Removing Heater Assembly - (Primarily A/C lines)

[benderrrb]

Hey everyone, new to both this forum and using forums in general so apologies in advance for any noob-ish material in this post.
So I have recently had an issue with overheating, which has been narrowed down to a very tired heater core (absolutely no heat in cabin when engine temp is almost half on the gauge) so I have temporarily bypassed this by attaching the inlet to the return lines on one side of the water pump. This has solved my overheating issue for now.
HOWEVER, I am currently most of the way through removing the whole dash assembly to access and replace the core itself, yet I cannot remove the heater unit assembly as I am unsure how to disconnect the A/C lines that run into the passenger side footwell area (just behind the passenger airbag).
This is preventing me from removing the unit and therefore the heater core (yes, I have removed all other bolts holding the unit on).

Can someone please tell me how to do this - am I overlooking something very simple or is this actually somewhat tricky to do?

(See picture for what I am talking about)

 

[st3r3otyp3]

there one bolt holding the lines to the tx valve, however you have to have the gas evacuated before disconnection, other wise you have buy more gas and its expensive.

Take it to a business so they can extract the gas then pick up the car, do your job and return to business, so it can be placed back in.

One thing though that bothers me is maybe heater hoses were blocked or the tap was blocked, did you test them before ripping out your dash?

 

[Jxfwsf]

Is it the car in the pic, that's not a vt/vx.

 

[benderrrb]

I've got past that bolt and am struggling with the housing it attaches to (which I guess then connects onto the air intake/blower area of the unit inside the cabin?)
Photos will show which part I am referring to

 

[benderrrb]

Nah that was just a picture I found on the net - I think it's a VN but it shares an almost identical engine layout

 

[Jxfwsf]

Bugger, was gonna say you can cheat with vn-vs and not have to rip the whole hvac unit out....
As asked above, sure it's not the tap or hoses at fault? with heater off the tap would be in bypass mode acting exactly how you have it now physically joining it (although there is slightly less resistance in the flow physically bypassing it)
or water pump, when they corrode the fins off they won't pump enough coolant unless revving hard

 

[benderrrb]

Hoses are most definitely not a problem as I replaced these and all of the other major/important parts and hoses for cooling etc in early 2014. As well as new clamps (decent T clamps too).
However I have not had the tap checked - it seemed to be okay however I do not know how I would check this.
I followed some online guides as well as some Haynes Service Manual info on how to properly flush and bleed air from cooling system including heater core, so when I flushed it (with low pressure of course) the water came out clear with no issues concerning 'clogging'.
How would I check the tap and where would you recommend best place to purchase one? (Considering I'm in NZ).

 

[Nut Kracker]

 

[st3r3otyp3]

also try flushing and reverse flushing the heater core, considering you are already running a custom bypass, I assume the hoses arnt connected to the firewall anymore, grab your garden hose with a jet connector turn it on flat out and flush it out from one pipe then then the next if its blocked hard it cant flow out the other pipe, try it. and report back.

 

[Nut Kracker]

I've got past that bolt and am struggling with the housing it attaches to (which I guess then connects onto the air intake/blower area of the unit inside the cabin?)
Photos will show which part I am referring to

I see you've had a go at those two cap head screws.
Looks like you'll need a Torx bit for those.