I have a '98 Ram 1500 and think I may have to change my heater core because I the heat coming ou tis not very hot. My buddy put his scanner on the truck and the computer says the truck is operating at 189 degrees and both heater hoses get hot but produce very little heat. My question is: Do I have to evacuate the AC system to change the heater core? Has anyone done his change. I have done it on different rigs and it wasn't easy. I'm sure this is the same situation. Thanks

 

i have a 97 and i gots the same problem...its fricken cold in the morning now and i guess i should replace it ...but im not sure how i should go about doin it

 

As long as it's not leaking, don't replace it. Take it to a shop and have them power flush it for you. Some Dodge radiators and heater cores clog and need flushing.

 

My heat isnt getting very warm either so I think mine might be plugged a little. If its leaking you have antifreeze running down on your carpet and then you really need to replace it or bypass it if you can go with out heat and dont have time to fix it. As far as flushing it goes you can do that yourself its pretty simple. Disconect both heater hoses from the motor and figure out which one is the inlet and which is the outlet. Then just run water through it until flows clear through the other hose. After that id power flush your radiator and that will take all the other crap out of your cooling system too.

 

after reading this post i ran out to the truck , the fluid in my overflow looks like swamp scum but the fulid in the radiator looks nice and green hmmmmmmm. time to flush it all?

 

that's pretty odd... when I fixed my head I saw the same thing, bottle looked like crap with sludge on the bottom and the radiator was filled with the 5 year stuff and looked pretty good. I flushed it anyway...

 

If your curious about sludge and stuff, try draining your radiator from the petcock. If it doesn't drain, or is slow, flush away. I recommend taking it to a oil change place or someone that can power flush using some type of solvent. It's definitley worth the little cash it will cost. Also, don't mix antifreeze. If you do, sludge city! If your's is green, it's the old stuff(regular antifreeze). The Dex Cool is orange/brown. New trucks will require it. But please don't mix.

 

ive flushed my hases and radiator twice in the past year and the heat still sux but my heater core aint leakin or nothin