Is it really worth it? CAR WIZARD does an insane tear down on '99 Silverado! 

$600 sounds about right for the part, similar on my '61 T-bird when I replaced it, finding it was a nightmare. This hobby is getting expensive!

I'm a DIY guy. Novice mechanic. (Professional engineer.) I did this job on my 2000 Silverado a few years ago. It took me 16 hours! It all went perfectly, nothing broken, no left over mystery fasteners. Replaced all the door actuators. Etc. It was a crazy job. Thank you for making this video! Your deadpan delivery is perfect. I feel redeemed.

I love that you're so good at explaining to the general public exactly why labor bills can get so high and when it's just not worth repairing. I bet there are customer/repairman relationships benefiting from these videos all across the country

I remember years ago in the shop; we were replacing yet another evaporator core in a mid 90's Dodge Intrepid. The customer came in later that day because he needed something out of the car for work in the morning. We had removed the dash, but time ran out, and the tech had left for the day without completing the job. The dash was totally disassembled, just like Wizard's truck. I was closing up the shop for the day, so I volunteered to go back to retrieve the item the customer needed for work in the morning. The customer insisted on going to the car to get his item. I escorted him to the car in the now darkened garage, being careful that they didn't trip over anything. When I opened the door for him, I will never forget the look on his face seeing that disassembled dash, with parts laying everywhere and wires like spaghetti. His face turned pale, and I thought he would pass out. Yes, like walking in on a loved one during open heart surgery! After he got his car back, every time he heard a rattle or a squeak, he would return to the shop and claim that our workmanship had to be the source of the noise because he had seen for himself how we had that dash and there is no way that the noise was not from us tearing apart the dash to change the evaporator core. I vowed never again to allow a customer to see their car in that state if I could possibly avoid it. I should have told him the truth that insurance regulations don't allow them to be in the shop. Lesson learned.

I’ve been through similar things with my 08 Aveo. The A/C compressor stopped working on a super hot day out with the family. So I bought the parts and tore into it. My wife came out into the garage and saw the whole front end taken apart and said “ You better know how to fix it” lol. I had to tear the whole dash apart for 1 small part, but when it was done she felt the ice cold A/C and said “Thank You Honey “ That’s worth more than money 👍👍

The key to this is the patience and delicate hand required to even do this, anybody does it at home trying to do it in 30 minutes is gonna have every plastic piece broken in hand

For anyone wondering why they built it like this, it is for ease of assembly at the factory. This the whole dash, and carriers and panels get installed as a single unit, not the several parts.

I use my phone camera every day when disassembling things. The trick is to take three times more pictures than you think you'll need. Even do some pan through video to get every possible angle. Then do it all again after you take the next thing off because it will reveal even more complexity underneath. The nice part is, if you do it right you can just reverse order the pics when reassembling. Some times I will zoom in on a clip, take a shot, remove it and take another one to show the washers or whatever was underneath it.The sucky part is no matter how many pics you take it's never enough. But when you do have good success putting it back together you can upload all those pics to your database for that model to assist you the next time. You will be amazed how many times that will show you when things are missing from the last rodeo that you would never catch otherwise.

Your obvious enthusiasm,cheerful demeanor,and patient attitude all combine well with your vast experience and knowledge to make some wonderful videos like this. Bravo Sir ! 👍

Dang wizard, a couple more hours and you could have the whole truck disassembled and laid out all over the shop floor!

The challenge putting it back together is chasing down all the squeaks that result from taking it apart.

I love the loving and respectful relationship between Mr. & Mrs. Wizard! You are definitely good people!

Love your channel and all the content! I own a 2002 GMC flavor of the vehicle in this video. Had to have my evap and heater cores replaced. However, the shop had cut the container/box holding the cores and replaced both. Only the glove box lid was removed and they, also, cut the hinge bracket. Totally eliminated the need to take the whole dash apart. And now there's an easy way to get in if I need to service that area again. I did have to reglue/epoxy the cut section a few months later due to condensation leak. No issues after a few years now. Definitely, saved money and the brittle dash panels. I wouldn't allow this procedure on a newer vehicle, but this is a work truck with over 200000 miles...

