I am posting this for the next poor soul who will have to replace a heater core in a '99 Dodge Durango SLT.
I am half way through. Everything is taken out and I am in the process of cleaning out the ac/heat housing.
The first problem I ran into was disconnecting the cruise control plugs to remove the steering wheel. The Haynes
manual was no help and I ended up cutting them with enough slack on each end to solder & heat shrink when
I install the steering wheel.
The 2nd problem was worse, I could not find the 4th threaded stud that goes through the fire wall and holds
the ac/heat housing in. (it was lower than the others & behind the tranny fluid tube) I was quite frustrated
and in the end I broke the housing in 3 places. I plan on using some strong epoxy and start putting
everything back together. I hope this helps, feel free to contact me for more info.

 

I know your pain, I had my 2000 Durango heater core replaced at 46k miles! But I knew what I was getting into to remove the core so I had my certified mechanic do it for me! Even took him over 8 hours to tear down and put back together again.

 

Post #1
I need to replace my heater core, some things I read said to remove freon some say you don't have too. Plus they talk about removing the dash (is that the whole dash?) Can anyone that has done this please tell me were to start and do I have to take out the hole dash? How do I do that?

 

You do not have to mess with the freon lines when replacing the heater core to my knowledge. But you do have to basically tear down the steering column and the entire dash assembly to get access to the heater core. If you are not mechanically inclined or do not have all the tools to do this, I would recommend you to take it to a professional that can do it. It took my personal mechanic over 8 hours to teardown and re-assemble and there are lots and lots of parts and screws, etc. I assisted him a little so I get to know my D a little more and I am glad I did not have to do this myself. I know I will end up with extra parts lying around that I did not know where it belonged should I have done this myself.

 

This post saved me. I got my dash all pulled out and trying to find a problem with the a/c system. The nuts on the outside of the firewall are kinda hard to see at first, especally that forth one. A third nut is covered by a heater hose support bracket thats screwed onto the same stud. When removing the dash i didnt have to pull out the airbags or the steering wheel. With the steering wheel i just removed a few nuts holding it up and let it drop to the driver seat. If you do it this way though you cant take the whole dash out. You just gotta move it aside because you still have a wireing harness going to the steering wheel that i didnt wanna toy with. I had to remove every inst. from my dash so i might be posting more once im able to put this thing back together. Behind the dash you can get to the air box. The airbox contains the heater core, the a/c's evap core, and the blower motor. I had to remove my a/c's expansion core which is a little metal block on the engine side of the firewall to be able to pull the air box. You also have to disocnnect the heater hoses.
a few pics of everything pulled apart
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...p;id=500020314
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...p;id=500020314
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...p;id=500020314

 

I replaced my heater core last November. The whole dash will have to come out. The steering wheel can just drop down, be sure to unhook all harnesses. I did break loose the A/C lines right where they go into the firewall, had to get a vaccum pulled and recharged ($60 at a local A/C guy). I had all the right tools, and a factory service manual, and it still took me about 12 hours (had a time getting the fan off). Oh, yeah, be sure to keep the fan and clutch vertical--has a fluid clutch and according to the manual laying it down will damage it.

I WILL NEVER do this again, TAKE IT TO A SHOP!!!