1999 Dodge Dakota Heater Core

RCLAPPER79

MEMBER
1999 DODGE DAKOTA
6 CYL
4WD
MANUAL
109,000 MILES

My truck is starting to leak antifreeze from the bottom and into the passenger side floor of my truck. Im pretty sure its my heater core I would rather get free advice then have to go to a dealership and they tell me. My windshield takes forever to defrost and even then still wont stay defrosted all the way. And of course the smell of coolent inside the truck? If you could help it would be very much appreciated.

1 Reply

JNOVACK

MECHANIC
723 POSTS

REMOVAL & INSTALLATION

Disconnect the battery negative cable.
Remove the instrument panel from the vehicle.
If equipped with air conditioning, recover the refrigerant.
Disconnect the liquid line refrigerant line fitting from the evaporator inlet tube.
Ram: remove the accumulator.
Dakota, Durango: disconnect the accumulator inlet tube.
Drain the cooling system.
Disconnect the heater hoses from the heater core tubes.
Ram: remove the powertrain control module from the dash panel. Disconnecting wiring is not necessary.
Remove the four nuts from the heater-A/C mounting studs on the engine compartment side of the dash panel.
Remove the nut(s) that secure(s) the heater-A/C housing mounting brace to the stud(s) on the passenger compartment side of the dash board.
Pull the housing rearward far enough for the mounting studs and evaporator condensate drain tube to clear the dash panel holes.
Remove the housing from the vehicle.
Lift the heater core out of the housing.
Installation is the reverse of removal.