Why I love your videos so much is because it totally distracts me from all my many current troubles. I get to forget about my problems when I see how bad it could be. Thanks surgeon Wizard and Mrs., good job.

I used to drive a lot of work trucks with that same body style. They were great trucks, But the AC never worked on them because of this same issue. No company is going to pay to have it fixed either with a job like that. We just had to roll our windows down and sweat it out lol.

I can understand why people hate doing jobs like this but I really enjoy this kind of stuff. Great video!

Before I watch this entire video, YES! Have you seen how much even a 2017 Silverado is going for now? This is definitely worth every cent to keep it running!

As a DIY mechanic, I only had to take apart ONE dash on a modern vehicle ('99 Blazer) to know I never wanted to do it again. its the "going back together" part that about destroyed me... jah-bless all you professionals and the work you do, thank you.

I had a ‘99 Silverado ext.-cab 4x4, 5.3….had to change the blend-air door actuator at the bottom of the box and the ballast resistor for the fan. The amounts of foul language involved just for those alone would make a sailor blush…..loved that truck, until the brake lines rusted.

I’m so glad to have found this channel. Your calm demeanor and rational thinking brings me peace.

We actually had to replace the evaporator on our ‘05 suburban because it had failed. Instead of taking off the entire dash, we took out the glove box, cut part of the support, and cut into the plastic housing box to get it out. We were able to replace it ourselves in about 2 hours for less than $300. We just used waterproof duct tape to reseal the evaporator housing and it’s still leak free 4 years later. That trick saved us from having to buy a newer suv.

I remember the old days when a simple cable opened and closed the coolant flow to the core. My nomination for hardest heater core to change is an Eagle Premier. Cost over $800 in 1997.

I challenge the Wizard to do a time-lapse video on the assembly of this job.

There is a special place in hell for the bean counters and engineers who don't consider serviceability.

I've always wondered how these came apart. Great video, thanks for taking the time to explain it.

When I was in my 20’s I had a 1989 mustang that had a bad heater core. I ended up cutting out a hole in the firewall and pulled it out that way. I bolted a couple pieces of flat metal to add support when I was done. It wasn’t pretty but it worked.

Sometimes I regret selling my 2002 Silverado. At least one of the actuators was broken, constantly sweeping back and forth unless I pulled a fuse to disable it. It was also knocking really bad, even with premium fuel. The transmission was starting to slip too, and all prior to 113,000 miles. Thanks for this video, I hope the next owner of my truck was as happy as I now am!

Love videos like this! Always enjoy learning!

Your channel is doing fantastic, very proud of your hard work and editing with Mrs wizard, 1 million subs will happen fast, thank u from nyc

Legend has it: The Car Wizard was the first human on Earth to discover magnets.

I love that statement “If your not paying-I’m not working”! I completely agree. I have been running my own metal fabrication shop (specializing in race car fabrication) for well over 25 years. One thing I’ve learned and use every day is communication communication communication! I can’t say it enough. If you can explain clearly why you will or will not do something, 99 percent of customers will completely understand. It’s my belief that if a customer has all the information they need to understand a situation they then can make a informed decision and most do. There are times that I will dissuade a customer from doing something that he or she desperately wants to do but after explaining everything they typically will see the light and not do what they had planned. The only time that never works is a simple one and that is sentimental value of what it is they want to do!

When our shop does that job we don't pull the dash all the way out. You can save some time by only pulling the pass side away far enough to remove the HVAC box. All the dash wiring will stay in the dash. It's still doing the job correctly but with less disassembly.

Wow, your video shows me if you have a mechanic that great like you, what you change you really earned every penny, thank you for sharing this.

