Why would someone bypass the heater core? Year is 03, 47k miles. The 2 coolant lines that go into the engine bay back wall are cut away from the wall and connected to each other. Car was in Florida its whole life, and I will be heading to new York soon and will definitely need the heater. Should I just shove a smaller tube into the old holes and connect them back into place?

 

More than likely that was done because the heater core was leaking, that's the first thing I would check. If that is okay, buy two new lines and replace the cut ones.

 

or the heater box wont switch from hot to cold and they just jumped it out. is the knob broken?

 

How do i check to see if it leaks?

The line for the hot/cold was cut, but set to cold. I replaced the line. The knob is fine.

 

To check for leaks you have to connect the lines to the core again,remove the center console ( optional),start the car and using the flashlight watch if coolant is dripping inside the car . Or you can shove your hand under the heater and touch the the top of the tunnel. If it was leaking you should feel slippery coolant between your fingers.

 

me buddies evo had the same mod done and it caused the car to idle high when its cold bc no coolant going to throttle body!!

 

i hope ur kidding


usually people bypass because the heater core is leaking or its been removed. but if the nozzles can be seen in the engine bay on the fire wall, most likely it was leaking. connect the lines and turn the car on. just let it idle, the coolant should circulate into the heater core, inspect near the gas pedal for leaks / drips. usually it will drain out the drain on the fire wall if that drain is not plugged. so check near driver side fire wall on the ground for drips as well as near the gas pedal.

 

I think it was done because the previous owner was in Florida. The not so great thing about the Evo heater is year around heat. It needs a valve in the heater hose. It can be a nice cool day and I have to run the A/C. If I lived in Florida I would bypass the heater.

 

Plugged it all in. Leaking from the core. FML. Now begins the horrible process of replacing it.

 

And so it begins for you....

 

what else would you be doing on your Sundays? watching TV? get into it mate, its all part of the Evo experiance

 

its really not that bad, only takes 20 minutes to pull the dash..