The plastic fitting that connects the hose from my coolant tank to the heater core has broken off, my mechanic said that the heater core needs to be replaced and that is a $700 job requiring him to take out the entire dashboard. So he just put in a bypass part so now i have now heat. Is there anyway that the plastic fitting could be replaced to save costs? 1995 Volkswagen golf
You may not even need it anymore if his repair does the job.
The entire purpose of those quick clip hose ends is for the assembly line. Now that a real human being is working on it , a hose clamp will do just fine forever more.
Sorry i meant now i have NO heat, he put a metal fitting in to bypass the heater core.
Well, if the heater core is that much broken it will need replaced. ( sometimes they can be repaired at a radiator shop but the labor is the same to get to it. )
The only other recourse would be to shop around for quotes on the labor.
A new heater core can be had for 65 - 100 bucks ( my price at Auto Zone is 63 ).
Taking out the dash for access is a very big job so all the quotes will be near the same.
Key words: “Plastic fitting broken off”…If the hose nipple broke off flush with the header tank, try to screw a threaded plastic or metal pipe nipple into the hole on your firewall where the fitting once exited…If this seems possible to do, if you can get the new fitting started and it has some “bite”, remove it, liberally apply some epoxy like J-B Weld to the threads on the fitting and screw it in as tight as possible. leave it alone for a couple of days and then connect the heater hoses properly and see if it holds coolant and pressure…Otherwise, find a heater-core specialist (radiator shops) and replace the core…Prices can vary considerably as some dash-monkeys are far more skilled and faster than others…
My thinking was along the lines of Caddyman. If there is enough plastic where the hose barb was, you might be able to tap and thread in a new hose barb. I’d check the hardware store for a brass fitting or even a copper pipe fitting that you could sweat a pipe to to attach the hose to. I did it once on a vacume tank and worked fine.