Yeap I have no choice but to replace it

There is water under carpet on passenger side, sweet smell inside the cab,winshield fogs up, loosing antifreeze.

Any ways all the post I have read dont say if I have to drain de AC
My friend who has done it on small cars says we dont have to, so I'm confused, please help me if some of you have done it before and also anything else I should watch for.


2002 Dodge Dakota
V8 4.7 L 4 door

Thanks for reading and for all your help.

 

You don't have to evacute your A/C system. Your heater core runs off of your cooling system(radiator etc.). A bit of advice from when I did mine is to hang the dash from the handle bars that way you don't have to disconnect anything really. Good Luck.

 

Yeah it is time consuming rolling the dash back and disconnecting all of the wiring but is very doable. I did mine a few years ago. Someone had tried to replace it in the past and had put it back in against the wall of the airbox so no airflow was going through it... idiots! No wonder I couldn't get more than about 65-70 degree heat from the vents! Do a good flush of your cooling system while you are at it, make sure any other deposits are out of the system.

+1 on hanging the dash by the "o-**** handles". Helps to pull the seats to roll the dash back further too. Just don't pull the dash back too far and you won't have to remove the A/C lines. Might need a can of spray foam if the foam between the firewall and cab where the heater core lines pass through is old. Otherwise it is pretty straightforward, good all day job with a 6 or 12-pack

 

you dont have to replace it... Bypass that sucker...get an elbow that matches the diameter of the heater hoses that go over the intake, and put a peice of hose connecting them, that loops the water pump back to itself... ALOT cheaper and ALOT easier then replacing the heater core... you can use this to buy you some time till it gets cold again... not sure where you live...

 

I agree with crateampsrock, you can just bypass, but you don't need to buy an elbow. Just pull off one of the hoses and loop it back around.

 

hey guys thnks so much for all the tips and yes I thought about bypassing it but its just too cold and guess what I live in Oregon I can't be without heat, thank you all for your advice I will let you know how it went when I get to it.

 

you'd need a fitting of some sort, atleast on my dakota both the ends are hard crimp fittings. Werent aware you were in Oregon, Im originally from Medford, Or. I know how cold it gets there... you need a heater...