Watching this video, it makes me think, when buying a used truck, don’t buy one with a broken air conditioning unit or with a broken heater, because despite what the seller tells you, it will not be a simple repair.

Your comment about taking pictures brought back memories from when I worked in electronics repair. After taking pictures, we would save them on a server for future reference. If another tech got the same unit in for repair they could pull the pictures from the server and it would save a lot of time. Not sure if you do that in your shop, but it was a good system. We could also add more pictures over time for more detail.

In the '70's I knew someone who had a '61 Lincoln as a daily driver, and there were a lot of parts that were '61 only. The tires were 9.50x14. Before and after the '61, they had 15' rims, and those big tires, but for a 14" rim were very difficult to find. It got so that retreads were about the only replacement. The 430 cubic inch engine was fed by a 2 barrel carburetor. Other years had 4 barrel carbs. There were other odds and ends that were '61 only. If heater valve rebuilding is not available in the future, you may have to bypass the valve, and use in inline vacuum valve, like one for an '89 Chrysler. It has 5/8" hose barbs for inlet and outlet, and it could be spliced in somewhere to control the water flow. I know about this valve because I had an '89 Chrysler. Also make sure that you have plenty of coolant. That Lincoln holds 25 quarts, yep, 6 gallons plus one quart Getting to the A/C evaporator in the truck was ridiculous! I have a 2003 Chevy Silverado, and I may have nightmares about it. It took me 30 minutes to change the heater core in my '91 Ford Ranger with a 3.0 L V6. The worst one I have ever heard of was 22 book hours to change the heater core in a Mercedes Benz.

This is one of those jobs that is guaranteed to make a mechanic swear. About 18 years ago some low life broke the front windscreen washer nozzle on my old 1992 Toyota Town Ace, the part was a couple of pounds but I had to remove the whole dashboard to install the part. It was a 2 man job to remove & refit the whole dash. :)

Seeing all of those parts is a reminder of what needs to happen with my 2013 F150. The heater and A/C are both non-functional atm. What a mess! Great video as always! 👍

Love the video another way to make sure all the parts go back the way they came out is to label them with tape 1 2 3 4 and so on then when you get back together you take the screws to the correct appropriate part and you know exactly where they all went

Had to do the same with a 1995 Land Rover Discovery years ago. Hiding the heater matrix and various airon parts must've been a real design thing back then. Good video. thanks Wizard.

You're absolutely brilliant and so honest. I really enjoy your videos. I'm always learning from you. This videos demonstrates why I still hold onto my 2-71 Datsun 521 trucks as they are super easy/cheap to maintain.

This is freaking crazy. We had a 2001 Silverado, I never knew why my girlfriends dad wouldn't get this fixed. The more you know

I recently did one on a 2000 Ford Excursion. Not bad at all. Worse part was the old quick disconnect fittings on the heater hoses. Very hard to get to, and anything but quick connect after 20+ years. I was surprised to hear the 2000’s f150 was so bad. Nice job Wizard.

It reminds me of years ago when I decided to replace all the brake lines on my Goldwing !! The bike was in bits. Excellent video, thanks a lot. Colin UK 🇬🇧

I remember doing the Heater core on my 93 Buick. Took me half an hr. And I had never touched or even seen a heater core before that.

Ironic how the 4th gen Camaro/ Firebird , ANOTHER GM car of the era. You can get the Evap/ heater core out WAY easier without the need to take the dash apart. Just take the glove box off and the heater core cover off, unbolt the lines under the hood and you can wiggle the core out !

CW that's how I used to fix X-ray equipment for the old foot doctor I used to work for!! I never had a day of school to fix anything like an x-ray machine! Took pics n used it to fix it back up!! Great video!!

The Chevy/GMC pickups and Suburbans from the early to mid 80s had a design, where you could get the evaporator/dryer and heater cores changed out within a few hours. Since I’m in the no need for a heater part of this continent, when the heater cores start leaking, they’re bypassed, as they’re never needed.

