So...To Heat or Not To Heat, that is the Question.
Last night I started filling the cooling system. I got 2 gallons of water and 2 gallons of pure coolant into the system before it started backing up. Looking online, that may be normal for a vehicle. (With all my pipes running the length of the car, I'm not sure exactly how much capacity my cooling system has.)
But I've had a big concern for a long time: the heater core location. The HVAC unit is mounted above the gas tank - ABOVE the coolant tank reservoir with the pressure cap. Neither the HVAC unit, the heater core or the coolant tank can be relocated. My concern is that with the heater core being the highest point in the system, that is where air will gather and potentially cause problems. I don't like problems - I have enough of them pop up unexpectedly already! Another concern is that if I leave the heater core in and pop the pressure cap on the tank, that all the coolant in the heater core will "fall out" and overflow the tank and let more air into the system.
If I were to bypass the heater core completely, then the coolant reservoir tank would be the highest point of the cooling system. But I obviously wouldn't have heat. But for how often I'd drive the car...does it matter? I live in Minnesota, so yeah it's colder here in the Spring and Fall than in say, California, but will I be driving it on cold enough days where I NEED heat? Hmmm... the biggest issue I can think of would be lack of defroster heat.
Keep in mind though that I would still have VENTS - foot, dash, and defrost. But are those good for anything without heat? Also keep in mind that while I have the AC plumbing in place, I don't plan on charging the system - nor do I plan on installing the side windows for now! Nor do I plan on driving the car to a show when it's 90F+ outside!
Thoughts from the Peanut Gallery? lol