Jbeaujean28

So on my 98 cherokee I have flushed my coolant 3 times in the past two years and it temporally fixed my heat issue, I think the heater core is bad, could it be something else? How can I replace the heater core does anyone know??

Phantom1

no heat??

RTorrez1

Can you give some info???
What is wrong? What will or won't it do? Let us know something and maybe we can help you out.
No Info, No Help!

FishinXJ

Could be your heater control valve.

RTorrez1

No heater control valves on a 1998.

FishinXJ

Doh! You're right.

askingxforxit

The heater core isn't part of a cooling system flush. You need to specify to the mechanic that it also needs to be flushed but they will charge you extra $$. I flushed mine myself cuz it was badly clogged. I have kick butt heat now. A shop will probably charge you around $800+ to change out the heater core.

First, start the engine and turn the heater on full blast. Once the engine starts warming up open the hood and feel the two houses going to firewall. The hose that is warm is the heater core inlet hose. Now that you've determined the inlet and return lines shut the her down. Let the jeep cool a bit.

Once the engine is cool its now safe to disconnect the hoses up towards the front of the engine.

You'll need a high pressure nozzle for your garden hose. You're now going to begin the process of back flushing the heater core.

Position the inlet hose in a safe direction pointing away from any electrical connections and the battery. Put the high pressure nozzle in to the return hose and hold it firmly while opening the nozzle slowly. Watch for water coming out of the inlet hose.

Once you get a nice stream of water out of the inlet hose you'll now want to flush through the inlet. Repeat this process until all the nasty water had stopped coming out.

For additional cleaning you can pour some CLR into the hose and let it sit in the heater core for about 30 minutes. COMPLETELY FLUSH OUT THE CLEANING CHEMICAL AND ALL WATER FROM THE HEATER CORE. For best results an air compressor can clear out the remaining water very well once the chemical has been flushed completely.

Now you can reconnect the hoses in their proper locations and do the process of topping off your coolant and bleeding/burping your system.

yarom

Requires taking the dash off and is fairly involved. I got a new nice one (copper) at O'Reilly's for $69. The mechanic will charge me much more than that to do the swap.

Mine was leaking coolant into the passenger side...

Jbeaujean28

Thanks and for more info, I'm getting heat but not as much as I should and my temp guage is normal like it's warmed up for the heat to work and I have flushed it 3 time now, and I got a new radiator cap a year ago, and checked it and it has a good amount of pressure, and when I flushed it this time little to no brown stuff came out and it had great pressure comming out of the hoses as I flushed it

askingxforxit

Could be the blend door then?

RTorrez1

You say the temp is normal? What is the temp reading? The engine temp should be around 210deg F. Do you know what temp range you T-stat is? It should be 195deg F.

Jbeaujean28

Engine temp is just about by the 210 mark and idk about the thermostat if it goes bad again that's being replaced before I swap out the core.

askingxforxit

Maybe the metal tubes that the hoses clamp on to up front are clogged...

Jbeaujean28

Hmmm it's a possibility, I'll check it.