I have watched this along with countless other videos as my core is leaking, interior fills with vapor and glass fogs over, today I decided to bypass my heater core. I am not quite ready to perform this repair even though winter is here. This is my one and only vehicle at this time and I simply can't have it down. Thank you for your very informative video
Thank You! This was a great job of describing and showing the work that needs to be done without dragging it out forever. This is a really good option for a quick reference during the project!
I would bypass it before I would even think about doing that, my second choice would be to junk the vehicle after selling any good parts, I'm glad I watched this, now I know to just bypass it to stop the leak! Thanks again for the info.
great timing on this vid. my 96 Grand Cherokee 5.2 v8 just started leaking this winter. I'd love to see more on the 5.2 v8. I've already done so much because of these very well thought out videos, like rear main, head liner, dif oil ect, but always adapting from the straight 6 to my v8 Grand Cherokee. Keep up the good work. Stay frosty, gents.
Awesome work, I have my 2000xj now for 9 months and I have to say you all helped same me a lot of money and time. Thanks for all the time spent doing it 👍🏼🙌🏽
I have to do this exact nightmare job pretty soon for the exact same reason. So, I located and purchased a used heater box and will rebuild that one ahead of time to "save time" during reassembly. And this way I can make sure everything is exactly right with it without feeling rushed. But I'm replacing everything! I don't want to do this twice. Greetings from Arizona.
I did this on my '98 TJ last year. I followed pretty much the same procedure as the TJ and XJ share a lot of the same components. I used the factory service manual as my guide.
it was 20 degrees in my jeep this morning on my drive to work, heater core has been clogged up a long time and ive been avoiding changing it until this morning i had enough. you could not have posted this on a better day thanks!
+Michael Hernan Very cool! Its worth the task to have heat. I was taking some night photos in about 15f and froze my hands until they hurt. Got back in the Jeep and it took about an hour to warm up again with my faulty heater core. So stoked to have hot heat and clean air! Good luck - Tim
Michael Hernan I would try reverse flush a clogged core before ya go they all that. I fixed a few like that. Fill and blow air thru til it’s clear then see if it leaks. Worth a try!👍
This job cost a friend of mine $980.00 two weeks ago. I have another vehicle to drive, so I'm saving $880.00 and I'm doing it on my own! Thank you for the video.
That was a really cool video. Glad I paid to have that done in my wife's Jeep lol. I would have been tempted to replace that blower as well since you had it tore all the way down. Very cool man!
I replaced both the heater core and evaporator a few months ago. One thing I would recommend is that you replace the blend door at the same time. BC now my blend door is getting stuck.
I did it once back in 2010 with my dad when we were swapping in the first stroker. We weren't internetting it and it took him about two days to figure/get it out. He put it all in the rear cargo area when disassembled and it took up a lot more space than it does when assembled. It's a puzzle to take apart since some pieces cover other pieces, and then you find that piece has a bolt that's covered by another piece. It isn't a fun task. A few weeks passed before we reassembled it but it went faster than taking it apart. I think it is more time consuming than an engine swap.
I bought a XJ recently as my first vehicle and i notice i don’t have heat i have no idea i haven’t even troubleshooted my issues yet but i’m already looking into worse case scenario. I don’t have any signs as far as i know and i think my gates that allow the air from the AC rad and heater core rad are stuck to only letting AC through as i know the heartercore also isn’t clogged.
Nice video. I just did this but left the seats and steering wheel. Seemed to be enough room. I would recommend replacing the gaskets on the front of the HVAC box that seal it to the firewall. They're available through the dealer for about $60 for the set.
I did the heater core in my XJ all of 3 months after I bought it (got it mid-summer). I did this without the aide of an informative video because I had done heater cores previously and thought I had it under control with some minor Haynes Manual points. I also did it without the aide of another pair of hands (or nerve deadening liquor). My advice is...DON'T EVER TRY THIS! My taint was so sore after that ordeal. Needless to say, the job was finished 2 days later and not without a fair amount of epoxy and spray foam insulation. If I ever have a problem with a heater core again, I think the easiest solution would be to load the XJ up with dinitroazoxyfurazan and send it off a very high cliff.
