My heater core on my 99 Ram 2500 V-10 has gone out and must be replaced. After reading several threads on this forum, including the excellent DIY section with pictures, I decided it was something that I can reasonably tackle. I bought the replacement heater core, A/C evaporator, A/C line disconnect tools, etc., printed out the DIY instructions and got ready to start.

My surprise came when I lifted the hood to the engine compartment. A simple instruction like "remove heater hoses" now looks like a major challenge. There is so much motor jammed back against the firewall that I can barely see where the heater hoses penetrate, much less reach in to remove them. With only a couple of inches between the back of the motor and the firewall, I'll be lucky to get a box cutter in to even cut them. Not sure how I'll get new hoses back on the nipples since I can barely get my hand in there with almost no room to move. Ditto the nut on the heater box stud that's behind the engine. I can barely see it and can't even touch it so I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to remove and replace that nut.

Anybody done this replacement on a V-10 before that may have some suggestions. I'd hate to think that I'd have to pull the motor just to get access to the firewall behind the engine.

Thanks.