On saturday I finally got the chance to do the heater core, which was leaking into my car. Me and my brother did it, and let me tell you, what a pain in the ***! You have to drain the coolant, remove the whole dash out of the car, drop the steering wheel to the floor, pull out the whole center console assembly, and pull off of the other front interior panels, but luckily you can pull out the heater core without draining the AC. The old heater core was leaking into the plastic peice it was in, which had a little hole and thats where the coolant was leaking out of when I cornered hard. I'm so happy its over, if you ever have to do the heater core, plan on spending a good 5-7 hours doing it.

The only good part is, well besides me being able to corner hard again and use my heat and a/c without the stink is that I got to clean my whole interior real well out of the car. Overall, I give this project two big thumbs down. I'll be posting pics soon.

 

You didn't take pictures? Oh noes!! Could've been an awesome How-To for everyone.

Edit: Nevermind

 

Heater core replacement is a bitch on any car, congrats on getting it done. You're right, I replaced one in my 87 RX-7 once, and the best part was being able to remove some weight from stuff behind the dash I didn't need - and scrubbing down the entire interior while I had it out.

 

Here are the pics of everything ripped apart. I took a few more pictures of random wire connection and stuff just to remember where everything went. Its not really a tricky job, but writing a how to while i did it was not my idea of fun, it already took all day. I could help answer some questions if anyone else has to get into this.

 

OMG I don't think I could put all that back together!

 

When this picture was taken I was in the corner crying.

Just kidding, my brother is really good with interior panels, he does auto glass for a living, so he knows how to take any interior apart, it is a mess though.

Heh, check out my new sig pic

 

How much?

 

I have to do the heater core in my Protege5 here shortly and I'm quite curious on how you bypassed draining the AC.... I've only done one other heater core and that was on a Dodge Dakota and they suck and this one does not look nor sound fun but if it can be done without having to recharge the AC then it makes it a little more bearable on me so please do share...

 

may i know why you change it? I have a problem on my 2011 mazda 3 hatchback, it’s getting hot in the center console in the passenger side even the a/c on or off.

 

Does your car have a manual transmission? A hot center console is usually either shifter or exhaust related.
Could be something as simple as new rubber shifter boots. I had that problem in my RX-7 and new shifter boots took care of it.

 

I have a 2011 mazda 3 2.5L hatchback and it has automatic transmission in it.

Getting hot where the orange circle area.

 

Very good, knowledgeable.

 

Hoping you already got this fixed. Mine was making me very cranky! LOL
I took it to some trusted mechanics and it was definitely heater coil related. I haven't seen pics yet, but they said somehow some screws were out and allowing the heat to leak directly into that area, it was making my cabin super hot. They are going to do what they can to seal it to avoid an $800 part that would need replacing, 🙏

 

Greetings...first time posting in these forums...respect on that heater core replacement...

I am here because I was hoping on gaining some insight on how replace the heater hoses...

My 2003 Mazda Protege5 manual transmission has been giving me some overheating issues...I replaced the thermostat went for a drive and then let it idle for a while...it wasn't overheating at all...I started revving it only to notice steam coming from the engine bay...one of the hoses going to the heater core is completely detached / burst off....my question is how I do access this hose to replace?? Is it an easy job or should I pay a mechanic to do the job??
Thanks.

 

i also have to do replace the haeter core. in my mazda3 2004