worked many things on and owed three jeeps,i find this vidio to be usefull.I have to say that removeing the dash with a friend is a very good idea,You know what they say two heads are better then one.Thanks for the effort guys,chile looked good . mike t
2003 Jeep Rubicon had its heater core rupture 2 years ago. Replaced it myself (2-3 days as I am an old man and have to work in the driveway) as jeep dealer service writer grinned ruefully and said repairs would be at least $1,200 and likely more. That one lasted 1.5 years--I hate china junk but .... I am now finishing up installing a Brassworks heater core (all copper and brass) and a NEW A/C Mopar evaporator (that was hard to find!). I removed the console (M/T), removed the gauge cluster, loosened the dash, covered/protected the Emergency Flasher switch with a foam cover, pulled the dash up and back using straps to the roll bar and roof rack (no need to remove the steering wheel), and removed the heater box. I discovered twice now that leaves can migrate from the sides of the cowl cover so I put rubber tubing in the seam to try to keep the trash out; I also added wire screen over the heater box intake under the cowl to keep trash out of the squirrel cage fan (hopefully no more out of balance noise). While I have access under the accumulator I am replacing the starter with a PMGR starter at 100k miles; there is a skid plate under the engine which makes access from under a real challenge. I photographed the heater fan from the floorboard so I can R&R later. The heater core aluminum fingers don't clamp well and that is why 2-piece radiators fail also. There is more to the story but you get the idea. I am old school and remember driving old trucks with the heater hose control valve in the engine compartment; it was a needle valve that the driver got out and adjusted as needed. I am not a fan of manufacturers using the heater core as additional cooling to save money on a bigger radiator. thebrassworks.net/collections/heater-cores/products/2002-2006-jeep-wrangler-heater-core
How timely. I just discovered that my 02 Jeep heater core is leaking. Interesting tip that you guys took out the seats. I'm going to wait to do this job because its winter, no garage, and it does NOT look fun. Thanks for posting.
Awsome job, I payed 600 plus heater core & ac vap as u describe on here, I even was able to take pics of how all my dash board was completely off, stering leaning & crap
great video! thanks so much. I have a 99 xj with an evaporator leak and am also waiting until the warmer months to do this fix! BJ is a fantastic TH-cam channel. not bad that it is a little xj biased as well ;)
Whoa!!! And that’s why the shops charge the big $ to do this job!! TIP: if you have a shop do this job, ask the manager to accompany you to your vehicle and take a video with phone or camera showing him all the lights behind the dash panels work and you expect them to be working after the job is complete. In a diplomatic way of course. I almost learned this lesson the hard way!
I'd say you did it the correct method. How else would you get the insides of the HVAC box clean and free of coolant etc? Plus, the job was likely easier on the plastics, clips, brittle plastic/parts etc. vs. straining with it in the dash area. Not sure about the evaporator replacement but at least you have no future concerns. Just about every modern vehicle with center console/controls have the heater core buried inside the center dash area requiring some 10 hours labor to do not to mention, it's really hard on the other vehicle parts getting access. You'd think the engineers would come up with a simple solution like replacing a cabin filter vs. tear apart the customers cars (under warranty possibly). That would be a hard one to accept, 1 year old and pulling the entire dash out ! Also, it would be a good idea for car makers to put a sensor under the heater core or an auxillary drain hose for notification the core is leaking vs. a wet floor board and mess.
managed to do this with a friend. you can drop the steering wheel and remove the core without removing the gigantic dash unit. I didn't disconnect it. just lifted it up and tweaked it so my buddy could squeeze the evap box out without unplugging all that crap. This job took me no less than 12 hours. nightmare but totally worth it. in hindsight i should have dropped it off at a shop but i guess i learned in the process or something...
Actually, heater core replacement is about this difficult on almost all vehicles. The only difference with jeeps, is the poor numbers for rate of failure of the heater core. But then again.. (not making a joke). People keep jeep's running for many more miles and years than the average car or truck, thus these parts are failing at 250K miles or 18 years.. which already would put this XJ vehicle model in about top 20% for longevity.
Nice vid guys, now I know to order my ac evaporator also before I tackle this job. I'm going to wait for that and plan to add LED lights to the dash along with my new heated seats since everything will come out at the same time.
Thank you so much! I would have tried to tackle this and found out that it was a much bigger project than I had time for. As much as I would rather do it myself, this time I'll have to let the mechanic tackle it...While it's apart I should let him replace the blown motor and evaporator too...
@Ty D it went really well. You don't need to take as many thing off of the dash as they did. If I had to do it again I would only take the top cover, glove box and the panel under the steering column off of the dash. After that you can access everything you need to remove the dash. There are 4 bolts holding the steering column on plus 1 bolt for the steering shaft. That bolt needs to be completely removed or the shaft won't separate. All of the wiring harness connectors are different so you can't mix them up. There's 6 bolt across the top of the dash and 4 across the bottom holding it in. It lifts out pretty easily with a friend. When you put the heater box back together make sure that the servo operated baffle moves easily. I had trouble getting it back in the right spot to pivot correctly. I spent all weekend on mine, but I was taking my time. I wish I would have taken the time to do it last year 😅
i was a mechanic for 27 years and did a few heater cores in my early years not all need to have the dash removed some you can get done just taking out the vent box underneath. easiest one i ever did was on a 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle.everything you need to remove is under the hood in the engine compartment.a lot of the jeep and Chrysler products are a pain. on your jeep here you did it the best way even though you could theoretically have gotten it done without removing the dash,it would have cost a lot more aggravation and possible injuries to try it.