Thank you for discouraging me from ever taking my dash off my 04 Silverado.

I have substituted heater valves before on some of my vehicles. The later 60s GM vacuum valves have worked on some of my antique vehicles. As long as the line size matches they work.

I had to do this job to my car, since I wasn't about to pay someone else for that many hours of labor. I started 8:00 AM Saturday morning, and aside from eating and sleeping, did nothing else until about 1:00 AM Monday morning. Pulled my other car out of the garage and pretty much filled up the other side with all the pieces. All screws were accounted for, but I did find a foam ring for one of the duct joints on the floor after it was buttoned up. Oh well, that's not going back in.

thank you for showing all the tear down parts on this chevy eye opener

Really eye opening. Heater core for my 1980 F-150 was a one hour job.

When my evaporator core goes out on my 2005 Tahoe I'm cutting it out of the housing, replacing it and gluing/duck-taping and caulking the housing back together myself.

Wizard, I have never ever felt so much anxiety and satisfaction simultaneously while watching a video. Great vid!

They've only gotten worse, too. On the new Chevy Equinoxes and Buick Envisions, you have to remove the front doors for access to the bolts holding the dash frame in.

On the Lincoln there are entirely new heat core's similar sized, I know this since a friend is making a V8 powered mg gt he was able to get a universal very close to what you're holding. I would suggest this question is this going to be a show car? If so direct them to a restoration shop. Overwise slap a universal in. I know you like all original I also. But if it is made of " unobtanium" a boat owners expression, but valuable for old car maintainers or any functional repairer. I always go the most reliable universal heater core would work with a vac valve. Your not a restoration shop, I know you're "" getting out of old car's but they will never be out of you.

Regarding the Lincoln: The likelihood of this car being used in cold/winter weather is nil. I'd just bypass the heater for now. While it's nice to have everything working per factory, sometime you can't. If there is another heater core the same size without this valve, install it with a vacuum operated valve mounted somewhere else. Many cars of the 70's to 80's used vacuum valves to control flow to the heater and they were mounted on the engine. I wonder how the factory put this together. When I worked at Mitsubishi in Normal, IL, the IP was subassembled offline and installed in one piece with almost all the stuff on it except for some side panels and underneath panels. All the small stuff was on it. The HVAC box was one of the first things (after the main body wiring harness) that went on the bare body that came out of the paint shop.

I have a 2001 Silverado 2500 HD. Just did a radiator, water pump and heater hose quick connect Thanks for sharing.

I was waiting and waiting.. then you said it"TAKE PICTURES". Well done. My phone is full of the jobs i've had to do. This helps so much..

This is what you get when stockholders are considered more important than customers. A pox on MBAs.

Driver "Just found out my car is totaled!" Friend "What happened, accident, is anyone injured? You OK?" Driver "Just got an estimate to get my AC fixed"

This reminds me of when I replaced the heater core in my 99 BLAZER LT. definitely a pain in the aas but yeah definitely a 6-8 hour job when I did it 10 years ago. Good thing I do all my own work except tire installs. Thanks Wizard for the reminder on how painful this stuff is. I still love my GMs.

At this point,Mr. Wizard I would probably replace the dash lights also. You are actually a real mechanic. Thanks for sharing some of your knowledge. Have fun !

I own a 94 K3500 GMT-400 the generation before this one. I dont understand how they could make it easier for you to get to your heater/evap core on older trucks than newer ones, the newer it is should be the easier to access. Just goes to show the companies dont care about the consumer.

Reminds me of the F-4 Phantom. A complex hydraulic system with 24 hydraulic filters. Of 14 different types and different fittings. The coax cable to the tail antenna? Had a connector near the base of the tail that often failed. Required the removal of both engines. About 4 man-days of work and lots of risk of breaking two $2 million J59 jet engines. Slightly worse than on this truck.

