Hello everyone. The heater core on my 1998 Cherokee Classic is leaking and needs to be replaced. I am making a list for everything I should replace while I'm in there and what tools I will need. Here is what I have so far:

- Heater Core (duh)
- A/C Evaporator (plus A/C discharge)
- Blower Motor
- Weatherstripping (double-sided sticky)

Do I need any specialized tools? What else in there should I replace?

 

you will need antifreeze to refill your system

 

...and filtered water (don't use tap water).

Not only drain your engine's coolant, completely flush it out and replace with new. Coolant becomes acidic over time (due to the sensors) . If you're installing an aluminum core, you especially NEED to put in new coolant.

Is your current blower motor bad? If not, I would keep it.

 

You will need beer. Or equivalent.

 

Beer for day time and Jim Bean for night time!

A magnetic tray to put to bolts in...I lost a few somehow.

 

I'm going with a copper core, but the coolant will be flushed regardless. I'll add filtered water to the list.

It's working as of right now, but since it's over 20 years old, it's bound to fail eventually.

Not old enough for beer yet... I'll go buy some soda instead lol.

 

Use distilled water, not filtered. Your goal is water without dissolved minerals. Only distilled will get you there.

 

the blower motor on my '96 comes out into the engine bay

if I am doing a complex job, that I havent done before, a digicam/phone can be employed.

sequential pics of each fastener being undone, and a video with speech to clarify anything..this can save yr ***...auto trans work etc etc

only thing is I sound like some sort of retard, never make Youtube lol

 

Distilled water and not filtered. Got it.

Most definitely... I'll take a picture each step of the way so everything goes back together right.