had to do the same job on my 05 kj. I managed after many hours to change the heater core without disconnecting my ac lines and disconnecting the steering wheel
+Anthony Baker I replaced my gauge cluster lights with LED's and my blinker control box while we were tearing everything out. When I put my left blinker on it would flash the hazards in the rear only... I've been a super safe left turn driver for a few years. - Tim
Thanks for the video. Recently started getting steam out of my vents on my 2000 Cherokee and was hoping this wasn't the problem. Heat is still hot and no leaks in the vehicle yet but I guess I know what I am doing come spring. I also have a 1996 Grand Cherokee 5.2 doing the same thing. Replacing the radiator this weekend for a different problem but I guess we'll be tackling this one too come spring. The engineers who design these things should be responsible for replacing them, Hahaha. What were they thinking ?!?
i was a mechanic for 27 years and i used to say the same thing about the engineers that design these parts and the cars. let them work on replacing parts they design for at least 2 years so they can see how it goes for the mechanic.and by the time when it gets to the mechanic to r&r most parts it's already ten years down the road and things are corroded and rusty already so it's a bigger pain in the ass. once had to replace a rack&pinion on a 2003 ford Taurus and i swear i made up a few new curse words at the engineer that designed that setup...
I think an important note, is to ensure air conditioning is evacuated or reclaimed prior to removing the connections behind the accumulator. Very dangerous if you’ve got all that pressure behind it.
Good vid. It Let's me know what I'm probably in for with my '97 Dodge Ram. Of course, there's the infamous cracked Dodge Ram dash covers too. By comparison, my '60 Willys wagon was a piece of cake. Could almost do it blindfolded.
Hey guys thanks for this great diy. I'm doing this now. I want to gut out ALL my AC components. Do you have a video on how and what vacuum lines to plug? Ty
Thank you for the video. Your's is the best how-to on getting the job done, especially separating the two core halves. I do have a question thought. Now that you've had installed a couple of years, how is the Spectra brand holding up?
Great video. I will be tackling this project in the next couple of days. This vid was a lot of help thanks!I guess my only concern is, how to drop the steering column. looks like the first thought was to leave it connected then, it was removed. Easy?
thanks for this video! I think this will help me out in the future of my 97 XJ, it takes away a bit of the fear of this job ;) Good that your car is running again! Only thing I have to find out is how you removed the steering wheel with the steering shaft... but i`ll find out :)
Probably going to need to do this next summer- what product (leak sealer) do you recommend to shore up the heater core so I don’t have to do this right now. I have done a very thorough flush- and the fluid remains fairly clean. At the moment the leak seems to be very minor - just a slight odor of coolant and plenty of heat - and no overheating issues or steaming on the windshield.
After my A/C went over the summer I wanted to pinpoint where the actual leak was, so I threw some freon into my system with the red dye, cranked up the A/C ran it for a bit and saw a 'mist' coming out of my dash vents, all in the middle of traffic... oops. If I'm not mistaken... freon is bad to breathe in, no? Going to have to rip my dash out come the spring time!
one problem i had when i had done this is the breather tube on the front of the evap box picked up the electrical cables and crushed them between the evap system and firewall then my gauges did not work. After trying to figure out why my gauges did not work i had to take the evap system back out in order to free the cables and the gauges started to work again.
Hei BleepinJeep Iam a big fan of the channel !!! The blend door from my window defroster is broken and every time I run the windshield defroster the wind push and the doors close ! Can u guys make a video how to replace the blend doors ?? Please it will help me a lot !!!!
How did you handle the foam piece where the ac evap and heater core lines meet the firewall? I'm afraid mine won't be in good enough condition to reuse :/
So THAT'S how to change the heater core properly! I did mine but took nowhere near that much of the dash apart. I also had both seats still in their spots. This is a task I have no inclination to repeat...whatsoever. Getting that HVAC box apart enough to wrangle the heater core out with most of the dash intact is no easy accomplishment and I did crack the box fairly badly (good thing one of my few skills is plastic welding). I suppose for future reference, I'll come back to this vid for proper hc changeout, should the need arise. I imagine it'll save me much headache.
Recently hired someone to do this to my '96 xj. Had him replace the Evaporator, Expansion Valve, and Condenser at the same time. He advised against it because he said the replacement parts are not nearly as good as the OEM parts. I hope he's wrong since I had him replace them all. But, he's probably right since my replacement all-aluminum radiator lasted about 9 months before leaking.
It's probably a good idea to do a coolant flush and get out as much stop leak as possible. I've seen that stuff clog up coolant passages in the head, heater cores, radiators, etc.
ok i have to know where you found a 2 dr 5spd 4x4! what transfercase does it have? and what 5spd does it have? i want my 2dr 4x4 to be a 5spd so badly! any info would be greatly appreciated! thanks. great video.
