Greetings all...

My wife has a 1999 Dodge Truck Dakota 2WD 3.9L SFI 6cyl with a leaking heater core. I've done some searching online, and it certainly sounds like a big job (particularly the removal of the dashboard, which - from what I've read - is necessary). Does anyone have any tips for someone considering tackling this job himself?

Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

- Sean

 

http://www.dakota-durango.com/forum/...ad.php?t=98729

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...ics-fixed.html

 

Thanks, 98DAKAZ! I missed the second one... Very helpful.

 

I just did that job not to long ago, its not so bad...just takes some time to do.

 

Haven't had the pleasure of doing a Dakota. But just did a Gmc while back and wasn't hard just time consuming and removal of a lot of stuff.

 

big job and go slow

 

Thanks, everyone... sounds doable - I'm just glad I'll have a few days to work on it. :-)

 

Just tackled this on mine Tuesday and Wednesday (Overall about 10 hours into it but that was with some breaks and a parts run for heater hoses). Just a few things I got out of those write ups but aren't necessarily spelled out right in them. You have to get the AC discharged to get the box out. I had a guy discharge my system and then pop the two hoses off with these plastic things and then he is going to recharge and pressurize it all for $88 so make sure you don't pay a lot for that by someone who is a jerk. Basically you have to get the dash off and the passenger side of the dash off enough to get the heater core box out. Things I learned, if your truck has miles on it you'll probably have to cut the hoses for the heater core off in the engine bay so make sure you got those. Not a hard thing to do but something that I found out after the fact, luckily I have a car to so I was able to go get them but somethign to think about if the Dak is your only vehicle. Also the bottom bolt in the engine bay (between the fire wall and valve cover on my 4.7) I found easier to get off by ripping the insulation away around it and then using an 11mm wrench. I guess this is the bolt all the write ups say about is behind the tranny dip stick but since I have a 5 speed I wouldn't know. Also I found my shifter base got in the way when pulling the dash back so if you do have a 5 speed keep that in mind. I was nervous about doing this and when I got into it about 3 hours I was regretting it but it all came together and I am glad I did it and now I know more about my truck and saved lots of money. Let me know if you have any questions since I am fresh off of doing it this week, it's all so fresh in my mind. The only thing that doesn't work right now is my overhead console but I wired that in anyway so I think my half *** wire job came back to bite me. Sorry for the long winded post just wanted to give a few pointers that aren't spelled out in those write ups but are there if you read all 15 pages of thread haha.

 

that must have been the bolt on the firewall i couldn't find and why i wasn't able to completely remove my hvac system. i knew there had to be a hidden bolt but luckly i didn't need to pull the hvac all the way out to find and fix my problem.

 

Many thanks to everyone for their replies! I got the dash off, and after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I managed to remove the heater box. I'll post a summary with lessons learned when I've finished.

HOWEVER... I noticed after I got the box out that the mount of one of the vacuum actuators (not sure if I'm using the right term here - it's the thing that is controlled by the temperature/vent switch) was cracked. This makes sense, since it's been stuck in defrost mode for some time.

So I need to fix the crack, but I'm not sure what to use. My inclination is to go with a traditional 2-part epoxy, but I've also heard good things about Gorilla Glue and Goop. Obviously, I want to make sure I don't have to go through all this again any time soon, so whatever provides the strongest hold is the winner in my book (drying time, convenience, etc., are not nearly as important - I really don't care about any of that).

Does anyone have any suggestions on this? As far as I know, the heater box is just some kind of generic PVC plastic (I got a C in high school chemistry, so I'm afraid I can't be more specific... heheh... ).