So I finally got around to replacing my heater core... again
The first time I replaced it with a core I bought from NAPA which was a Chinese knockoff that dident even fit the stock heater tubes that go through the firewall. So I ended up grinding the core inlet and outlet smooth and clamping heater hose to it and running it through the firewall. Now as I started this thread, for some reason this fix did not work, as you can read in my first few posts.
I found another heater core from Autozone that was different from the first one I bought with a different part number. On the website they claim that this core is made of brass and copper and that it is a direct OEM replacement guaranteed to fit. Well after buying it, it turned out to be another cheap Aluminum core made in china that did not even remotely fit to the stock hard brass tubes through the firewall.
So I found myself with 2 options: 1.) I could buy a new core from Toyota that would cost anywhere from $250-$500, or: 2.) I could go to my local wrecking yard that specializes in Toyotas and buy a used core for $75. I opted for option 2.
After spending an entire day tearing apart my whole dash and replacing the core with a factory used one from a wrecking yard, I checked to make sure it worked first before putting my dash back together. learned that lesson from the first time.
And as you may have guessed, the heater works great now!!!
I went up to the mountains the other day to play in the snow and test out the heater, and it works great. It gets nice and toasty inside now. Even had to crack my window to cool off!
After I got back I decided to cut open the New heater core I bought from NAPA and find out why it did not work. And much to my suspicion, the problem was the core was not built with a divider in between the inlet and the outlet. So the hot water was not forced to go down the core and heat it up. Instead the water just flowed right across the top of the core and right back out to the engine, never heating the core at all. which explains how I was getting hot water to flow in and out of the core with out the core ever getting hot at the bottom where the blower forces the air through it. I took some pictures of it as I cut the top off.