I actually had the shop I go to give me a quote a few days ago and they estimated $592 in labor which isn't probably actually that bad compared to what my expectations were and considering how much some places would probably charge.
since I remove my ac lines and compressor under the hood anyways, what would go wrong if I took the ac box out if and when I go to replace a heater core? do you thing it would mess with the vacuum system or any of the other electronics? or would it just leave a vacant space
I need to replace my evaporator on my 2006 TJ. But I live in South Africa and it's right hand drive. All the replacements online are, I'm assuming, for left hand drive vehicles. The one even says "for LHD only", although this could be a mistake. Is there any reason why it would be different for a LHD or RHD TJ?
Great video!!! Im having trouble with my a/c coming out places i don't want it to. Are the control doors in the box that the heater coil is in or are they in the part that was left in the Jeep? Thanks for any help and great video!
Hi Tim. I'm trying to figure out an issue with my heat. I'm not getting much heat. When the vent is set to off and temp on high both coolant lines to the heater core are hot. When I switch the vents to face or feet the lower line is Luke warm while the top line is hot. I'm not thinking it's the heater core anymore. Any thoughts?
save the old core, if its only a minor seep, you can plumb it in under hood for overheat insurance/bandaid when crawling and slow speed use, without running in cab heater.
May be a stupid question but this fix is mostly for when your heat stops working right? My 99 Cherokee sport has no heat whatsoever but it blows good and powerful. I hope this is the fix to not having heat. Btw great video, thanks!
So how's your heater core after two more years? I just replaced mine after 25 years. Since my '93 XJ has a split box, I can remove only the half with the A/C evaporator core and blower motor to get to the heater core. Buuuuuuut, the dash still has to come out even though it's a simpler design.
I have watched this along with countless other videos as my core is leaking, interior fills with vapor and glass fogs over, today I decided to bypass my heater core. I am not quite ready to perform this repair even though winter is here. This is my one and only vehicle at this time and I simply can't have it down. Thank you for your very informative video
lol that's exactly how i feel
Shout out to all my fellow XJ-ers who know their heater core needs replacing
🙄 🙋♂️🤦🏼♂️ lol
Mine has also been seeping for a few years. Really starting to steam the windows now so I guess it's time to do something about it 🤷🏻♂️
@@snakeinthegrass4726 I changed mine last Friday. . Wasn’t terrible
@@Screamingz1 I'm about to find out within a couple days
@@snakeinthegrass4726 good luck. It’s not the worst
Where do you find friends like that? Mine always say that their out of town.
If I was your friend and you called me for a helping hand for a heater core swap... I might be out of town too.
Thank You! This was a great job of describing and showing the work that needs to be done without dragging it out forever. This is a really good option for a quick reference during the project!
Yeah and thanks for not playing super loud annoying gay music during the video
I would bypass it before I would even think about doing that, my second choice would be to junk the vehicle after selling any good parts, I'm glad I watched this, now I know to just bypass it to stop the leak! Thanks again for the info.
great timing on this vid. my 96 Grand Cherokee 5.2 v8 just started leaking this winter. I'd love to see more on the 5.2 v8. I've already done so much because of these very well thought out videos, like rear main, head liner, dif oil ect, but always adapting from the straight 6 to my v8 Grand Cherokee. Keep up the good work. Stay frosty, gents.
I have a 98 5.9 grand. Maybe one day they'll grt a hold of a ZJ and do some vids but i love all their xj and yj vids as well.
Of course this is maybe the best video on this topic on TH-cam thanks bleepin
Awesome work, I have my 2000xj now for 9 months and I have to say you all helped same me a lot of money and time. Thanks for all the time spent doing it 👍🏼🙌🏽
I feel the right procedure was to disassemble the dash, shortcuts lead to further problems, well done.
@@MUCKFOOT399 why don't you show us how it's done instead of leaving so many wtfs.
@@MUCKFOOT399 you are incorrigible, WTF.
Thank goodness for the option to bypass.
I have to do this exact nightmare job pretty soon for the exact same reason. So, I located and purchased a used heater box and will rebuild that one ahead of time to "save time" during reassembly. And this way I can make sure everything is exactly right with it without feeling rushed. But I'm replacing everything! I don't want to do this twice. Greetings from Arizona.
Wow! Heck of a job, guys. I think my heater core is bad. I wish I had the tools and work space to try this. I really enjoyed the video.
I did this on my '98 TJ last year. I followed pretty much the same procedure as the TJ and XJ share a lot of the same components. I used the factory service manual as my guide.
you guys are crazy. I did this last week by just unbolting the dash and pulling it back a little...
Guess you missed the part where he said one reason was to show on camera separating the box and what not
Then tell me some tips lol cause mine is smoked
Sure you did bub, sure you did. Do us a fav & upload your version of this procedure.
