Changing the Heater Core in a Ram 1500, help

Hi All: It appears that I'm being drafted into changing out the leaky heater core in my brother-inlaw's '96 Dodge Ram 1500. I've changed heater cores in the past, and they are always a pain. But from what I've heard about changing this one, is anywhere from 6 to 8 hours, and possibly having to bleed out and recharge the A/C system.

So, has anyone done this? The dealer is quoting "about" $600" to do it, minimum...which inlaw doesn't have. So, that leaves, the "mechanically inclined" relative, me, to fix it. Big relative relations have built up around this....any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

divorce would take less time...

Easy peasy. Poke around on the Dodge forums. There is a shortcut involving pulling the dash back with a ratchet strap, cutting the lines where they come through the body, cutting the lines on your new core to match, securing them with some high quality heater hose and spring clamps. In and out in an hour or 2.

www.dieseltruckresource.com

Pull the dash back, but be careful if it's still intact. Sun and age have them acting like paper thin plaster of paris. You will have to drop the column down far enough to get the one bolt above the column. I probably would undo the AC compressor to give you more room when you pull the box back. I agree on just cutting the heater hoses, they need to be replaced anyways.

$600 plus the core, sounds about right. 4.5hrs R&R time, plus the 1.5hrs AC time.

I won't say it will be done in 2hrs, but no more then a day depending on how much crap is in the interior, how fragile the dash is, and who is helping.

Brian

Use a rachet strap to pull the dash back? I can't unscrew a portion of it to get the access, or is this a short cut? The dash is still intact, and trucks in good condition....aside from a fragile dash any other helpful hints/advice? Undoing the A/C compressor allows more room by allowing its lines to move more?

Undo the compressor at the engine, not from the box. It will allow the line to move a bit more when you drop the box back off the firewall, as you will have to do the core swap in the interior.

Ram dashes are easier to roll onto the seat then to use a strap holding it out of the way from the pass side dash mount to the drivers side upper seat belt mount. The ratchet strap idea works well on WJ Grand Cherokees.

Brian

Cut the hard lines on the core INSIDE the dash, splice in new core to existing hard lines.

Thats the shortcut way to do it and apparently works just as well as the proper way.

Once the dash is loose entirely, lift it up with a ratchet strap off the passenger side grab handle to keep it out of the way, no need to pull it out and pull all wiring and whatnot from it. Like I said, hit up Diesel Truck Resource and read the DIY.

My whole life heater cores have been a challenge....why?

Thermostats have also become a 1/2 day job too. Trailblazer/Envoy Forum:

I removed the alternator, but had to go through the wheel well to get to the bottom bolt. The thermostat itself is $25-30, and you'll need a gallon or two of coolant. You're looking at about a $50 investment if you do it yourself. I've usually seen around $250 quoted for a shop to replace. - 2004 GMC Envoy SLT 4x4, 87k miles