I have replaced heater cores before in various cars,but nothing like a 2000 jeep grand cherokee.the book says to drop steering wheel and take out the dashboard.how hard of a job is that?
Probably easy. Dashboards aren’t hard to deal with once you locate the screws.
I would not lable dashboards “easy” You need to lower the column as indicated and deal with electrical wiring that is tied to the dash,connectors,and HVAC ducting,they can be real pains,and I have done my fair share,and never beat warranty time I may add.
Sounds more like “time consuming” than “hard.” I would assume the book you’re consulting has step-by-step instructions. Read through the procedure and you’ll be able to determine the level of difficulty.
Now you know why people complain about the cost of heater core replacement on certain vehicles.
I once replaced the heater core in a Ford Thunderbird. The first step in the instructions was “1. Remove dash board”. I thought they meant clear out the glove box and removeable panels. Alas, it was as you learned. The Chilton’s manual did not outline how to remove the dash. The job was to puzzle out where the fasteners for the dash cover, the steering column, and the dash proper were located. When I finally had the steering wheel laying on the drivers seat and the dash laying atop that, I was able to remove the cover that accessed the heater core. I am sure glad the owner did not see the mess while the car was all apart, LOL.
With some vehicles, step one is remove windshield, THEN remove dashboard…Many of the “fasteners” are actually plastic tabs that will break off instead of “pop out”… It’s a nightmare…
My least favorite kind of work - I’d rather do an exhaust system. And make sure you’re very careful both in the removal and installation, or you’ll end up with squeeks and rattles.