Were you able to gain access to the Evap and heater core ? How much time involved ?
it was 20 degrees in my jeep this morning on my drive to work, heater core has been clogged up a long time and ive been avoiding changing it until this morning i had enough. you could not have posted this on a better day thanks!
+Michael Hernan Very cool! Its worth the task to have heat. I was taking some night photos in about 15f and froze my hands until they hurt. Got back in the Jeep and it took about an hour to warm up again with my faulty heater core. So stoked to have hot heat and clean air! Good luck - Tim
Michael Hernan I would try reverse flush a clogged core before ya go they all that. I fixed a few like that. Fill and blow air thru til it’s clear then see if it leaks. Worth a try!👍
This job cost a friend of mine $980.00 two weeks ago. I have another vehicle to drive, so I'm saving $880.00 and I'm doing it on my own! Thank you for the video.
Hey this is great. Thank you Tim. I think you went into the perfect level of detail for a "how to" type video. Particularly for a long job like this.
+Morgan Oliff Thanks! Like I said in the video, it never would have gotten done if I showed every single step with explanation. - Tim
That was a really cool video. Glad I paid to have that done in my wife's Jeep lol. I would have been tempted to replace that blower as well since you had it tore all the way down. Very cool man!
187raptorjesus187 how much did it cost
@@Ray-fr8iy quoted 800 to 1700 in Tacoma Wa.
I replaced both the heater core and evaporator a few months ago. One thing I would recommend is that you replace the blend door at the same time. BC now my blend door is getting stuck.
Was considering doing this in my jeep but now...😐 I think I'll just put extra layers on before going out lol
I did it once back in 2010 with my dad when we were swapping in the first stroker. We weren't internetting it and it took him about two days to figure/get it out. He put it all in the rear cargo area when disassembled and it took up a lot more space than it does when assembled. It's a puzzle to take apart since some pieces cover other pieces, and then you find that piece has a bolt that's covered by another piece. It isn't a fun task. A few weeks passed before we reassembled it but it went faster than taking it apart. I think it is more time consuming than an engine swap.
I bought a XJ recently as my first vehicle and i notice i don’t have heat i have no idea i haven’t even troubleshooted my issues yet but i’m already looking into worse case scenario. I don’t have any signs as far as i know and i think my gates that allow the air from the AC rad and heater core rad are stuck to only letting AC through as i know the heartercore also isn’t clogged.
Nice video. I just did this but left the seats and steering wheel. Seemed to be enough room. I would recommend replacing the gaskets on the front of the HVAC box that seal it to the firewall. They're available through the dealer for about $60 for the set.
I have a 2001 Cherokee with an AC leak in this area and I have been dreading working on it for several years. This video helps.
Got to do this job over the holiday! Thanks for the video! Based on this video being 7min long I should be able to knock this out quick lol
Great video. I just did mine today for the first time and it’s just soooo long. Labour is crazy!
I did the heater core in my XJ all of 3 months after I bought it (got it mid-summer). I did this without the aide of an informative video because I had done heater cores previously and thought I had it under control with some minor Haynes Manual points. I also did it without the aide of another pair of hands (or nerve deadening liquor).
My advice is...DON'T EVER TRY THIS! My taint was so sore after that ordeal. Needless to say, the job was finished 2 days later and not without a fair amount of epoxy and spray foam insulation.
If I ever have a problem with a heater core again, I think the easiest solution would be to load the XJ up with dinitroazoxyfurazan and send it off a very high cliff.
worked many things on and owed three jeeps,i find this vidio to be usefull.I have to say that removeing the dash with a friend is a very good idea,You know what they say two heads are better then one.Thanks for the effort guys,chile looked good . mike t
thanks bro!
2003 Jeep Rubicon had its heater core rupture 2 years ago. Replaced it myself (2-3 days as I am an old man and have to work in the driveway) as jeep dealer service writer grinned ruefully and said repairs would be at least $1,200 and likely more. That one lasted 1.5 years--I hate china junk but .... I am now finishing up installing a Brassworks heater core (all copper and brass) and a NEW A/C Mopar evaporator (that was hard to find!). I removed the console (M/T), removed the gauge cluster, loosened the dash, covered/protected the Emergency Flasher switch with a foam cover, pulled the dash up and back using straps to the roll bar and roof rack (no need to remove the steering wheel), and removed the heater box. I discovered twice now that leaves can migrate from the sides of the cowl cover so I put rubber tubing in the seam to try to keep the trash out; I also added wire screen over the heater box intake under the cowl to keep trash out of the squirrel cage fan (hopefully no more out of balance noise). While I have access under the accumulator I am replacing the starter with a PMGR starter at 100k miles; there is a skid plate under the engine which makes access from under a real challenge. I photographed the heater fan from the floorboard so I can R&R later. The heater core aluminum fingers don't clamp well and that is why 2-piece radiators fail also. There is more to the story but you get the idea. I am old school and remember driving old trucks with the heater hose control valve in the engine compartment; it was a needle valve that the driver got out and adjusted as needed. I am not a fan of manufacturers using the heater core as additional cooling to save money on a bigger radiator. thebrassworks.net/collections/heater-cores/products/2002-2006-jeep-wrangler-heater-core
How timely. I just discovered that my 02 Jeep heater core is leaking. Interesting tip that you guys took out the seats. I'm going to wait to do this job because its winter, no garage, and it does NOT look fun. Thanks for posting.
