is this easy to do (at least for someone who is pretty good at car repairs) but not a mechanic?
This can best be determined by reading through the procedure in a service manual. Some heater cores are much more difficult than others, but none of them is rocket science.
do you know if there is “easy” access (via through glove box) to get to heater core?
If no one here has done a Tahoe, try a Tahoe board.
I’ve done quite a few heater cores on a variety of vehicles. I have never found any of them to be “easy”. In fact, I believe the first part used when building the car is the heater core. They build the rest of the car around it.
No, I don’t know if there’s an “easy” access, but I doubt it. I haven’t replaced too many heater cores, but none of them have been easy. In fact, these days I’d rather pay someone else to do it, even knowing how much it costs. It’s not an easy job.
Never done the core,I have had the entire dash out many times,you must access the HVAC plenum I don,t know of a easier way.
Warranty time on the entire dash was just over 3hrs if I remember correctly.
You do have a lot of room with the dash out,probably not totally required,you will learn a lot.