Mr.Galathon (THANKS !) his heater pull saga: of Sept 2011

He Cheats on the steering column (your call !, you could  RTM?) 
If you have Air Bags 95'+ READ ABOUT THAT TOO !

or read my speedo pull 1 page here, covering some related pit falls

RTM (Read The Manual (free)? all 5 chapters...  ----------------> 1A15, 9J, 6B, 8C ,& 1B)
If you decide to pull the steering wheel with air bags, you must read the FSM page on the hidden clock spring, or render the bag usless.!


I cut the bottom plastic from the dash and slipped the dash up, and to the right of the steering, being careful not to break the flasher signal and wipers controller arms (tricky.) Ignore the scratch on the bottom of the dash in the picture below, it was there before. The speakers didn't need to be removed, I simply disconnected them from the back once the dash was loose.

dash off.

the opposite angle, notice the retaining bars on the passenger side, I removed them because otherwise I couldn't have taken out the heater box, visible in the center, on this below photo, I still hadn't removed the rear heater ducts, they are under the carpet, shaped like a reverse Y.

a closer view of the heater box. Not too bad shape for an 18 year old truck, hardly any rust, in fact, in an alarming reversal of fortune, I was surprised to find NO seized screws or bolts!

the blower motor box, I need to remember and vacuum out the leaves that are in there. Notice the crack at the top. I'll probably put some glue there for good measure before I close this mess up. Ah, there is also visible the original SUZUKI alarm system w/remote start. It still works!

An alarmingly C3P0esque view of the naked steering column. Argh...

the center with the rear heating duct removed, I simply cut the carpet along the center, I'll velcro it back in place, actually, I'll just flap it there, it shouldn't move once the center console is reinstalled as it will hold it in place.

a closeup of the spot where the heater core comes in through the firewall.

a view from the engine compartment, showing the passenger's side bolt (removed) that holds the heater box into place.

the driver's side bolt (removed.) I'm still amazed at how clean this Sidekick is. Definitely worth the effort to replace the heater core.

draining the coolant, in retrospect I should've done that first, took a LONG time.

The box, removed, upside down view of the actual heater core, you can see that it leaked, part of the firewall insulating material is stuck to it. At first I couldn't find the retaining screw to remove the core, it was hidden under some of the melted insulating material.

a view of the center of the cockpit, with the box removed, again I'm amazed at how clean it all is. You can see the carpet where I cut it.

he core, partly out. This side looks clean.

But the other side is a different story. you can clearly see where it leaked and trapped bugs, shrubbery, dust and wound up corroding more.

And finally a close up of the culprit. I'll post other photos of the reverse process once I receive and install the new part. I expect the reassembly to be 100.000.000 times more difficult than the disassembly.

Page 1 of 3