well my blazer is smoking out of the vents and smells of coolant. Gonna attempt to replace my heater core tomorrow. Any tricks or advice for a clean install? Never completely ripped apart my dash so I'll probably be unbolting as I go... I know Kyle has been busy but I'm sure some of you other guys have done this too

 

From what I remember there are 4 bolts/screws at the top of the dash. Two in the vent and one under each speaker cover. Remove the two nuts that hold the steering column to the dash. Then pull it hard towards you(it should lay on the drivers seat if done right). I believe mine had two nuts at the bottom of the dash where it meets the kick panel. At that point the dash should rotate forward. I decided to leave it in the truck and work around it rather than deal with disconnecting all the wiring. I lifted both sides enough to get the passanger side of the dash swung towards the passanger seat. That should allow enough space to work from below, beside and above the dash. Oh yeah don't forget about removing all of the kick plates below the dash(including the vents in the middle) before trying to rock it forward. At first I tried leaving them in and it didn't work out so well .

 

Hey! Considering you are a BF Vet,you obviously know to search this forum for all the "tricks"! However from my experience I can tell you to take your time and DON'T hurry! First time took me 12 hours over 2 days,second time:it took me six hours in one day. You will see posts out there that some claim only a 4 hour R&R time though! My most important piece of advice:Take your time! Especially with the re-installing the dash! I have found it way too easy to neglect hardware for ducts etc. and that only leads to rattles down the road as well as inferior heating/cooling! Take lots of photos and obtain lots of little plastic containers to store the hardware in while you are wrenching! Have fun!

 

yea I was planning on posting a how to in here once I get started tomorrow so I'll keep you guys posted. gonna wake up early tomorrow to make sure I have enough time to get it done. I'm not too worried about it I've taking apart just about everything in my truck now

 

I have the dash apart and i can see the core i just cant figure out how to get the plastic off i took all the little screws oit and one nut from the fire wall and now im stumped...

 

There are typically a few hidden fasteners. Specifically, there are two fasteners that are accessible from the engine compartment side of the firewall. The link below has a pretty good text description of the process including these two fasteners and if you make it to the end of the thread, there are pictures and a fairly well laid out how-to where I inserted the pictures the original author took during his replacement.

2000 Heater Core Replacement Summary - DISCUSSION THREAD

 

Hey thanks kyle an yea those two bolts at the bottom i cant figure out how to get off and that dude broke his... So it looks like i have to remove the plastic in the engine bay to get to those?

 

Some have been able to get at them without pulling the inner fender, but getting the inner fender out of there definitely makes it easier. Isn't that difficult to get out. You just have to pull the battery, PCM, and coolant bottle, pop off any wiring retainers, and then unbolt the inner fender.

 

lol everything else is apart so I might as well do that haha

 

http://s395.photobucket.com/albums/p...20Replacement/

Maybe this link of pictures might help you?

And this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=687B2pspF2w