How To: Remove Dash/ Access HVAC Box

This is a how to on removing your dash. I did it because I needed to get to my HVAC box. It takes some time, and patients but its nothing too complicated. All in all it took around an hour to remove, wouldve taken less time if I knew exactly what I were doing at first lol. But I will save you some time.

This was done on my 2002 Ram 1500 4.7 automatic. Should work for all 02-05's, with some minor differences.
* If you have a 2002 1500, and your ordering any HVAC system parts from stores such as autozone or oreillys, just order them as if you have a 2003. I ordered many parts for my 2002 and they gave me 2nd gen parts instead of 3rd gen even thought i told them it was a 1500.

If youre going to be opening the HVAC box, you need to have your AC system evacuated before you start tearing everything off.

To start off go ahead and disconnect the battery, you will be messing with airbags and such and dont want that going off on your face. But make sure you have your seats(if theyre powered) in the farthest back position for easier access before you disconnect the battery.

Start by removing the basic plastic trim pieces:

Drivers and passengers kick panels- just pry up, be careful and get as close to the tabs and pull so you dont break it.


Plastic piece under steering column- just two screws and comes down


Plastic piece under cup holder- Two tabs holding it on, just pops right off

Top dash piece, part closest to the windshield. I believe you just pry up by the tabs and it comes right off. I had a dash cover and the piece came off when I removed the cover.

Passengers and drivers A pillars. Two 10mm bolts hold them on, flip open the covers by the handles and you wil see them. Then just pull

Next the two platic pieces on the sides of the dash, also pop right off.(Disregard the silicone all over the dash, it held the cover on. Also the wires everywhere, I took the pics a little out of order... yours shouldnt look like this yet)


Now the plastic trim around the brake release handle. remove the two screws that go into it on the side, then pop off.

Now that thats all removed, and its been about 15-20 minutes since the battery has been disconnected, you can go ahead and start taking the steering column out.

First remove the little rubber piece that controls the tilt for the wheel. All you have to do is pull hard toward the seat.


Look under the column and there are three T20 torx bits(the two visible ones and one next to the tilt control) that hold it together. Pull those then pull the cover apart.


Now unplug all the wires that connect to it. I believe there are three electrical connectors, plus the shift cable(Check over yours just to be positive before removing it). For the shift cable, simply disconnect it at the top on the little ***, then push the two black tabs together above where it sits in the metal and pull it through. Theres also a little white connector for the brakes, just push and turn and it comes right out.



Next remove the coupler, just one 13mm bolt. It needs to be removed at least past the male end of the column shaft because theres an indent in it that holds it in.(Mines not completely removed yet in the pic.)


Now all there is are four 13mm bolts holding it up. Remove all of those and you will be able to pull the column out.(Heres two of them, the other two are identical and more towards the top of the column.)


Now on to the rest of the electrical connectors.

On the passengers side youve got three where the kick panel covered: the radio antenna, the HVAC box controls, and I guess door stuff... idk. But these all need to be disconnected.


On the drivers side youve got all youre wires that go into the firewall. Remove the 10mm in the middle of the box, the connector on the left of the box, and the one on the right if theres anything there.


Youve also got a connector in the drivers side a pillar that needs to be remove. Also check the passengers side for one, mine didnt have one but check anyways.

Theres also a connector underneath the cup holders and to the left, its yellow. I believe thats it for the electrical connectors, but check, check, and re check everything, youre truck might be different than mine. You dont want to rip any wires when pulling the dash. Basically if you see a connector, pull it, it cant hurt.

Now youll need to remove the hood release handle, just two screws. Then the latch for the brake release. Theres a metal rod on the back that connects to it and that needs to be released, its hard to describe, but once you look at it you can easily figure it out.

Now heres where I believe I messed up. Under the drivers side dash is a big piece of metal that the column connected to, I removed this whole thing(still attached to the dash, but from what I can understand from looking at it, you dont have to do this.

From looking at it when the hole dash was removed, you can remove the three bolts on the top of that metal piece, you will see them when looking up at it. When he dash is ready to be removed, this should allow you to lift the dash up then off with that metal piece still attached to the firewall. And dont mess with any of the bolts that go into the firewall. Also this way you wont have to remove the rod for the brake/ throttle cable.

If that does not work, or you just want to do it the hard way, you can remove the six bolts that go into the firewall(be carefull, these hold onto the brake booster), remove the rod on the brake pedal, and disconnect throttle line if you dont have a fly by wire. You would also need to remove the two bolts that hold that big main white connector to that metal piece.

Now all thats left are the bolts holding the dash in.

Four 10mm bolts on the top by the windshield, and 4 screws/8mm bolts i believe


One 10mm bolt attached to the HVAC unit

Theres two 13mm under the cup holder area that were covered by that plastic trim piece.
Youve got three 13mm on the drivers side-

Three 13mm on the passengers side, two in the same area as the drivers side, and one down under the dash that the kick panel covered.



The dash should now be ready to pull out. I had my dad help me get it out, youll more than likely need someone to help you. Slowly begin to remove it just to make sure all of the wires are disconnected, like I said before, your truck might be different than mine and need to be positive everything is disconnected. Then do as you please with it.