Just changed out my evaporator core and heater core this week on my 99 Silverado. Feels pretty good😎

I love how the wizard is non negotiable about doing those preventative jobs when he has to do a complicated removal of another part. No games. No options. Timing belt, water pump, evaporator core, heater core etc. The customer either does it right or takes it somewhere else.

The stress of old plastic parts breaking potentially , is all the connectors connected and I hope this dam thing doesn't develop a rattle.

I was about 15 min into the video. Since I've seen the hvac box I was thinking in my head I would probably replace that heater core as well cause I don't want to go back in for another 20 years. Lol glad he's gonna do it too, it settled down my anxiety

Great video ! Are the 2008 Chevy trucks as difficult as this 99 Chevys issue ? I have been binge watching your channel. Excellent content. Your explanation and experience is priceless!. I'm a new fan .

I get this feeling changing out the cabin air filter on my G35. You have to remove way too much to replace just the filter IMO.

Greetings to y'all from Michigan!

20:55 I commented on the first video of this truck (I know the videos are a little old now) but you are very much correct about the newer trucks being easier in terms of dash/interior tear downs for repairs of this nature. I was replacing a faulty steering column lock module on a 2022 or 2021 GMC Sierra if I can remember correctly. It is bolted to the stop of the steering column itself and is towards the very back. There isn't much work around for this job and it did involve a lot of interior panel removal in that you wouldn't think is necessary upon first glance. Though there's a good bit of interior dash tear down involved, its not near as bad as these older trucks. I will say though, it's nice when everything is new, not brittle, hasn't been taken apart a million times and is designed in a manner with which serviceability seems to be considered by the engineers just a little more than it used to be. That's only in certain aspects/areas of them newer vehicles today however. With all that said, I'm glad my 05 Sierra's heater core never went out in the 240k miles it lived before a tree that grew legs took my trucks life lol :/

A friend took a small Honda motorcycle transmission apart. He ordered the parts. However, the parts took a few weeks to arrive. He had put the transmission parts in an old cardboard box. . . . so he then took the box of old parts and the new parts to a Honda dealer. The dealer put it all back together again. He said it was worth it. 😊 . . . This happened around 1970. Of course, the GM truck you were working on has many more parts.

As much of a pain as it can be, I say it's still worth it if it keeps these older trucks on the road. 2k-4k bill vs buying new truck for 60k+ (which will likely have its own mechanical gremlins to worry about) or even another old one for the same price as the repair bill (then it's no telling when that bill comes back), it seems like almost an obvious choice to me.

I think with all this stuff apart I would replace all the dash light bulbs.

I bought a 2004 GTO 6 speed as a daily years ago and it's been such a fantastic vehicle. I've had many Yukon's and Tahoe's in the past. All great vehicle's. Lasted to 300k miles with proper maintenance. Idk if the wizard likes Lucas Oil Stabilizer. But as my engines got higher mileage I used it and worked very well with my oil pressures.

Wizard,I’ve been watching your videos for a long time. Really appreciate them. Would you say that the 1999-2006 Gm pickups are the last of the solid Gm trucks? I tend to think so.

Wizard are there ways to bypass taking at least some of this stuff apart via strategically place holes and homemade hatches? If you happen to get your hands on some scrap vehicles with issues like this I think it would make a great longer term video series to show things like that for people with older vehicles that dont mind making some modifications for easier maintenance.

Hats off, Car Wizard! You have to be one helluva mechanic to do that job! I sold my truck before it happened to mine!

@carwizard, kudos to you. I try to limit my 'behind the dash' DIY work, but two hours is a good time. Takes years of practice to get that done, especially on 20+ yo plastic. Well Done!

You can do this on a Dodge/Ram by just pulling back the dashboard. However, the dashboard will explode if you even touch the dashpad.

