'89 Trooper II leaking heater core

[ActionVerb]

Hi all. 1st post and thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

Alright, the Trooper has 2.6 L4. Coolant started dripping into the cab from the heater vents a few days ago. Evey time I run the rig it gets worse. Now I have a small stream flowing to what's now a steaming pond on my drivers side floorboard. Every person I've asked says heater core and I'm looking at a $400 bill including 4hrs labor.

Now I'm fairly capable at doing repairs myself, but I'm no mechanic. I'm trying to get a feeling for my ability to do this job and maybe luck out and get some sweet time/mistake saving insider info? I know the dash has to come out.

Thanks again

[95.5 Rodeo]

I replaced the heater core on my 1987 Trooper and as I recall, it wasn't too big of a deal. I think the whole repair took just a few hours.

Mine did not have A/C, so the replacement was pretty straightforward. I didn't have to remove the dash; the core and it's housing came out as an assembly. I believe that I slipped it out to the left after removing all the mounting bolts and cables.

The heater core cost about $100 at the local automotive supply.

Sorry that I don't have more specific information, but I did this repair about 5 years ago. It wasn't that difficult and I saved myself a lot of money.


Dale

[ActionVerb]

Thanks for sharing the experience. got a 2nd quote that's completely different from the 1st. 1st quote said $80 core and 4hrs labor = +/-$400, 2nd quote said core available only from oem for like $280, and final cost very dependent upon the location of some AC unit. Possibly have to recharge it. He estimated it'd be between $700 and $950. The more I think about it the less I think I can get this done. Just have a feeling I'd be over my head, would run into some AC stuff I couldnt deal with. Starting another thread hoping for info on pulling the dash and some AC components.

[Just Joe]

I changed mine in my 89 last weekend. I did pull the dash, the blower unit, the evaporator unit, and the heater unit, because I have the shop manual and I have some a/c issues anyway. My system was already purged so removing the a/c lines was no big deal. You may be able to get to the core without pulling any of the under dash units, just loosening them. I would pull the dash because it isn't hard and it gives you much more room. You need to remove the radio, remove 10 bolts (4 on top, 2 on each end, 2 in the middle), pull the light switch, and loosen the steering column support bolts. This will allow you to move the dash out. Once you do that, the heater unit is in the middle of the under dash area with the evaporator unit to its right and the blower unit all the way right. The heater core is on the left end of the left most component (the heater unit) so you may be able to swap it out without pulling everything. You will probably want to loosen the nuts holding the heater unit to the firewall. There are 3 , I believe, one at each corner exceptlower left as you look forward. I think you need to loosen the nuts so you can pull the core tubes out of the firewall. After that, there's only a couple of mounting bolts holding the core in the heater unit and one snap linkage that must be disconnected. I used a marker to mark the location for the snap linkage in the heater core water valve so that I could snap it right back in. That way, I didn't have to make any adjustments. Everything goes back in following the reverse order and you're done.

Now the bad news. I spent a year trying to find a reasonable deal on a heater core. Both the 4 and 6 cylinders use the same core. Last year, the dealer wanted over $300 for the core. He connected me with their regional parts manager who said he only had visability on 27 units. I found someone through a Google search who offered one using a different part number for just over $200. I saw some on e-bay but didn't want to go over $70 (boy was I an idiot!). Finally, I found a used one on e-bay that I got for $50. It works OK so far.

Good Luck, if you need a detail from the shop manual, just e-mail me.

Joe

[ActionVerb]

Just Joe, Thanks so much for your insight. You just gave me the confidence to do this thing. The mechanic who quoted me around $400 for the job was unable to locate the $80 core and was still looking last time I talked to him. I'm betting he wont find it and it'll take an OEM part for around $280 to get it done. In the mean time I've take the core out of the cooling system by connecting the inlet and outlet hoses. Luckly it looks like spring has come early to Washington. In the mean time I'll be looking for one on the cheap.

Any idea what years/models would be compatable? Thanks again for the advice.