Couple of days ago i started to tear the dash apart. I must say it was not that bad trying to move the dash. I finally got the HVAC unit out and got the old heater core out. This was my first time working on the Dodge. I got the car 1 week ago.

My question for you guys is, which heater core should i buy. I dont want to buy something cheap. Because i don't intend on doing this work again for a long time.

Couple of heater cores that are around my area:

Ready-Aire Heater core( Advanced auto zone shows 3 different kinds)
Spectra premium/heater core(Auto zone)
Murrey Heater Transfer -Heater core (oreilly)

Any other brands you guys recommend i am all ears!

Thanks

 

what year engine so on that helps.

 

I'd go OEM - get it online though. They're cheaper.

A lot of the aftermarket cores don't fit the plenum right and nowadays are cheap junk.

 

i bought the one from orillies and it was the aluminum one , all the local parts stores carried the aluminum one and didn't show the copper one as being available ,, it sucks for heat output in the winter time as compared to the copper one , im not happy with it and when i find a copper replacement one - new or used - im gonna install it as soon as i can afford to get it !

 

To bring closure to this thread....

The more I looked at doing it myself, the more complicated it looked. And everyone recommended replacing the AC evaporator at the same time since they sit beside each other. I don't have the equipment to remove Freon, and the weather sucks right now, and I'm working. So I had my local and trusted shop do it for me (and they work on a lot of Dodge vehicles). They were surprised the AC system was still fully charged as the evaporator looked like crap, and the heater core was leaking (wasn't my imagination; I asked them to save them so I could see what they looked like). Cost for the shop to do the job (with me providing the brass heater core) was about $875 total (includes the new evaporator). They had a couple issues though:

1. The airbag light stayed on, and the gas gauge would not register. Was found (shop figured it out) to be a bad ground, and the harness wasn't plugged in tight. Fixing those fixed the airbag light and gas gauge. Everything seems to be working on the dash.

2. Dash now cracked all to hell (was perfect before). Big chunks missing up by the windshield. They tried to be careful, but I knew these dashes were prone to cracking so I can't really blame them for it. Ordered a dash overlay from discountbodyparts.com, and will install it when I get a chance. $121 with tax and shipping.

3. Cruise control isn't working now (rarely rarely do I ever use it, but seems like it was working before all this). Might be the brake light switch; have one on order from Rock Auto. Can't find any sign of a vacuum leak, and I'm not getting the wild vents thing. Brake light switches are cheap, so I'll try that first.

4. OD wants to unlock and then quickly lock a couple times the first minute or so when I first get on the highway, then it stays locked the rest of the time. And it only does this when it is below freezing. Just recently started getting below freezing, so I don't know if this is related or not. New TPS ordered from rock auto; we'll see if that fixes it before we start going down the solenoid and sensor replacement pathway.

5. And while it was in the shop, the rear view mirror came unglued and fell off. They glued it back on. That one was just weird.

6. Ordered this filter kit for the air intake. Hopefully will help keep the evaporator from getting all gunked-up like it was before getting replaced (mine looked worse than the one pictured in the link below, but mine was the original one from 23 years ago)

https://www.genosgarage.com/product/...0k/cab-filters

Rarely do things go exactly as planned.