[Kettles]

Originally Posted by 99Greenmachine

Well, I thought that I would give you guys an update of sorts. I am preparing to do the EVAP core swap this weekend so I'm reading up/gathering parts.

I decided that I am not going to do the heater core at the same time. I didn't really see a need to spend $80 more than I needed to especially seeing as how mine blows VERY hot as it is. I got all the parts from my local NAPA who were the cheapest around...cheaper than Jeep air. I got an Accumulator, EVAP core, and a seal kit for $130 including tax...now we're talking

The evap is a lot bigger than I imagined...but I digress

I've still got to go pick up a quick disconnect tool and I need to get the oil for the system but I'm really excited about this. I'm going to hopefully have this done by friday night but we'll see.

Kinda sucks, I ordered the foam gaskets from a mopar place in NY on Tuesday and I just now got a confirmation that they shipped. I hope they get here in time by saturday morning. It's also sad that 3 foam gaskets cost $40 and the rest of everything else cost $130...almost a third of what the good stuff cost. o well

I'll keep yall updated

Enjoy!

I just replaced mine. And yeah I had no idea the core was that large too. Napa also had it the cheapest too.

I didn't replace any foam, I managed to keep it all in good condition.

As for organizing screws and stuff, there is no need. ALL the screws on the dash are the same except for the first 3 you remove, from the bottom of the knee panel, and the 3 that hold the plastic on the steering column, but those stayed captured in the lower panel. For me atleast the rest of the stuff was easy enough to remember what went where. I just dropped all the fasteners on the floor close to where it came from

Taking the dash apart (and putting it back together) is the easy bit by the way (atleast for me). It took me about an hour and I had it sitting in the drivers seat. The rest was more of a pain.

[99Greenmachine]

Originally Posted by Kettles

Enjoy!

I just replaced mine. And yeah I had no idea the core was that large too. Napa also had it the cheapest too.

I didn't replace any foam, I managed to keep it all in good condition.

As for organizing screws and stuff, there is no need. ALL the screws on the dash are the same except for the first 3 you remove, from the bottom of the knee panel, and the 3 that hold the plastic on the steering column, but those stayed captured in the lower panel. For me atleast the rest of the stuff was easy enough to remember what went where. I just dropped all the fasteners on the floor close to where it came from

Taking the dash apart (and putting it back together) is the easy bit by the way (atleast for me). It took me about an hour and I had it sitting in the drivers seat. The rest was more of a pain.

Well I'm planning on keeping the dash as intact as possible and just swing it up out of the way like a couple of the guys did on here. I took the drivers' side part of the dash apart one time but I had the FSM and it made it a BREEZE. I expect it to be the same pretty much.

Cheers for tomorrow

[Kettles]

Originally Posted by 99Greenmachine

Well I'm planning on keeping the dash as intact as possible and just swing it up out of the way like a couple of the guys did on here. I took the drivers' side part of the dash apart one time but I had the FSM and it made it a BREEZE. I expect it to be the same pretty much.

Cheers for tomorrow

Whatever. I just kinda went at it, I had breezed over the writeup on here, and I actually printed out the applicable FSM pages, but never touched them. Its really quite easy. I also dont belive that "swinging it up" could possibly be easier. In fact that sounds quite difficult. You still have to do all the same stuff, the only advantage would be avoiding unplugging the 3 main wiring connectors.

All you do to remove it is pull the center bezel, remove knee panels, and dash surround (a couple of screws), pull the top off the dash, and remove the 4 screws that hold the center console in (pop the bezel and shifter knob off), and remove, and unscrew the steering column cover. remove glovebox and kick panels. Thats about 10-15 minutes with a power screwdriver or drill...

Then you unplug the stuff from the steering column, unbolt the steering column from the shaft (make sure to pull the bolt all the way out). Take the four bolts out that hold the column in, and pull it out. 2-3 minutes

Now you can unbolt the wiring connectors.. 3 big azz ones held together with a 10mm bolt apiece. A drill with an adapter and extension takes those off no problem. And unplug the brake switch, and the couple of connectors behind the golvebox that attach to the heater box. Oh and the antenna connector at the kickpanel.

Now all you have are 6 bolts on the top of the dash, 2 on the lower bracket (and 2 that hold the braket down), and 2 at each kick panel (which only need to be loosened, not removed.

The dash is kinda heavy and mine stuck to the windsheild seam. With another person that would have helped a bit. You are now free to put it wherever you want!

Thats the easy part... I don't think trying to swing it up would help much. The heater box is a big beast too, it needs some room to remove it.

heater box, from drivers side of center, to the passenger wall:

[99Greenmachine]

Look-ie what I'm doing....





So far it's been a pain in the butt...here's hopin it goes back together sooner

[99Greenmachine]

So here's what went down today...took it and had the refrig. evacuated by the local boys. went home and proceeded to attempt to take apart the dash. I finally got it up and out of the way like some of the guys have done....i did NOT completely remove nor did I touch the steering wheel. However, as the sun set and the bugs/humidity became worse, I decided to call it a day. 7 hrs labor and I still haven't pulled the HVAC box out, but at least it's ready for that step. There are some things that I could use some help with...

-The line coupling on the accumulator --> evap is STUCK BAD me and my dad can't get it and I think im going to hack it because we're replacing it anyway. What do yall think?

-Also I was in a rush and didn't have a chance to go by NAPA to get the oil for the parts...the only thing I found was this ESTER 100 stuff that the guy said was the same as the PAG 100...is that right?

Hopefully I'll get it back together soon.

[99Greenmachine]

Well...

