I got ya man. I would very much like to see and read a write up if you decide to do it.

 

i understand your point, i woulda looked at cutting the wires where they came out of the plug on the link that i gave you and then soldering new leads onto those wires, but then im VERY comfortable with soldering and electrical work so if your not then i understand your caution for not doing it, the cheby part looks like what you want from what i can tell, bit if it where me i would look to get a part which, if a wire breaks or something like that it leaves the valve open so that you still have heat, just in case it happens in the winter

 

I like the Chevy one as well.

 

On your Durango, why cant you simply connect the underhood hoses to each other outside of the firewall to completely bypass the core like everyone else? 10 minutes and $5 maybe to complete? If in a cold environment, 10 minutes to put it back in place, 1 or 2 quarts of coolant and you are ready for heat and frozen temps.

IndyD

 

True, it is easy to stop and park the truck, pop the hood, and do the manual bypass by pulling the hoses. But I hate to do this everytime I need or do not need heat. Especially during the season transition from spring and fall seasons. Easier to do the electronic bypass from inside your cabin with a simple push of a button and you are still driving on the road.

 

If DFW gets the ice and sleet late tonight/tommorrow morning, I will be driving a heaterless truck! Bummer. I should be able to start on this project in a couple of weeks.

 

Here ya go! Choices are endless! https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...eywords=heater

 

Kensai,

I agree. The hose connections only apply when someone wants to have it on or off for a season. The in-the-middle time would not apply. I would suggest leaving it hot (once fixed) and then if you wanted to do the no-flow to the core thing, swap it to cold early in the summer. You can always roll down the windows to cool off when still in heat mode.

IndyD

 

I checked the sites for a temporary solution. Those 12v plugin heaters are a joke. They can barely defrost the windshield! 100-150 watts of heat from those portables. Cannot do much with that little bit of wattage. It would be nice to be able to install a 2nd heating option on our 1st gen interior durangos similar to the 2nd gen int durangos. At least that way, you still have heat either from front or back. Most heating kits I found are won't fit anywhere I can think of on our trucks and still have that oem look.

 

Status Update.

Alrighty, I have bought the following parts in preparation for this project.

Vacuum operated heater valve - Normally closed. Vacuum opens
Ford EGR electronic solenoid vacuum switch
Replacement heater core.
blue/green luminated on/off LED push switch

I went with ford switch, as napa had it in stock without waiting for special order. The switch has a nice mounting bracket that I can bend to make it mount nearly anywhere under the hood.

Now waiting for my buddy to get his garage cleaned up so he can start on replacing my core. At the same time will also install the vacuum swith and heater valve.