How do you change heater core in 2002 dodge ram 1500 4.7?

Answer 1

The simplest way to tell you how to do this is to go get yourself a chilton book. The process isn't too long, but a bit tedious and 3-6 hours of fun...

first off, disconnect your battery for at least 30 min before touching any plugs or harnesses. next, bleed your A/C and disconnect the quick connects that go inside the firewall. drain your coolant, and disconnect hoses from firewall. note a certain bolt with nut on it that is going to the inside of the firewall, you'll need to take that off when you get to the airbox inside the truck which houses your heater core. next, take off the pillar handles next to the windshield, then pop off the plastic dash panel with defroster vents. there are a few bolts up there that need to be taken out all the way across. next, take off your glove box. remove plastic below the drink carrier. there are 2 bolts there on left and right once you remove the plastic. there's a yellow or red AirBag plug which you may or may not need to disconnect later. next, drop down the whole steering wheel column. 4 bolts I believe. look up under there on both sides, you will see a 2inch piece of tubing that goes from each side of the truck. your dash and everything you see in front of you is connected to that tube. find on each side of the truck where that tube is mounted to the body with brackets. There are 2-3 bolts on each side I think. When you get those out, and the steering wheel is sitting in the seat or on the floor, the whole dash and panel should tilt and lay on the seats. there are wires from your a/c controls and radio which you'll have to disconnect and some various other wires as well. I also think you'll have to disconnect a harness plug with bolt in it on the drivers side. (white) after you've done all that and don't have the dash and panel in a bind with wire hangups you can now get to the air box. I don't remember how many bolts, but don't forget the one in the engine bay going to it also. get the box unbolted, then roll it up, remove 2 clips holding the heater core in, replace heater core and do this whole process backwards. Hopefully you didn't lose any screws or bolts. charge your a/c, replace coolant, make sure all plugs are connected before connecting power. Should save you $400-$500 in labor.