Heater Core Replaced - aluminum unit

[spitfyre]

going to put my heater core back in tomorrow, just thought i'd share, ordered mine from the local carquest dealer, its made by spectre, just thought id share that it turned out to be an all aluminum unit.

what a nightmare... left the seats and steering column in tho! managed to pull the dash up enough to get the heater box out.

[DanMan2k06]

After having just replaced the vent box/blower motor on an IS350 yesterday, I'm convinced I'm ready for anything... EVERYTHING has to come out on that car. Steering column, radio, glovebox, entire dash assembly, airbags, center console, a-pillars, the whole works.

Seeing as the Jeep has FRACTION of the parts, It can't be that bad lol. I better watch what I say though.


Edit: Thought I'd throw up a pic just for grins...


Let us know how the install goes and take some pics!

[soopergoober]

Heater cores can be a major pain! I forget what car it was for, but there was one I looked up on alldata that paid 25hrs labor to r&r! I could have a stroker engine built for less than that. That is350 must have been a major pain too...

Good Luck!

[spitfyre]

man what a hellish job... wouldnt be so bad if it wasnt -15 when i took it apart yesterday and wasnt snowing an inch an hour today when im putting it back together... down to putting the trim panels back on!
on a side note, i noticed the defrost vents atop the dash have a half inch gap from the foam gasket on the heater core (hot air going behind the dasH) sealed that up with metal duct tape, and also the passenger side roll down bolt snapped when i was loosening it... gonna have to throw a self tapper through there if it moves too much.

back at it
Edit: sorry no pics, its been too cold/aggravating, i woulda thrown my camera somewhere

[spitfyre]

All Done!! works well, other than the fact im pretty sure i forgot to hook up the vacuum line to the blend door for my feet... i think i can get at it though. thank god for this site and the writeups..

[birchlakeXJ]

25 hours labor? WTF?

[DanMan2k06]

You're gonna have to tell me what car that was cause I'm gonna have to call bs lol. I got paid 4 hours for that IS dash. Labor rates on overhauling tranny's are less than 25 hours. I think the sludge treatment/short block + head overhaul on the older cars paid 30 hours.

[ktwalker01]

Man That is a mess of a job Ive had to take that HVAC box out twice. Someone told me to replace my heater core along with the EVAP core, but I didnt listen... 1 year later my heater core went out... took me 1/4 of the time the second time around to do the whole process though.

[DanMan2k06]

Bringing this thread back from the dead. Replaced my motor earlier in the summer. Bypassed the heater core because I replaced the rest of the system and didn't want it contaminated with all the built up rust/crud in the core.

So I go out the other morning to drive to work. Weather.com says 46 degrees out, and man it sure was. Hopped in the jeep, turned on heat and defrost full blast Africa style and thought WTF??! Then I remembered... I had no heat.

Can you post a link of the sceptre unit you used? How well did it fit? I read another thread where the dude went though like 4 of them and finally wound up re-using the original because the others didn't fit.

[Ronbo]

I think the brand is 'spectra'. www.RockAuto.com has them.

[DanMan2k06]

Ordered the Spectra Premium evaporator and heater core. Hopefully both with fit decently lol. I'm thinking about tackling it this weekend, we'll see how busy the shop is.

[DanMan2k06]

Just thought I'd update this for anyone else who is thinking about tackling the beast. I bought the Spectra Premium evaporator and the heater core. Both fit 100% great, no issues. They don't come with the soft foam (not syramfoam) on them like the stock unit does, so get some from home depot. Without it, all your air will take the path of least resistance, divert around the two units, and make your heat and AC suck. Very straightforward, VERY time consuming. Took me 2 entire days, with the correct tools and shop necessities. But I cut zero corners

Bottom line - after driving for about a week in 35 degree mornings, replacing both was well worth the headache.

[Tryfan]

DanMan did you take out the whole dash or were you able to maneuver the box assembly without taking the dash out. I have to do this job on my 2001 XJ. I also have my heater core bypassed at the moment and its starting to get cold in the mornings.

[s14unimog]

Originally Posted by Tryfan

DanMan did you take out the whole dash or were you able to maneuver the box assembly without taking the dash out. I have to do this job on my 2001 XJ. I also have my heater core bypassed at the moment and its starting to get cold in the mornings.

Having done this before I will tell you that it is much smarter to remove the entire dash. Chrysler did us all a favor by making that dash such a modular assembly, you'd be retarded, and asking for more work, to not take advantage of it. Pics b/c I took some.

Also, to add to the "must have" parts list. You're going to have to purchase the HVAC foam gaskets from the dealership (~$60) b/c that is how water gets into our floorboards and they're 99.99% likely shot if you're replacing a core.

[NW-ZJ-SCOTT]

just did this to Redjeep2.0's XJ last week