Prolly real late on the comment but rock auto is a good place to get parts for damn near anything within a week for a good price for example a heater core is like 50 with shipping.
You have to remove the lower dash and glove box assembly. While you can unscrew the blower motor, you won't be able to remove it because there's not enough room. I don't remember how the assembly comes off, but it wasn't terribly difficult to do. There's also a cooling line for the motor that you probably won't be able to reinstall, unless you can find a genuine Mopar blower motor. The aftermarket motors have the hole in the wrong location and the tube won't fit. I've run my blower motor without it for years, and haven't had an issue yet. You may just want to cap off the port in the air box to keep air from leaking out. But while you're in there, I'd suggest sucking all of the detritus out. There's no filter or even screen from outside, so the box fills with leaves and junk and eventually turns to rot. If you got a musky smell out of your vents, it's likely coming from there. When I reinstalled my air box, I installed a screen between the dash air port and the duct going to the air box. I had a couple of friction fires start in my air box from leaves and twigs falling in and getting stuck between the air box housing and the blower wheel. Had to dump water down the air intake to put them out.
Can you tell me where the AC drain is located and does it drain inside the body, do you think? My AC line is clogged and dumps water on the floor... I was thinking of make a hole in the bottom of the heater box and adding another drain.
The drain is located around a foot down behind the left side engine valve cover, you can see the location on the firewall at 4:17 in this video. I don't know if it's show in the video, but there's a white right angle tube fitting that pushes in from the engine side of the firewall to connect with the airbox. There's a compression clip holding it on, as well as one bolt if I remember correctly, you can pull it off to make it easier to blast water in to dislodge any debris to flush them out. If the drain is clogged, drilling another hole won't fix your problem. What likely happened is since this model year truck doesn't have a screen or cabin air filter, you got leaves and other debris sucked inside the airbox. If the debris is left inside the airbox for any length of time, they'll get wet and create a rotting moldy mess where the evaporator core is. I'd recommend pulling off the blower motor and cleaning the clog out. It's not very difficult to remove, it's located on the passenger side floor board and has a few screws holding it to the air box. I don't remember if you need to remove the glove box to get at it, but the glove box isn't that hard to get out of the way. The air intake for the A/C system is located under the passenger side windshield wiper under the metal vent cover, and is essentially wide open. I spent a good hour cleaning mine out and installing screens to avoid leaves and other debris getting sucked in again. It also helps to not park under a tree, or use a cover to avoid leaves getting in the vents under the wiper blades.
Thanks.... Since I posted this comment, I went back and watched it again. I went out to my truck and found it right away.....The elbow shaped vent hose was sealed shut at the end. I was able to devise a way to back flush it with a water hose, then I inserted a small piece of plastic hose in the vent to keep it open ...... Thanks for your reply...
@@jackoshaw Those long plastic drain snakes work good on most AC drains. Keep your head to the side if you stick it up there..lol An air compressor does very well too, but turn the regulator down to keep from damaging your rubber hose though.
Didn't drain anything actually, the heater core had leaked everything out through the condensate drain by the time I removed it. The engine coolant had been changed recently so I didn't do anything but add back the lost coolant amount after the job was done.
This design is a walk in the park compared to some others. Ford's F150 from the late 90s to 2010s and maybe beyond for example requires dropping the steering column and removing the ENTIRE dash to the firewall to get at the heater core. They also use stupid quick connect fittings that require a special dealer tool to take off, which is already near impossible to do if you have a 4.6 or 5.4L V8 due to the engine being pressed right up against the firewall. There are very few vehicle designs that have easy access to either the heater core or the evaporator core, they're not designed to be serviceable.
Prolly real late on the comment but rock auto is a good place to get parts for damn near anything within a week for a good price for example a heater core is like 50 with shipping.
Not for 1st gen Dakotas. Finding any part for this truck is a nightmare.
Try getting OE windshield washer nozzles, they don't exist lol.
