Recent content by Hiflyer731

Updated first post with notes and info about the replacement.

The part number for the replacement was the same and visually they look identical. Hopefully they changed vendors or specs a few years back to avoid this issue but I have idea if they did.

I first started noticing the reduced heating last winter and got the P011A at the tail end of last winter with about 60k miles. I now have 71k on the vehicle. Only used FL22 coolant. The vehicle was purchased in April of 2012, it was one of the first shipments the dealership received.

Yeah, it's all part of the weight reduction program!

If only the front seats were the hardest part! I was thoroughly intimidated when I took that picture thinking about trying to get it all back together..... and not missing anything!

Couple pictures https://www.dropbox.com/sh/eumdg648mcztzf0/AADAAnKK7w-Hrx8Hyndexma3a?dl=0

Sounds the same as mine, the heat out of the two middle vents was barely warm unless I was at highway RPM and the outer vents never really got warm. I have a couple pics of it torn apart but as simple as the shop manuals are they were sufficient to do the job. Only a couple steps seemed to be...

It's done. Did it solo over the last two days. Took 7 hours to get to the core and 5 hours to put it all back together. Relatively straight forward, just time consuming. Still have to drain and refill the cooling system after the flush and get the AC recharged. The old core seemed about 70%...

Order has been placed. $410.77 shipped for all parts plus one gallon of coolant. The dealership quoted $454 for just the core. Only additional cost should be a flush kit and refrigerant recharge. Mazdas techs have told me it's about 7 hours if you know what you're doing. I have another...

I wasn't present for the flush, not sure what came out. The dealer said they have had other cars with the same issue and the flush has only been a temporary fix.

You actually use the AC unit removal instructions. The heater core and evaporator are colocated. Which means the refrigerant also has to be evacuated and recharged.

I have found all the steps in shop manuals, there about 30 individual components that have their own sub instructions. I bought mine in 2012, it was one of the first shipments the dealership got. I think it's the same part through 2016.

It's been flushed, both sensors that trigger the CEL have been replaced, the thermostat has been replaced and I bit the bullet and had a dealership diagnose the CEL. It's a bad heater core. Only 70k miles, it actually started acting up at the tail end of last winter. I called and emailed Mazda...

I would, but I have to SMOG the vehicle and the bad core is causing a P011A error code. I'm sure I could bypass the sensors somehow, but I do regularly drive to work at 5am and it would be nice to get a little heat.

Called a couple dealerships and downloaded a bunch of manuals. Looks like I should be able to piece together the info. I found dash removal steps and it references other removals which I was able to find. Also got some info from the dealership. Once I get all the parts I'm going to dive in...