Got the HVAC pulled after much profanity and blood. I also ended up slicing my left hand with a razor after the heater hoses wouldn't come off...but its all good cause I clot REAL quick.

Got the HVAC box pulled...

NO BOX!!!



Here it is before I cracked it open:




So I basically opened it up and found the evaporator CLOGGED with the most random crap I've ever seen. Bird feathers, bugs, leaves, dog hair...the PO was really nasty haha. The foam was rotted away but it's as expected.

I put the 2oz of oil in the new EVAP, sealed it and dropped it in. I didn't replace the heater core, but I did flush it out pretty well. Hopefully it will last a few more years

I reassembled it and then decided that I would just re-use the foam gaskets that came on it cause they weren't dry rotted. I will be putting mine up for sale soon, that is the ones I bought off the web.

Interesting development, it looked like someone had messed with this before. There were some things that looked too new like the foam gaskets and the heater hose was the wrong size...hmm

I'm off to bed so I can get up and get this thing back together!

** I also learned a valuable lesson....roll your windows up BEFORE you do all this, especially if you work in the driveway like me...it poured today and I barely got a tarp over the front windows in time.

[justanotherjpr]

Glad to hear you're making progress. IMO, I would have replaced the heater core. It's worth the $80 to never have to do it again..but that's just me. Looks like you got a good thing going..keep 'er up! Good tip on the windows!!

[nrpalmer32]

Looks and sounds like fun! But why did you cut yourself with the razor? lol Glad to see its came apart cleanly though.

[justanotherjpr]

Just noticed in your sig you need the wiring harness for the fog lights.. There is a place near mine called Bills Auto Wrecking (in Spokane, WA). They have TONS of XJ's and are pretty reasonable on price. Maybe they could cut one off for you and ship it over? If I see an XJ with fogs in the yard, I'll snag it for you.

[stevieboy]

Wow..what a pain to get to the evap.. Thanks for posting your journey through the dashboard Now I know. Hope it goes back together clean and quick, looks like the hard part is done.

[99Greenmachine]

Originally Posted by justanotherjpr

Just noticed in your sig you need the wiring harness for the fog lights.. There is a place near mine called Bills Auto Wrecking (in Spokane, WA). They have TONS of XJ's and are pretty reasonable on price. Maybe they could cut one off for you and ship it over? If I see an XJ with fogs in the yard, I'll snag it for you.

Well if they have em cheeeeeep I'm interested. The local JY has a 99 but working full time an hour away, I never have time to run over there. I was mainly looking to see if anyone had a parts jeep in their backyard they had access to haha.

Originally Posted by nrpalmer32

Looks and sounds like fun! But why did you cut yourself with the razor? lol Glad to see its came apart cleanly though.

I was trying to cut the heater hose and I climbed up on my ARB bumper to stand on the valve cover and I ended up cutting myself...stoopid mistake

Originally Posted by justanotherjpr

Glad to hear you're making progress. IMO, I would have replaced the heater core. It's worth the $80 to never have to do it again..but that's just me. Looks like you got a good thing going..keep 'er up! Good tip on the windows!!

Well, I thought about it but I am a cheeeep SOB and I didn't want to spend more than I had to. Mine blows REALLY hot anyway so I wasn't worried.

Originally Posted by stevieboy

Wow..what a pain to get to the evap.. Thanks for posting your journey through the dashboard Now I know. Hope it goes back together clean and quick, looks like the hard part is done.

Yea it def goes back quicker, but I think the reason is due to familiarity more than anything. Once you've done it once, I wasn't having to glance off the FSM as much haha


Ok guys....finished it this morning just before yet another thunderstorm haha.

I didn't get the condenser spring coupler to lock with the EVAP but I'll just let the guys handle that tomorrow when they evacuate and refill the system.

All in all, it took me 14 hours to do...would have been done sooner had it not been for the rain yesterday. Also having the FSM was very handy as well as the EVAP thread that's floating around here.

I'll let you guys know how tomorrow goes and if it truly worked!

All I can say is that it was character building haha

[99Greenmachine]

Well I took it to the service people today and I showed the guy how I couldn't get the coupler together and he popped it in instantly haha. (made me embarassed haha)

Well they called back and said my accumulator connection with the hose wasn't sitting flush enough and it was leaking...I gave them the go ahead to fix that so hopefully there shouldn't be any more snags but we'll see.

Here's hopin!

[99Greenmachine]

Got the Jeep back last night and all I can say is WOW....this A/C will run you out of the cab it's that cold.

Here's the cost if anyone is interested:

EVAP, Accum., Orings - $135
PAG 100 oil (8oz) - $10
New Heater hoses/clamps - $12
Initial EVACUACTION - $36
Evac and fill - $105

Total: $298 Not too bad if you ask me...woulda cost me $1100 to have a shop do it at the MIN. I saved $800 doing the labor myself

[stevieboy]

Originally Posted by 99Greenmachine

Got the Jeep back last night and all I can say is WOW....this A/C will run you out of the cab it's that cold.

Here's the cost if anyone is interested:

EVAP, Accum., Orings - $135
PAG 100 oil (8oz) - $10
New Heater hoses/clamps - $12
Initial EVACUACTION - $36
Evac and fill - $105

Total: $298 Not too bad if you ask me...woulda cost me $1100 to have a shop do it at the MIN. I saved $800 doing the labor myself

Good news...I love happy endings. Enjoy!

[njoyjeepin]

wow less posts and more werk next time. good thing the a/c is cold though. that is the first thing I look for when i'm wheelin...burrrrr!