best 850 heater core?

850oldschool · Post by **850oldschool** » 22 Feb 2020, 21:19

Hi, I installed one of the Swedish Car Parts "Made in Europe" heater cores several years ago. It smelled pretty bad for the first year or so. Toward the end of the second winter it died down to where it was tolerable, but it hasn't really diminished at all since then. Mostly it's a hot plastic kind of smell with an occasional light whiff of coolant. Cooling system goes almost a year between top-ups.

What's the current state of thinking on heater cores? Can I get both low odor and longevity if I'm willing to pay for it? Are the recent ones from Swedish Car Parts any better? Behr? Nissens? Take out a second mortgage and buy OEM blue box Volvo?

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 22 Feb 2020, 21:50

Get the Behr for about $80 on FCP. It's the OE part and should be just as good as the blue box. Nissens is also fine quality.

850oldschool · Post by **850oldschool** » 22 Feb 2020, 21:53

ecbsykes wrote: 22 Feb 2020, 21:50 Get the Behr for about $80 on FCP. It's the OE part and should be just as good as the blue box. Nissens is also fine quality.

Have you used either of them?

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 22 Feb 2020, 22:07

I have a Behr in mine right now going on 4 years. It's the OE part.

850oldschool · Post by **850oldschool** » 22 Feb 2020, 22:18

OK, thanks. Yes, I know Behr is a Volvo supplier, but at the time when I started shopping for one 5+ years ago I was reading a lot of stories of Behr cores failing, usually where the tubes were molded directly into the plastic. Thanks for your positive report.

Did you just take it out of the box and install it, or did you do any cleaning prior to installation?

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 22 Feb 2020, 23:22

I didn't do anything to the core itself. If I recall there was a slight smell during the first use for a few minutes, but it was fine after that.

It's a bit more of pain, but last time I did it, I also preemptively replaced the connector pipe between heater hoses and the core (PN: 9134978). The plastic tends to crack with age and becomes brittle.

Post by **mecheng** » 23 Feb 2020, 02:11

Go with Behr I’ve had them last well over 200,000km

Post by **wizechatmgr** » 23 Feb 2020, 05:01

If you need to run another Swedish car parts heater core, do yourself a favor. Run that sucker through a single cycle in the dishwasher with the heated dry turned off on the top rack. You'll thank me later... =)

Post by **abscate** » 23 Feb 2020, 06:10

My second Behr is now at 8 years and 110k miles

Post by **jreed** » 23 Feb 2020, 06:25

I also put in a Behr heater core back in early 2015. It has been working fine since.