There is so much water on the passengers side floor that it looks like I left the window down during a rain storm. How involved is this to change out. I just bought the core for $40 at Napa and don%26#039;t have enough money for a mechanic to put it in. Will I have to excavate the A/C or anything? I know to get the dash out I got to remove the steering column, gauge cluster, radio and glove box to get to the dash bolts. At least thats what the Napa guy said.|||that cost a lot|||This is easy. First, open the glove box and remove the access panel in the back, this will allow you to access some of the 9/32 screws. Then remove the screws holding the panels under the dash, and you%26#039;ll see the cover bolted on with about 10 of these 9/32 screws.... Remove all these, then wiggle the panel out, its tight but it fits. Now remove the 1/4 screws on the core straps. Go under the hood now, unhook the core hoses (clamp them off if possible, though you won%26#039;t lose a ton of coolant from these ... And make sure the engine is cold)
Now the core should come right out, reverse procedure to finish.
You do not need to remove the dash. You do not have to evac the freon. You may opt to remove the right dash bolt to allow you to pull out on the dash a bit, if you want an extra inch or so.
I can do one of these in 1 hour.|||you dont have to mess with A/C components, and on the first gens you can access the heater core without removing the dash, just move the under-dash light out of the way, remove the cowl and core cover then remove the straps holding it in. make sure you disconnect all the hoses going to it first of course, and plug all the heater core ends to avoid getting it spilled everywhere. where eye protect when doing this, you think battery acid is bad? ethylene glycol is the worst!
