Does anyone know what pressure rad shops test heater cores at?
I have one out, and although it has a little bit of green around the pipes it holds 16-17 PSI for hours. I've tested it dry and tested it filled with water, same results. I adapted the pump and hose from my cooling system pressure tester to a T fitting with two hoses on it for the core tubes.
Anyone who has tried to find a good replacement for a Beaumont heater core knows why it's so important to have a good original core. The replacements are small and don't fit right.
I tested mine at 15lbs for the 63, not sure now where I got that number but it works fine. I usually over check for a spec like this.
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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC. 1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada
Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic
If I recall the test pressure was always 3 psi higher than the radiator operating pressure. So a 15 psi system would be tested at 18 psi. This was for testing the radiator only, in a test tank. I would think your heater core is okay at the pressure shown in your picture.
I remember a neighbour pressure testing his heater core (in about 1976). Hooked it up direct to the garden hose. The core expanded like an accordion. Grew by about 4 inches.
I had one repaired about 2 years ago (not recored, the new cores usually aren't the quality the original cores are) and I think it was a bit under $200.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars