Hey everyone,
I thought i would share my wonderful day with everyone. I got off work around 8 this morning, done some arrands, and went see the lady for her lunch. On my way home I passed a slow ford, accerlated and heard a pop coming from the dash. I got home and checked everything under the hood thinkin it came from the engine. I opened the passenger door and saw engine coolant all in the floor board. I called around and everyone said it was the Heater Core. Called the dealership and part is 94 dollars. Can't get it until Tuesday. They also wanted 600 dollars for labor. Good thing i got uncles that know how to install them. Just thought i would share my wonderful day with everyone. YAY!!!!!

Rammindodge

 

Man that sucks im sorry. Well for a $100 part, and what sounds like free labor sounds like you are being pretty lucky!

 

yeah i am going to pay him about 100 bucks to put it in. So i will come out with about 250 dollars (part, labor, new coolant, & food) versus 700 to dodge.

 

ouch thats a tuff break... sorry to hear about the bad news at least family got you a lucky break.. i would watch your uncle do it to learn a little more about trucks.. thats just me though

 

i had to replace the heater core in our 99 durango a few years back. dealer wanted about $1000 and 2 local garages wanted about $500. i did it myself and that was a mistake. it took me about 17 hours of labor and in the process my step-son broke a pin off one of the flaps. of course you couldn't just buy the new pin that popped into a socket, i had to buy the whole flapper for $130. after putting it all back together i had lukewarm heat at best. it wouldn't defrost the windows on cold days. i would've took it back apart to fix it but a few weeks later the trans went so i traded it for a new commander.
also, i don't know if the trucks are the same but i had to take the durango to an AC shop to have the AC discharged and recharged when i was done. that will add about another $50-100 to your costs.
if its anything like the durango i would just let the dealer fix it. you'll be further ahead in the long run. it ended up costing me about $300 and 3 days when i could've had them do it for another $200.

 

I swapped out the heater core in my '03 4.7 in the summer. I was thankful I had my Haynes. Although a lot of people here don't like them, I find it invaluable. I've always had one for each vehicle I've owned. Took about 7 hours, but that's only because it was 90% back together and I found a harness I couldn't match up with anything. Took everything apart again just to find out it was apparently for an option I don't have.

One thing about your uncle doing it, you'll have to drain the freon or whatever they use now and get it refilled. You can't take the heater core out without first disconnecting the AC lines that go into the cab.

 

that's all fine. he has the stuff to put all the freon back into the a/c. I was going to drain the Coolant out of the radiator (if it ain't on the ground by now). Basically just do a lil tune up while she's down.

 

sorry about the troubles, but at least it is better than the dodge alternative.

on the good side, glad to hear about a member putting a ford in its place (the rearview mirror)

 

All brands put them in the dumbest places, a heater core should be installed under the hood a seperate compartment, not buried deep under the dash board, in a seperate compartment.

 

had the same thing happen to meback in the spring,but i luck out,it was only the bottom rad hose,peeled it like an banana never seen that before