2005 Heater Problem

[Matt24601]

Sorry I left this thread without any resolution, but I got bogged down in other areas. After looking at 4x4grey88's image of the heater valve (the one to the left) I noticed that mine looked distinctly different. The heater hose was separated in half and folded over on itself and taped up (pinched so as not to leak). I have undone the taping and now I have two halves of my heater hose, both with what appear to be some sort of plastic disconnect end. The ends don't seem to fit together however. They both look like this , but they don't have that little clear plastic insert. I am wondering where I go from here. There is enough slack in the hose that I could cut them both off and just run a standard barbed connector, but I don't want to do that if these are some sort of vital feature. My main concern now is why would the previous owner do this? Some sort of leak in the system that he didn't want to have to deal with? Thanks for the help so far.

 

[Matt24601]

Alright, I have isolated the problem through trial and error and it appears I have a bad heater core. Cores don't appear to be too expensive, but what about the install? Is this a total bear to do yourself? I absolutely despise paying double parts rates and install rates to let the dealer do it, but I also need to acknowledge my mechanical limitations. Any experience out there?

 

[DaveBen]

Matt, fill out your signature so we all will know what truck you drive (year) and where you live. Go to the USER CP in the first BLUE LINE just above this forum discussion, to fill it out.

Dave

 

[Matt24601]

Just to show you what I've got going on, from previous posts I've discovered that my heater hose running into and out of the inlets at the firewall has been disconnected and taped off. I have to assume that this is due to some sort of problem (leak) with the heater core that the previous owner didn't want to deal with.
Hose coming out of the heater valve
Rear Hose


Anyone have any experience with changing out the heater core?

Is this better left to the professionals?