[Superdesmo92]

Decided to do it myself anyway.

The guy above is not 100% correct. The ENTIRE dash does need to come out, but not part of the intake. I would like to insert a few pics so you can judge for yourself if you want to get involved in this, but I do not know how. If someone wants pics, email me and I'll send you a few.

Definately not for the faint of heart or mechanical skill. I'm about halfway there. Got it all apart and just got all of the parts I need to put it back together. It took me about 6 hours to get this far. The Haynes manual is just good enough to do this if you are really patient. By the way, whether it is the heater core, a/c evap or the BLOWER MOTOR, the dash must come out. Oh but that's not all folks. The entire HVAC unit must be removed. Be careful, there are 4 bolts, not three.
In order - I took out the driver seat, unplug the battery, wait 10 minutes for the airbag to disarm, remove the airbag, unplug all steering wheel plugs, remove all lower panels, remove 4 bolts for the steering column and lower it to floor. Remove the kick panels and upper trim pieces. Then remove center console, glove box, lower support bracket. Then remove the gauge cluster. Be carefull to remove the gear indicator cable from the steering column. The plastic screw threads out, and the cable then comes off. Thread the plastic bolt back into where it came from for safe-keeping. Then remove radio, headlight switch, heater controls (this is not a must, but it makes life easier). Put all fasteners in marked bags, and mark wires. Take lots of pics. Then start removing all of the plugs and grounds that are all over the place. Then remove the 5 screws just under the windshield. Then loosen the two main bolts under each side of the dash. The dash will now rotate back. look for any plugs or grounds you missed - I know you will miss the airbag control plug. And as a bonus - it has an extra catch pin to hold it in place! Now remove the dash, and have a panic attack (I did)!
Now go into the engine compartment. Remove the washer tank, cruise control vacuum motor, airbox and airbox duct. take it slow, and be methodical. Go to the A/C lines. Remove the nut on the rectangular manifold. Then remove the two torx screws, these hold the intermediate manifold to the A/C evap. Now go to the other side, drain the coolant, and remove the two heater hoses that connect to the heater core. Don't even try to twist them off. Just cut them, there is enough hose. Now look for the 4 nuts that hold the HVAC unit to the firewall. The 4th is behind the automatic transmission fill / check tube. NICE. Now go back inside and remove the bracket right in front. Check for any stray connections and mark them. Now pull the unit toward you, take it out and set it on a bench. Now remove all of the screws on top. Then look for a little push fitting toward the left side on top. Be carefull popping it off, or you will break it off like I did. This exploses the heater core and evap.

My evap was completely corroded from these wonderful Buffalo winters (lots of road salt). I talked the dealer and they said this is commo from 1997 to 2001 or 2002. The evaps weren't anodized. DOUBLE NICE!

I will post when I start back together - hopefully this weekend. Two things - I won't be charging the A/C myself so I won't be discussing that, and don't blame me if you get in over your head using my instructions. Just trying to fill in the gaps in the manual (which is good, you just have to jump around a lot).

Another weekend gone. Finally got it all together. Assembly went much faster, just because I laid all of the parts out in the order I took them out of the truck. I think it took me a total of about 12 hours, but I took it really easy. I ended up replacing the resitor element (which is behind the dash under the windshield on the 1999's!!!!) and the blower motor, just because they are so hard to get to. If you do this yourself, take lots of pictures, especially of the routing of wires and the vacuum lines for the HVAC box. Be sure to adjust the gear indicator cable when going back together. Just leave it in park and keep threading the plastic bolt in until the red button is centered in the Park window.

One more thing, if you tackle this job, have a 18V cordles impact handy. This took HOURS off of the job. I have a 18V Ryobi with the ONE+ batteries. This thing delivers 800 in-lb to screws, sockets, etc. It was a massive time saver.

I have yet to have it charged with the R-134, so I will post an update after that.