Awsome job, I payed 600 plus heater core & ac vap as u describe on here, I even was able to take pics of how all my dash board was completely off, stering leaning & crap
great video! thanks so much. I have a 99 xj with an evaporator leak and am also waiting until the warmer months to do this fix! BJ is a fantastic TH-cam channel. not bad that it is a little xj biased as well ;)
+Caleb Weir Replace the heater core while you're in there for sure! - Tim
Whoa!!! And that’s why the shops charge the big $ to do this job!! TIP: if you have a shop do this job, ask the manager to accompany you to your vehicle and take a video with phone or camera showing him all the lights behind the dash panels work and you expect them to be working after the job is complete. In a diplomatic way of course. I almost learned this lesson the hard way!
I'd say you did it the correct method. How else would you get the insides of the HVAC box clean and free of coolant etc? Plus, the job was likely easier on the plastics, clips, brittle plastic/parts etc. vs. straining with it in the dash area. Not sure about the evaporator replacement but at least you have no future concerns. Just about every modern vehicle with center console/controls have the heater core buried inside the center dash area requiring some 10 hours labor to do not to mention, it's really hard on the other vehicle parts getting access. You'd think the engineers would come up with a simple solution like replacing a cabin filter vs. tear apart the customers cars (under warranty possibly). That would be a hard one to accept, 1 year old and pulling the entire dash out !
Also, it would be a good idea for car makers to put a sensor under the heater core or an auxillary drain hose for notification the core is leaking vs. a wet floor board and mess.
Their business is selling new cars
Not fixing them
managed to do this with a friend. you can drop the steering wheel and remove the core without removing the gigantic dash unit. I didn't disconnect it. just lifted it up and tweaked it so my buddy could squeeze the evap box out without unplugging all that crap. This job took me no less than 12 hours. nightmare but totally worth it. in hindsight i should have dropped it off at a shop but i guess i learned in the process or something...
That was an EPIC venture and I commend you guys for the attempt. The engineer of that system should be HANGED !
Actually, heater core replacement is about this difficult on almost all vehicles. The only difference with jeeps, is the poor numbers for rate of failure of the heater core.
But then again.. (not making a joke).
People keep jeep's running for many more miles and years than the average car or truck, thus these parts are failing at 250K miles or 18 years.. which already would put this XJ vehicle model in about top 20% for longevity.
Been dealing with this problem for a good year! Was hoping y'all would make a video on it- thanks! Probably get around to it this summer!
Thanks for this video. My A/C condenser has failed so I need to do this on my 2000 XJ. Looks like it is going to be a pain in the butt.
I'm concerned about mine so I'm replacing it as well as the heater core. What an abortion job this is.
Thanks a million! Couldn't have done it without you!
Definitely would have liked more detailed info on the dash removal. Thanks for what you shared though. Getting ready to do this myself.
Totally agree. The dash is the biggest obstacle.
Holy crap what a job. I have the same problem and am 76 yrs old. I am going to use a bottle of K Seal and hope for the best.
good god what a job ! I am happy that I only need the evap core at this time
Nice vid guys, now I know to order my ac evaporator also before I tackle this job. I'm going to wait for that and plan to add LED lights to the dash along with my new heated seats since everything will come out at the same time.
Thank you so much! I would have tried to tackle this and found out that it was a much bigger project than I had time for. As much as I would rather do it myself, this time I'll have to let the mechanic tackle it...While it's apart I should let him replace the blown motor and evaporator too...
All this time later and now I'm planning on tackling it this weekend
@Ty D it went really well. You don't need to take as many thing off of the dash as they did. If I had to do it again I would only take the top cover, glove box and the panel under the steering column off of the dash. After that you can access everything you need to remove the dash. There are 4 bolts holding the steering column on plus 1 bolt for the steering shaft. That bolt needs to be completely removed or the shaft won't separate. All of the wiring harness connectors are different so you can't mix them up. There's 6 bolt across the top of the dash and 4 across the bottom holding it in. It lifts out pretty easily with a friend. When you put the heater box back together make sure that the servo operated baffle moves easily. I had trouble getting it back in the right spot to pivot correctly. I spent all weekend on mine, but I was taking my time. I wish I would have taken the time to do it last year 😅
Even with the understandable lack of excruciating detail, very well done. Nice video. I just hope I never have to do this job.
