. Unfortunately, there is a huge amount of misinformation available these days and unless one is specifically trained and knowledgable in this area, it is virtually impossible to know who to trust.

IBLOWN: Thanks for the confirmation about the dash. You were indeed correct about the quote being ‘cheap’ however I have since discovered it came with numerous ‘conditions’ attached.

Deano3350: Thank you for the advice, from what I have learned, this seem to be imperative for safety and to limit further damage. Thanks.

Hako: Thank you muchly for the info and related link. I had heard of this ‘modified heater matrix’ method, but didn’t know anything about it. This info was greatly appreciated. By the way, I love your quotes, especially the first one!

Brett_jjj: Thanks for the verifying your agreement with Hako. Whenever I find myself in these types of situations (and the range of conflicting information is vast), I tend to support the ‘majority’ view. Irrespective of this, it can be so difficult knowing whether or not you are making the right decision.

Thank you all so very much for your advice in relation to this matter. Regardless of what is said, being blond can have its disadvantages, particularly when it comes to dealing with these type of issues. My recently (sacked) mechanic had the view that if you are a female, you don’t need to know anything, just hand over the car, the money and ‘trust me’. I’m a bit over this type of attitude. I don’t see this as a ‘sexist’ issue; it is simply an ‘educational’ one. Everyone has different areas of expertise; cars (and their internal workings) are (admittedly) not mine.

Thanks again,

Emily