I'm wanting to change my 1998 Cherokee over to an all electric heating system for the interior.
Has anyone here done this? If so any recommendations?

 

New vehicles are now equipped with startup heat strips that give you instant heat on start up. Can it be done, Yes. Is it worth it, I say no, not as a stand alone system anyways. It'd be a lot of work to do it right and could end up costing quite a sum of money to do it safely. I'm not sure if anyone on here has done it...search result brought nothing. The factory system should more than suffice your needs for heating and cooling. My 87 rolls it out quite well. I'm not trying to discourage you btw.. just letting you know the major obstacles you will face. Are you currently having trouble with your heat?

 

Why? You already have a very nice and efficient gasoline powered heater under the hood.

 

Yeah it'll only start to put out minimal heat with an engine temp of 210. I back flushed the core and it helped a little but not near enough. My mechanic says the core is shot and replacing it will be around 10 hours labor. I don't care about a/c and wouldn't care if it had to be sacrificed.

 

flush it again, pour some CLR in there and let it sit for an hour then flush it back and forth several times to get all of the chemical out. DO NOT RECONNECT THE HOSES WITH THE CHEMICAL STILL IN THE CORE

 

CLR, thanks I'll give it a shot

 

Paying to have your heater core replaced would be cheaper.

 

Why don't you try replacing it yourself?

 

I had minimal to no heat. Flushed the coolant using a Prestone flush n fill kit. Found that the coolant system had been severely neglected and the heater hoses were 80 to 90% clogged with sludge. First flush unclogged the system, but still no heat. Did a second flush and got even more brown sludge out of the system, but still no heat. Ended up pulling the heater core hoses and using a garden hose to backflush the heater core for an hour or so. Just stand there with the garden hose and keep running it between the 2 holes until water comes out clear from both ends. I have heard CLR works well also. Anyhow, after 3 flushes and replacing the heater hoses I now have heat! Be persistent and it will come back!

 

In my 99 the heater and AC will run you out of it even on the coldest or hottest days of the year. If flushing the entire system and replacing the thermostat and radiator cap doesn't work just replace the entire cooling system.