Hello,
I have the common lr3 heater core clogging issue. Poor heat on drivers side, blender doors and motors are fine. Very good local Indy LR shop charges $1020 for the job, say they do it 3-4/month. Ive read that it is a hard job but have not seen a DIY or specifics. I looked in the service manual however and it looks straight forward. Drain coolant, remove passenger side interior paneling, heater core slides out after removing hoses. Assemble and refill. I've been wrenching for years however never done a heater core.
Anyone done this? Is it as easy as it looks in the manual? Talk me in or out of it.

Thanks!

 

Havent done one, but from what Ive heard it isn't terrible.

If you do decide to do it, let me know. I have brand new Nissen heater cores for the LR3 for $150/shipped for forum members.

 

hey thanks for that. I will contact you, as I am in Canada.

 

Did you end up giving it a try? Running into the same issue and the repair manual makes it seem super easy.

 

I did, and it was. I did it at a time when I could spare the truck for three days just in case. Labeled very screw and took pics. Most annoying part was the two o-ring connections of the core to the lines on the body. The clamps and o-ring would not seal for the life of me. After two hours of trying I put a tubing cutter in and cut the aluminum flanges off. Chamfered and deburred it to avoid cutting the rubber hose. Got coolant hose and hose clamps and joined the heater to the body lines in 10 minutes. The heater hose was a very tight fit and the joint area is easily accessible to inspect. 6 months later and it looks clean and dry. Oh, and line the passenger footwell with plastic while you drain everything.

All interior trim parts went back in easily. I used light duty threadlock to avoid squeaks and rattles.

Don't let anyone tell you this job is the hardest thing... It really isn't. At all. It isn't.

 

Oh thank god. I had an appointment set at a repair shop to spend $800-1000 on the repair. I'd much rather we do this ourselves like we've done all other repairs on the Rovers for years. AB told me not to attempt it, so I worried.

What coolant did you use?

 

Also, for anyone having the same issue, I found a repair guide.

Land Rover Workshop Manuals > LR3/Disco 3 > 412-02A Heating And Ventilation > Heater Core Removal LHD

 

Why did they tell you not to? Did they say specifically?

Truly you just need to remove center console trim and the glovebox. Then the core disconnects and drains. Cut and reconnect... Install. Easy.

I used dexcool.

 

Nissen heater core? Am I to assume that either Denso or Nissen makes the whole heater business for Land Rover including the heater core, or is it just that whatever heater core our 3 uses is the same as one used in some Nissen vehicle?

The core being on a Nissen makes sense; I cannot see someone designing a different heater core for every vehicle on the road - well, maybe Land Rover does.

 

I would say buy the proper heater core, which I believe is Nissen. Mine came from rock auto and the input/output lines were connected different than original. That's what caused my only hiccup on install.