My 96 3.9l Dak now has heat! Not a big deal in September in NC, but in a couple months it will be nice to have.
When I got the truck a couple summers ago I was told by the previous owner that the heater core was toast and needed to be replaced. He said he had tried flushing it
out and it didn't work, so I never bothered trying it. I had also
heard that a garden hose could produce enough pressure to blow a hole the heater core if it was badly deteriorated.
Maybe whatever had it clogged needed a year to sit around and break down, I don't know.
I used a method which I think I saw described on this list
sometime ago. I back flushed the heater core with a garden hose rigged
into the core outlet (bottom nipple I think). I placed some towels
under the dash on the floor board just in case the worst happened.
Turned on the hose and let it run until the water was clear again. I
did the same through the inlet and then again through the outlet for
good measure. It worked like a charm!
I unfortunately had to use wellwater to do it and I'm hoping that doesn't come back to haunt me. There is a timing chain replacement in my near future and I plan on draining and flushing the cooling
system at that time and replacing the coolant with fresh Prestone and distilled water. I really hope the core stays unclogged. I'm not the kind of back yard mechanic that needs to be taking a dashboard apart.
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