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1998 Intrigue - heater box

Yahoo Message Number: 97804
Has anyone successfully removed the dash heater box (the housing where the heater core & AC evaporator are) and/or the blower motor?

I'm removing a mouse nest for the second time in 5 months, and I have managed to get the dash top off and the top half of the dash HVAC box (where the nest was last time) but this time the nest is way down in the bottom by the heater core. It looks like there is a gap in the sheet metal of the housing, plus a gap around the opening where the heater hoses connect to the heater core. This is likely where the little rodents are getting in. I already covered the air intake hole with a fine mesh metal screen.
In any case it is impossible to get at any of the lower part from inside, and there isn't even room to get the blower motor out without at least getting the whole box loose and moving it up several inches. I need to get the whole thing out so I can clean out the mouse nest and close up the gaps for good with metal plates or something they can't chew through. Plus I detect a faint odor of antifreeze in the dash so it is likely the heater core is leaking and needs to be replaced or repaired.

I already talked to Kevin Waite, the gist of his advice was "good luck" since the dash HVAC is installed into the floor and the dash is built around it at the factory.
Any experience for a model similar to mine, especially from someone who has managed to do this or knows a shop that has done it, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark M

1998 Intrigue #10661

Re: 1998 Intrigue - heater box

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97812
I have, replaced the heater core. Documented under files, Intrigue Heater Core, 29 October, 2007.

Judy n Joe

98 Intrigue 10578

Re: 1998 Intrigue - heater box

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97821
Mark:

I have removed mine twice now. first for heater core leak & then for a noisy fan assy that turned to be loose in the box. About a 6 hour job not counting the additional time spent cleaning & tidying up the maze of hoses & wires under there. There is a write-up in the files section which is pretty good. I will attach for you save you looking it up. Hope this helps.

Daryl

Intrigue 10379

Re: 1998 Intrigue - heater box

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97858
Thanks everyone for your replies. The document was helpful.

I ended up needing to evacuate the AC and completely remove the entire heater box assembly from the vehicle in order to clean the mouse nest out of it. In the process I discovered large openings/gaps around where the tubes for the heater core & AC evaporator extend out of the box, and before re-installing I filled these with steel wool and covered with foil tape to try to keep the rodents out.
I had to remove the top of the dash in order to get at all the screws for the blower housing, and the complete job took me an entire day's work.

I now have two new problems however.
1. There is no coolant flow through the heater core. After running the engine to full operating temperature and verifying the coolant is full etc. and setting the dash temp all the way to hot, the hoses from the back of the coach to the heater core never even get warm. I did notice that the "H" valve which is supposed to control this flow had a little green scale on the electrical connector but I cleaned this off as best as I could when it was disassembled. The previous owner used to complain that he always had too much heat, like the flow valve was stuck in the open position. Is hot coolant supposed to flow up to and through this "H" valve even when the temp is set to cold? Has anyone needed to replace this "H" valve, or better yet found a more reliable alternative? A part number or source would be helpful.
2. The blower motor only has 2 working speeds regardless of which of the 4 speeds is selected on the dash fan knob. Low does not work at all, positions 2 & 3 both blow at the same speed, and Hi works properly. I am suspecting the blower resistor block is at fault here as I have seen similar issues with cars (although usually all the settings except Hi stop working when a resistor goes bad), but I removed it and none of the coils looks broken or bad. I plan to get a new one anyway since I have the dash apart, but I am also wondering if having only 4 wires connected to the 5-wire resistor block somehow makes it only work on 2 speeds? I am extremely certain that I connected the wires exactly as they were removed. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

As always thanks for the advice.
Mark M

1998 Intrigue #10661

Re: 1998 Intrigue - heater box

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97861
As far as resistor goes you should have all 5 wires if you have 4 speeds, 1 wire for power in and the other taps are for the individual speed. The connector nearest the power will be high speed and the connections go from there to lowest as the resistance increases. Sounds in your case the power wire is in the wrong place as well as one lead missing.

Ray

They say wine improves with age! As I enter my golden years, I say age improves with wine! The Born Loser

Re: 1998 Intrigue - heater box

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97862
It is most likely air locked. Remove or loosen the return hose and run till you get return coolant.

Mikee

Re: 1998 Intrigue - heater box

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97865
If your getting no coolant there is a pump that pumps the coolant to the heater. Check the pump.

Judy n Joe

98 Intrigue 10578

Re: 1998 Intrigue - heater box

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97867
Ah ha. That makes sense, and I might have accidentally left something disconnected during my operation.
Where is the pump located?

Re: 1998 Intrigue - heater box

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97868
Hmm. Well there's only 4 wires coming from the harness and there are definitely 4 speeds on the dash fan knob. The uploaded document on the heater core replacement procedure also says there are only 4 wires. I guess it's time to try to find this in a wiring diagram...

Re: 1998 Intrigue - heater box

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97877
Coolant pump is a contious run unit ie: key on pump on. It is located on our vintage of coach's on the rear driver side inboard frame rail approx. midway front to back of engine. with 2 hoses attached also power & ground wires attached.

Daryl

Intrigue 10379
 

Re: 1998 Intrigue - heater box

Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97886
Found it in the schematic in the chassis manual. The Lo and second-lowest speeds on the 4-position switch are wired together, so effectively it is a 3-speed fan - if the wiring schematic is to be believed that is (which I tend to doubt because some of the wire colors are wrong). In any case it's pretty cheezy for a quarter-million-dollar coach.
I suppose I could cut the junction and run another wire from the Lo position and find a true 4 speed resistor, but I'll either just leave it as is or maybe cut the Lo wire to turn it into an effective Fan Off position.
Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, as long as I have some defroster capability. I just wanted to deal with it as long as I have the dash apart.

Mark