This summer the jeep A/C just wasn’t quite as cold and it had been. After continually adding refrigerant and failing to locate any leaks i was ready to give up when I finally spotted a pool of leak detector accumulating under the evaporator drain tube. If there was going to be a leak I hoped it wold be anywhere but there as the evaporator is buried deep within the dash, requiring removal of every last piece, plus draining the radiator. I found a lot of info on the internet that helped a lot but nothing specific to the 2001 Cherokee so I spent a lot of time filling in the gaps on my own. I decided to post some pics of my adventure so maybe someone else can save an extra hour or two if they have to do this one day.

First, disconnect the negative battery terminal.  By the time you’re done with the radiator and the dash panels, the airbag system will have time to discharge and can be safely removed.

Since the heater core will also come out with the evaporator you need to go ahead and drain the radiator, or pinch off the heater hoses if you want.   If you choose to drain, the valve is located behind the passenger side turn signal. If you have small hands you won’t have to detach the whole grill like I did.  In the inset you can just see where I attached a small hose I had laying around to direct the fluid to my drain pan.

Here is the dash layout with labels that may not be technically correct but I think they are accurate enough.  I found it easiest to remove all of these parts first.  If I had to do it again I use the following order: Knee Block,er  Control Panel,  Glove Box, Both Kick Panels, Instrument Panel, Upper Cover.  Finally,  just loosen the center console by finding the screws under the small panel around the shifter and under the little coin collector by the shifter.  Also remove the lid and locate 4 screws, 2 in the bottom of the console and 2 at the front near the latch.  The console should now by loose and able to move out of the way when you need it too.

With the dash panels out of the way proceed to the steering column.  I removed the airbag and the steering wheel separately, but I think you can also just remove the whole columns with the wheel and airbag attached. Either way, you still have to remove the plastic casing behind the steering wheel and remove all the connectors you find there.  To remove the ignition wire from the ignition switch, use the key to turn the switch to the start position and the wire should come right out.  There are 4 bolts under the dash that hold the column in place.  One bolt clamps the column to the u-joint near the firewall.  The whole assembly should now slide out easily.

Now with everything out of the way, remove the 7 connectors.  I think there were just 7.  Starting on the left, there are 2 large connectors that are secured with a bolt to the left side of the vehicle.  Moving right there is a yellow airbag connector. Attached to the steering support is a connector and to the right of the steering column behind the dash is another connector that is clipped to a thin piece of metal protruding from the firewall.  Behind the glove box in the upper left is a vacuum connector to release and behind the passenger kick panel look for the antenna cable coupling.

All that remains before removing the dash/instrument cluster is to remove the nuts and bolts circles above.  The nuts at the bottom of the dash that attach near the door frame only need to be loosened.  There is a metal bracket under the center that bolts to the floor board under the carpet and to the dash below the 12 volts outlets.   Now carefully remove the dash board.

The heater core and evaporator core housing is now revealed.  The next step is to evacuate the refrigerant.   After that you will need a set of spring lock coupling removal tools to disconnect the AC lines from the evaporator.  It is recommended to plug the ends of the lines or cover them with plastic.

There are 2 connectors to remove disconnect on the housing and five nuts.  The nuts are located in the engine compartment.  One is behind the valve cover, another is lower down behind the valve cover gasket.  2 more are serving a dual purpose by holding the drier bracket in place on the firewall.  The last one is visible on the firewall behind some of the evaporative emissions stuff.  After removing these 5 nuts begin working the housing loose.  It may be necessary to remove the 2 screws holding the front of the floor vent in place in order to get around the center console.

With the housing out remove all the screws around the sides and the 3 screws holding the fan motor on and remove the upper half to reveal the heater core and the evaporator. Be careful not to damage the styrofoam tray on the bottom of the evaporator. Also slowly remove the rubber gaskets from the old evaporator and replace them on the new one, along with the styrofoam tray.   Now just reinstall everything in the opposite order!  The AC lines do not require any tools to reassemble, just snap them back together with a quick push.  Evacuate the system and recharge with a couple cans of R134 and you’re ready to go!

I did all this in 14 hours! Maybe you will be able to do it faster.