Heater box?

[GMCjunkie]

Can someone refresh me on what's entailed in taking off the heater box (on the firewall)? Along with everything else that's going wrong, I now have a leak that appears to be coming from within the box. Seriously, seriously getting to my wits end with this truck. (mini rant off)

If I remember right, its not a pleasant experience.

thanks in advance!!
junk

[GMB1985]

It isn't that bad take the hood off and passenger side hood mount and there is three nuts and two screws I belive the bottom two are hard to get to but if you have quarter inch set of sockets and a swivel it isn't tht hard to get to the notorious one behind the inner fender

[71swb4x4]

Is it coolant or rain water? If it's coolant then it's your heater core. Heater cores aren't that tough to change out. You take the box off from the engine side of the firewall. I like to remove that hood hinge, it makes it easier to get at everything. I put a scrap of 2x4 between the hood and cowl, take that hinge out, pull the box, replace the core, and put everything back together. It can be done in a couple hours. It's been a while but I think you will want to remove the heater motor from the box first. That's easy too though.
I should mention I have not done a heater core on an AC truck, so if you have AC it may be different.

[GMCjunkie]

Yeah, I figured it wasn't going to be fun. I don't think its the core itself, I think I leaned on and bent one of the pipes that comes out of the box and cracked it. Just goes along with my day.....thanks yall

[71swb4x4]

The two pipes coming out of the box are part of the heater core.

[GMCjunkie]

I knew that, I meant that I didn't think it was an internal malfunction. Also, its radiator water for sure. Aggravating.

[C. M. Wolf]

I personally think it's just easier to drop the inner wheel fender to remove the heater box, ymmv.. but make sure you seal/caulk the heater box onto the firewall when you reinstall it. (I also put some foam adhesive tape around the heater-core tubes as they protrude from the box into the engine compartment. ..I don't like air leaks. I also wrap my heater-core hoses coming from the water pump in 1/2" neoprene foam to aid in heat retention... keep in mind I live in MT. )

Make sure your heater switches, fan motor, & that damned coil-resistor behind the glove-box in the cab are all in good working shape too, and clean out every thing inside that area while it's opened up. Look it all over pretty good, make sure any rust is dealt with.

Well, while you're at it, I guess it couldn't hurt to check all your dash vent hoses & replace any bad or questionable ones too. Ya know.. it's only 'money'...

IHTH

Michael

[GMCjunkie]

SOME of yall just need to relocate to Florida....to be my truck buddy...just sayin...