heads up Valeo heater cores= OE Behr Topic is solved

[quietlymknnoise67]

Just the foam strip.

[readallthebooks]

i ordered the ebay unit and it arrived today. very quick shipping. the unit is made in france and they didn't even cover up the BEHR label on mine. no smell.

[wasaabi]

I just received a new Behr heater core via eBay and it looks new in nice condition, but when I move it upside down and right side up the long way I can hear something moving inside the core. Like it’s sliding up and down as I move the core. Is this normal?

[wasaabi]

Also when I look into one of the tubes, there is a white twisty plastic thing that slides down that is making the sound, I can see it when I turn the core upside down with the tubes on the bottom so that the gravity allows it to go down. But I cannot get to it. So weird. Does this serve a function?

[mrbrian200]

Also when I look into one of the tubes, there is a white twisty plastic thing that slides down that is making the sound, I can see it when I turn the core upside down with the tubes on the bottom so that the gravity allows it to go down. But I cannot get to it. So weird. Does this serve a function?

Probably. They wouldn't put some extra 2c plastic whatever it is inside there if it wasn't necessary for something.

Likely some engineer somewhere baked up a good conspiracy theory in computer modeling/fluid dynamics and this little plastic bit you noticed rattling around was the solution...

[bmdubya1198]

I don't know... I feel like it's some sort of debris that got in there. I've never heard of a plastic piece that's supposed to be in a heater core.

Anyway, my cousin has the SCP heater core, and it's served him well for the past 4-5 years he's had it in his S70. I have one in my R, although I haven't driven the car as it's still a work in progress. Although last I checked, the heat works very well in that car. The smell is very faint, almost unnoticeable, but I washed it off before installing. I just ordered one for my GLT since the coolant smell has been getting more and more noticeable inside, so I figured it was due with 190k miles.

[mrbrian200]

I can probably venture a plausible conspiracy theory as to it's presence. You say it looks like a twisted piece of plastic, just floating free inside there. If it's on the inlet side, instigating a bit of randomly directed turbulance to the fluid stream might help prevent fine particulates/sediment from sticking/building up over time.

[wasaabi]

Thank you, I just found this thread with a similar piece of plastic. So I guess it is supposed to be in there. Such a strange thing.

viewtopic.php?t=83451

[j-dawg]

Impulse bought. I have all the coolant out of the car right now and, while my eBay core is working fine after four years, the Behr core will definitely work fine for fifteen. Thanks for the tip!

[bmdubya1198]

Thank you, I just found this thread with a similar piece of plastic. So I guess it is supposed to be in there. Such a strange thing.

viewtopic.php?t=83451

Ah, interesting. Thanks for posting that link! I remember seeing that thread, but it was a while back.
I would have pulled that plastic out otherwise, it looks like a manufacturing leftover. I can't remember if that was in the core I installed in my R, but if I noticed it, I likely pulled it out.