What a battle!!! Really appreciate you walking us through what all it takes to do this job. It's shocking how poorly engineered this design is on a 1999 model year truck. I imagine things have only gotten exponentially worse in modern vehicles; especially given the poor quality of materials used nowadays. I'd be interested to hear any insights you have on whether there are any makes/models that have relatively well designed HVAC systems

@Car Wizard Thank you for taking care of your BEST customers! If a customer has been easy to deal with and loyal it's good to return the favor.

i had to do a heater core replacement on my own 2002 subaru legacy a few years ago. as it was my only source of transportation and i had a newborn heat was very important, and it was important to get it done as quick as possible. i had that sucker torn down within 2 hours and completed withinin 5. i hope i never have to do something like that again with my ford flex.

If GM didn’t make everything so cheap, the evaporator core wouldn’t have failed. Just ask a Toyota Tacoma or tundra owner. “Pay me now or pay me later” I believe is the phrase. Every gm I had had a failed evaporator core right after the warranty expired.

My old car had heater core clugged so it was cold inside the car in winter. In the summer we swapped heater core and dashboard for used one cracks free on parking lot in front of my appartment block. It took us all day long, from morning to evening. Also heater lines got disconnected a day before in a shop and connected again after the repair was done, because of lack of space to do it from the hood.

HOLY COW! The parts in the bed of the truck. Dam! Glad I'm not a line tech at the dealership anymore. AAWW! MEMORIES. UGH! I remember I was DAM GOOD on removing the interior on the 2003 dodge crew cab trucks. That year had a water leak recall that the interior had too come out. The shop foreman time me one day to see how fast I could remove the interior. I had everything out except the dash. In 40min. Best mode. And! Every nut &bolt was bag and tag. And pictures where taking. No broking parts. Like you said, car wizard. Once you done like 100 of them. It's not problem. You know tricks and things too make it easier.

on my 85 Mustang I yanked the dash last year to change the heater core and evaporator core. I changed all the gaskets. 4000 miles later the heater core began to leak. I am going to yank it again and replace it with one from a local rebuild shop. You are right car wizard, it is taxing on the mind to yank the dash to do that work.

You did that tear down in around 2 hours. Color me impressed. I know really good mechanics that would have taken double that. That must be one heck of a customer. I try to be that way with my shop. Every time they work on my Wrangler, they get lunch on me as well as the bill. And they are due another lunch just because.

Was great meeting you!! Wish I hadn't been on the clock, although had I stayed long I might have put in an application lol

I agree. You might as well just replace the entire harness while it's apart if you want to worry about a broken wire somewhere that connects to nothing. Seems like overkill for one wire

Great video, I had an older Escalade with this same issue. I walked away from it. The price was around 5K to do the work. Wasn't worth it. I have a Toyota Highlander, no issues!

The sad part is that GM still uses cheap plastic for their dash. I replaced a dash on a 2017 GMC Canyon because the dealer wanted $2k to replace the dash that was cracked in several places under the fake leather. GM plastic just doesn't hold up, especially in Texas.

Ok, so now AFTER watching this entire video, Holy crumb cake Bat Man! I had no idea how many parts you had to remove to get to the heater core. Great video though, that was amazing! Now I can show my friends when they question my decision of buying a newer car and getting the extended warranty.

I had to pull the evaporator out of an old Odyssey a couple of times. I ended up cutting hidden structure that greatly eased removal. I seem to remember someone cutting an access hole in an 83 S-10 pick up through the wheel well. I'd bet there's a way to cut an access panel and close it off with self tapping screws, silicon and metal or plastic sheet.

When those valves are NLA, you can braze copper tubing in place of the valve and use a generic in-hose vacuum valve that they make for many brands.

Insane. Wizard, you are doing the lords work.

Don't know why I got both the last video on this truck and this one but I'm glad I did I'm a subscriber now I like you're chanel. I love them old trucks pulled a complete dashboard wire harness and frame in a 05 Duramax few weeks back. I love them model trucks I don't even wanna get rid of my 2000 have lots of plans for it