Thank you so much for that video it really prepared me for what I'm about to do and now because of that I can change the way I'm doing some things
i was a mechanic for 27 years and did a few heater cores in my early years not all need to have the dash removed some you can get done just taking out the vent box underneath. easiest one i ever did was on a 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle.everything you need to remove is under the hood in the engine compartment.a lot of the jeep and Chrysler products are a pain. on your jeep here you did it the best way even though you could theoretically have gotten it done without removing the dash,it would have cost a lot more aggravation and possible injuries to try it.
I did this on a 1999 Dakota a few years back. Took me about 12 hours but all the parts including the AC Freon etc. was less then $100.
had to do the same job on my 05 kj. I managed after many hours to change the heater core without disconnecting my ac lines and disconnecting the steering wheel
Great video. Thanks. I need to do this soon myself.
Nice video! I need to rip into my dash too, for other reasons. I will be procrastinating as well.
+Anthony Baker I replaced my gauge cluster lights with LED's and my blinker control box while we were tearing everything out. When I put my left blinker on it would flash the hazards in the rear only... I've been a super safe left turn driver for a few years. - Tim
I have got to hire this guy
Thanks for the video. Recently started getting steam out of my vents on my 2000 Cherokee and was hoping this wasn't the problem. Heat is still hot and no leaks in the vehicle yet but I guess I know what I am doing come spring. I also have a 1996 Grand Cherokee 5.2 doing the same thing. Replacing the radiator this weekend for a different problem but I guess we'll be tackling this one too come spring. The engineers who design these things should be responsible for replacing them, Hahaha. What were they thinking ?!?
could not agree more with the engineers needing to do the work.
i was a mechanic for 27 years and i used to say the same thing about the engineers that design these parts and the cars. let them work on replacing parts they design for at least 2 years so they can see how it goes for the mechanic.and by the time when it gets to the mechanic to r&r most parts it's already ten years down the road and things are corroded and rusty already so it's a bigger pain in the ass.
once had to replace a rack&pinion on a 2003 ford Taurus and i swear i made up a few new curse words at the engineer that designed that setup...
My 2011 Frontier has started to smell like curry on full heat and misting up right side of the screen it’s clammy in the car. Is this the matrix
I think an important note, is to ensure air conditioning is evacuated or reclaimed prior to removing the connections behind the accumulator. Very dangerous if you’ve got all that pressure behind it.
Good vid. It Let's me know what I'm probably in for with my '97 Dodge Ram. Of course, there's the infamous cracked Dodge Ram dash covers too. By comparison, my '60 Willys wagon was a piece of cake. Could almost do it blindfolded.
Hey guys thanks for this great diy.
I'm doing this now. I want to gut out ALL my AC components. Do you have a video on how and what vacuum lines to plug? Ty
I really love your video. Thanks a bunch.
Thank you for the video. Your's is the best how-to on getting the job done, especially separating the two core halves.
I do have a question thought. Now that you've had installed a couple of years, how is the Spectra brand holding up?
How long did the stop leak last?
Great video. I will be tackling this project in the next couple of days. This vid was a lot of help thanks!I guess my only concern is, how to drop the steering column. looks like the first thought was to leave it connected then, it was removed. Easy?
I don't have AC (anymore) and mine isn't a DD, so I just flushed the evap core and routed the heater lines to that.
Did this work?
@@andrewsweat6506 If you mean that all vent air is now warm, yes.
thanks for this video!
I think this will help me out in the future of my 97 XJ,
it takes away a bit of the fear of this job ;)
Good that your car is running again!
Only thing I have to find out is how you removed the steering wheel with the steering shaft... but i`ll find out :)
This was the first job i ever did on a car, by myself. I was crazy for attempting it at the time lol
Probably going to need to do this next summer- what product (leak sealer) do you recommend to shore up the heater core so I don’t have to do this right now. I have done a very thorough flush- and the fluid remains fairly clean. At the moment the leak seems to be very minor - just a slight odor of coolant and plenty of heat - and no overheating issues or steaming on the windshield.
Very nice video, thx a lot!
Can you recommend any good brand as well as the ones to avoid?
Hell of a video. Thank you so much for sharing
Well done! ...if I may, maybe add 97-01 to you video title...I would've found this much easier that way
After my A/C went over the summer I wanted to pinpoint where the actual leak was, so I threw some freon into my system with the red dye, cranked up the A/C ran it for a bit and saw a 'mist' coming out of my dash vents, all in the middle of traffic... oops. If I'm not mistaken... freon is bad to breathe in, no? Going to have to rip my dash out come the spring time!
one problem i had when i had done this is the breather tube on the front of the evap box picked up the electrical cables and crushed them between the evap system and firewall then my gauges did not work. After trying to figure out why my gauges did not work i had to take the evap system back out in order to free the cables and the gauges started to work again.
