Not many people want to tackle the dreaded process of removing the dash, but I opted to tackle the challenge to restore air flow through my vents and repair AC leaks. This process can be done in about 2 hours assuming you have the proper tools.

Before you start, disconnect the negative battery cable. Failure to do so may result in accidental deployment of airbags and a dead battery because your doors will be open for a while.

Removing Dash

Begin by removing the two A-Piller trim pieces. Remove the black vent along the front. Be sure to disconnect the two sensors. Remove the screws holding the top of the dash in place. The dash cover also has a few snap connections that can be loosened by gently prying upward.


Once the top of the dash has been removed, you should see 4 bolts along the windshield. Remove the nuts from these bolts.






Remove the lower panels from the driver’s side of the dash as well as the cover below the steering column.






Remove the 6 screws holding the metal plate below the steering column.


Remove the plastic air duct that runs under the steering column.


Remove the 2 nuts holding the steering column in place. These are directly behind the metal plate (location indicated by green arrows in picture below). This will allow the steering column to drop to the driver’s seat. You may wish to tilt the steering wheel all the way up.


Remove the single bolt above the steering column connecting the dash to a metal bracket, and the bolt inside the dash on the far left side using a long extension (locations marked with red arrows in picture below).






Remove the metal bracket connecting the bottom of the dash to the transmission tunnel floor in the driver’s foot well.






There is also a bolt on the passenger side of the dash, on the far right side, that holds the dash in place. This bolt is screwed into the side of the A-Piller and may already be loose (mine was). To access it, remove the kick panel on passenger floor.



Disconnect the vacuum hose in the passenger foot well next to the transmission tunnel.


Disconnect all of the color-coded wire connectors behind the passenger side kick panel. There is a single screw holding this box to the wall. It should something like the following picture when finished.






At this point, the dash is ready to be lifted out. Using two people, one on each side of the vehicle, lift the dash up and away from the windshield. Be sure to disconnect the few remaining wires and antenna connector from behind the dash on the passenger side while you are lifting it out. Take it slow and don’t miss anything – there should just be a few.


Pivot the dash unit around the steering column and rest it on the front seats. I used a ratchet strap to hold the dash unit in place.


In the picture below (at the bottom of the ratchet strap), you can see the metal bracket that the dash uses to sit on the passenger side bolt mentioned before.



This is the point where I took a deep breath and got a beverage.




Removing AC Housing

In the engine bay, begin by disconnecting the heater hoses that run through the firewall, at the engine (indicated by green arrows in picture below). Plug the hoses so you don’t have to drain the engine coolant. Rotate the clips holding the hoses to the heater core (located very close to the firewall) toward each other in the middle to make them easier to pull through the firewall.


Disconnect AC lines (indicated by red arrows in picture below). *NOTE* Ensure that the AC system has been properly recovered by a professional, before disconnecting the lines, as it is against the law to vent R134 into the atmosphere. My system was empty because of a leak, so I used gauges to verify that there was no remaining pressure in the lines before continuing.


Spend a few bucks at the auto parts store to get the AC quick disconnect tool. You will break something if you don’t.



Remove the radiator overflow bottle and loosen the PCM (enough to get behind it).


Remove the 4 nuts holding the AC housing to the firewall inside the engine bay. There should be 2 around the AC lines, 1 behind the engine, and 1 behind the PCM.


Inside the vehicle, remove the nut hold the grounding strap from the heater core to the firewall (indicated by the red arrow in the following picture).






At this point you are ready to remove the AC housing. Slowly begin working it out of the firewall. You will need to pull the heater hoses through the firewall and ensure that nothing else is holding it in place. The entire unit will come out as one.




There is a handful of screws holding the housing together if you need to get into the housing.



Since my jeep is at 175k miles, I didn’t want to have to do this again if something went out in another couple of months, so I opted to replace both the heater core and evaporator.


My evaporator was a little dirty – not the worst I’ve seen pictures of though.