Great video, I’m in the process of changing the heater core in my 1995 Dakota and your dash looks the same as mine. Great information!
I’ve got to do my blower motor. How bad is it to get to?
You have to remove the lower dash and glove box assembly. While you can unscrew the blower motor, you won't be able to remove it because there's not enough room. I don't remember how the assembly comes off, but it wasn't terribly difficult to do.
There's also a cooling line for the motor that you probably won't be able to reinstall, unless you can find a genuine Mopar blower motor. The aftermarket motors have the hole in the wrong location and the tube won't fit.
I've run my blower motor without it for years, and haven't had an issue yet. You may just want to cap off the port in the air box to keep air from leaking out.
But while you're in there, I'd suggest sucking all of the detritus out. There's no filter or even screen from outside, so the box fills with leaves and junk and eventually turns to rot. If you got a musky smell out of your vents, it's likely coming from there.
When I reinstalled my air box, I installed a screen between the dash air port and the duct going to the air box. I had a couple of friction fires start in my air box from leaves and twigs falling in and getting stuck between the air box housing and the blower wheel. Had to dump water down the air intake to put them out.
@@GGigabiteMthanks for the info. I like my truck but the fan squeal’s
Good video , it is the same for 1987-1996 Dokota's
Can you tell me where the AC drain is located and does it drain inside the body, do you think? My AC line is clogged and dumps water on the floor... I was thinking of make a hole in the bottom of the heater box and adding another drain.
The drain is located around a foot down behind the left side engine valve cover, you can see the location on the firewall at 4:17 in this video. I don't know if it's show in the video, but there's a white right angle tube fitting that pushes in from the engine side of the firewall to connect with the airbox. There's a compression clip holding it on, as well as one bolt if I remember correctly, you can pull it off to make it easier to blast water in to dislodge any debris to flush them out.
If the drain is clogged, drilling another hole won't fix your problem. What likely happened is since this model year truck doesn't have a screen or cabin air filter, you got leaves and other debris sucked inside the airbox. If the debris is left inside the airbox for any length of time, they'll get wet and create a rotting moldy mess where the evaporator core is.
I'd recommend pulling off the blower motor and cleaning the clog out. It's not very difficult to remove, it's located on the passenger side floor board and has a few screws holding it to the air box. I don't remember if you need to remove the glove box to get at it, but the glove box isn't that hard to get out of the way.
The air intake for the A/C system is located under the passenger side windshield wiper under the metal vent cover, and is essentially wide open. I spent a good hour cleaning mine out and installing screens to avoid leaves and other debris getting sucked in again. It also helps to not park under a tree, or use a cover to avoid leaves getting in the vents under the wiper blades.
Thanks.... Since I posted this comment, I went back and watched it again. I went out to my truck and found it right away.....The elbow shaped vent hose was sealed shut at the end. I was able to devise a way to back flush it with a water hose, then I inserted a small piece of plastic hose in the vent to keep it open ...... Thanks for your reply...
@@jackoshaw
Those long plastic drain snakes work good on most AC drains. Keep your head to the side if you stick it up there..lol
An air compressor does very well too, but turn the regulator down to keep from damaging your rubber hose though.
Did you drain your coolant before you swapped it?
Didn't drain anything actually, the heater core had leaked everything out through the condensate drain by the time I removed it.
The engine coolant had been changed recently so I didn't do anything but add back the lost coolant amount after the job was done.
Looks like a pain of a job Boy they really did a poor design .
This design is a walk in the park compared to some others. Ford's F150 from the late 90s to 2010s and maybe beyond for example requires dropping the steering column and removing the ENTIRE dash to the firewall to get at the heater core.
They also use stupid quick connect fittings that require a special dealer tool to take off, which is already near impossible to do if you have a 4.6 or 5.4L V8 due to the engine being pressed right up against the firewall.
There are very few vehicle designs that have easy access to either the heater core or the evaporator core, they're not designed to be serviceable.