Damm that was great step by step now I just have to apply that too 98 cadiillac deville thanks great vid
Hei BleepinJeep Iam a big fan of the channel !!! The blend door from my window defroster is broken and every time I run the windshield defroster the wind push and the doors close ! Can u guys make a video how to replace the blend doors ?? Please it will help me a lot !!!!
Good video Tim
Great vid. Think I need to do this soon.
Thank you for making this video.
How did you handle the foam piece where the ac evap and heater core lines meet the firewall? I'm afraid mine won't be in good enough condition to reuse :/
So THAT'S how to change the heater core properly!
I did mine but took nowhere near that much of the dash apart. I also had both seats still in their spots. This is a task I have no inclination to repeat...whatsoever.
Getting that HVAC box apart enough to wrangle the heater core out with most of the dash intact is no easy accomplishment and I did crack the box fairly badly (good thing one of my few skills is plastic welding).
I suppose for future reference, I'll come back to this vid for proper hc changeout, should the need arise. I imagine it'll save me much headache.
HedoBum I’m with you on this. Maybe I’ll just cut the damn thing out and flex seal the plastic back. It’s a $600 beater anyway...
How long would this take for an amateur?
Recently hired someone to do this to my '96 xj. Had him replace the Evaporator, Expansion Valve, and Condenser at the same time. He advised against it because he said the replacement parts are not nearly as good as the OEM parts. I hope he's wrong since I had him replace them all. But, he's probably right since my replacement all-aluminum radiator lasted about 9 months before leaking.
Great job!!! Great video!!!
It's probably a good idea to do a coolant flush and get out as much stop leak as possible. I've seen that stuff clog up coolant passages in the head, heater cores, radiators, etc.
Had steam or smoke coming from my heater vents. At first thought had mouse nest on resistor coil but was clean. Thinking now is my heater core
ive had to remove my dash a couple times for various reasons....i got it down to 45 min 👍👍
ok i have to know where you found a 2 dr 5spd 4x4! what transfercase does it have? and what 5spd does it have? i want my 2dr 4x4 to be a 5spd so badly! any info would be greatly appreciated! thanks. great video.
I actually had the shop I go to give me a quote a few days ago and they estimated $592 in labor which isn't probably actually that bad compared to what my expectations were and considering how much some places would probably charge.
Hey Tim.. Thanks for the video. How difficult is this to do on the older style XJs? I know my '90 needs a new one.
where at in Oregon are you located? I live in Medford so I'm sure not to far away from you. you should put on a southern Oregon meet up!
since I remove my ac lines and compressor under the hood anyways, what would go wrong if I took the ac box out if and when I go to replace a heater core? do you thing it would mess with the vacuum system or any of the other electronics? or would it just leave a vacant space
@BleepinJeep what stop leak brand did you use need a little time pass by to radiator and heater core leak
I’m going to replace the blower motor and ac condenser as well if it’s going to be that much work
I need to replace my evaporator on my 2006 TJ. But I live in South Africa and it's right hand drive. All the replacements online are, I'm assuming, for left hand drive vehicles. The one even says "for LHD only", although this could be a mistake. Is there any reason why it would be different for a LHD or RHD TJ?
Great video!!! Im having trouble with my a/c coming out places i don't want it to. Are the control doors in the box that the heater coil is in or are they in the part that was left in the Jeep? Thanks for any help and great video!
could be an issue with the vacuum ball. If it has a leak or isn't connected then you ac will just come out of the defrost vents
I'm in Medford Oregon, you know any good wheel in spot near by? Like off road trail to flex out the suspension?
Man, gives me hope for my 1995 Wrangler.
sweet video but like yourself I'll wait till the summer comes. PNW is a bit cold.
Hi Tim. I'm trying to figure out an issue with my heat. I'm not getting much heat. When the vent is set to off and temp on high both coolant lines to the heater core are hot. When I switch the vents to face or feet the lower line is Luke warm while the top line is hot. I'm not thinking it's the heater core anymore. Any thoughts?
Great job wonderful insight.
save the old core, if its only a minor seep, you can plumb it in under hood for overheat insurance/bandaid when crawling and slow speed use, without running in cab heater.
May be a stupid question but this fix is mostly for when your heat stops working right? My 99 Cherokee sport has no heat whatsoever but it blows good and powerful. I hope this is the fix to not having heat. Btw great video, thanks!
You should try flushing it first... most times you replace it because its leaking.
How did you stop any air from getting in the system when you did this?
wow...what a pain..I seriously hope mine doesn't go bad in my xj.. Good video though!
So how's your heater core after two more years? I just replaced mine after 25 years. Since my '93 XJ has a split box, I can remove only the half with the A/C evaporator core and blower motor to get to the heater core. Buuuuuuut, the dash still has to come out even though it's a simpler design.
Is wish you mentioned the bleeding procedure for the engine and heater coolant!