TJ Heater Core Replacement

[JFjeld]

The heater core in my 2001 TJ is again leaking, so last night I started to dig into it. The bad news is that I did this same replacement 7-8 years ago. The good news is that I documented it last time so had a great reference.

For those interested, here is the write-up I made in 2007 that Stu, from Stu-Offroad, graciously posted for me. To this day, I still get emails from folks who've used the write-up.

• http://www.stu-offroad.com/engine/he...atercore-1.htm

Here are some pics of last night's progress:







Tonight I plan to clean up the HVAC box of all the leaked residue, give the under-dash a thorough cleaning, and start throwing things back together.

[Mr6dwg]

I am sure my day is coming for that as well. I will try to keep your link and use it for future educational purposes. Thank you.

[newracer]

I hope I never have to do this. My TJ is a 99 with 43K miles. When I replaced my radiator I back flushed the heater core a bunch hoping to prevent clogging and failure.

[otisdog]

I'm looking forward to this some day myself.
Jim

[jayson44]

yeah, I'm probably gonna have to do this next summer. the heater isn't leaking, but it's not very hot. I think some of the stuff inside the box is either deteriorated or not in the proper place. I'll just do the core at the same time.

I read your writeup earlier this year when I was contemplating doing it. thanks for all the pics.

J.

[Java]

something to look forward to. :( I LOVE stu-offroad.com, it's a fantastic site, very cool that you're on there. Thanks for the write up!!

[Brucker]

Oh man, I feel your pain. In fact, I have a TJ that is dash-less in the shop at the moment as well. Little different issue, but still got the fun of removing the entire dash assembly. Here is how mine is looking:





Neat write up you did. Though I have a question about your process. Why did you remove the entire steering column? Wouldn't it have been faster to pull the two bolts holding in the horn/air bag assy and then just pull the steering wheel by itself with one more nut? Only took a few seconds and the dash slipped right out over what was left of the column. What am I missing?