Anddd....




If you are trying to remove the hvac unit, you need to disconnect the heater core hoses, the ac quick disconnects for the evaporator(I also removed the accumulator, it helped get the lines apart. Then you have three bolts holding the box on the inside, and two under the hood on the firewall(both are behind the plate that holds onto the PCM, so it will need to be removed). Then the box is ready to be removed.

I believe I covered it all, hope this helps, if you have any question feel free to ask!

Thanks man! I hope nobody ever has to use this but unfortunately, I do ); ill be using it as soon as I can save up for a new air box! I think the dealer said its about 300 for a new one

No problem! hope it helps, if you have any questions while doing it feel free to ask and ill do my best to help. If your doors are broken you might want to look into these guys Dodge Ram '02-'08 - '02 - '08 - Ram - Dodge they make metal doors that wont break instead of the stock plastic ones. Its not something you need but a lot of people that do this fix use those. I didnt because I just didnt have the money for them at the time and my doors werent broken

Great Thread!

Passenger Airbag

Great thread, I've tried YouTube videos but can't find anything on what you just explained. But, I do have a few questions; first does the steering column need removed? It looks as if the dash can just pull around it and I was able to remove the instrument cluster with the wheel still attached.

Next and most importantly, what did you do with the passenger airbag? Do you need to remove the trim/ cover in order to remove the dash? Or does it all just pull out in one piece?

I am no handyman by any means and would argue this is way above my skill level. But I've come so far to give up now & don't want to shell out $564 (and that's on the cheap end) to have someone else do it.

Ironic that replacing the radiator was much easier than this.

AlohaRam said:

Great Thread!

Click to expand...

Thanks! Hope it helped!

NC4Life078 said:

Great thread, I've tried YouTube videos but can't find anything on what you just explained. But, I do have a few questions; first does the steering column need removed? It looks as if the dash can just pull around it and I was able to remove the instrument cluster with the wheel still attached.

Next and most importantly, what did you do with the passenger airbag? Do you need to remove the trim/ cover in order to remove the dash? Or does it all just pull out in one piece?

I am no handyman by any means and would argue this is way above my skill level. But I've come so far to give up now & don't want to shell out $564 (and that's on the cheap end) to have someone else do it.

Ironic that replacing the radiator was much easier than this.

Click to expand...

Its been two years since I did this so Ill try and remember as best as I can haha.
Im not 100% positive, but I believe the steering column needs to be removed. I havent heard of anyone doing it with it still attached. I think itd be pretty difficult if not impossible to get the dash around it.

And the airbag comes out all in one piece with the dash, nothing needs to be done with it. Just as long as youve had the battery disconnected long enough.

And yeah its no easy task, but as long as you have patience and some general common sense youll make it

So I have everything out, except for the Heater Core, why you may ask? Well, unfortunately the one thing that is stopping me is a "Quick Connect" (on what I believe to be the AC Evaporator) For some reason the special tool is not getting this thing to pop, I have tried, yanking, yanking harder, yanking and twisting, screw driver, 2 types of wd40, & a hammer.

I can't pull the core out without creating space for the heater box to move. You have any advice on how to get this ******* out? I was thinking that the box may open in half? & I can take the core out that way?

NC4Life078 said:

So I have everything out, except for the Heater Core, why you may ask? Well, unfortunately the one thing that is stopping me is a "Quick Connect" (on what I believe to be the AC Evaporator) For some reason the special tool is not getting this thing to pop, I have tried, yanking, yanking harder, yanking and twisting, screw driver, 2 types of wd40, & a hammer.

I can't pull the core out without creating space for the heater box to move. You have any advice on how to get this ******* out? I was thinking that the box may open in half? & I can take the core out that way?

Click to expand...

Sorry for taking so long to respond.

I ran into the same problem, those things literally took me forever. Tried tons of tools and I think it was just luck in the end. I took one of my sets of disconnet tools and shaved the edge down to a fine point to help it get underneath the spring to stretch it out. Other than that it just took a lot of patience

you need the A/C quick connect release tool it can be tricky try pressing the joint together as you push and twist the tool into the fitting to release the spring.

Bro you made it sound too easy. I hv to get to my box also and I have over 13 hours in on this damn thing and I have 2 cup fulls of screw dive gotten all the plastic trim off plus any screw I could find took my gage pod out even. I hv a airbag built into my passengers side that might be holding it in I don't know. I can't find anyone who will help me in my area. I'm Capitol F....ed. Dodge house won't work on it till I put it all back together again. Been parked for 3 weeks sorry I hv a:
2009
Dodge Ram 2500
4x4, 6.7,
Mega Cab SXTpkg

awesome info thanks

TexasRammer said:

Now heres where I believe I messed up. Under the drivers side dash is a big piece of metal that the column connected to, I removed this whole thing(still attached to the dash, but from what I can understand from looking at it, you dont have to do this.

From looking at it when the hole dash was removed, you can remove the three bolts on the top of that metal piece, you will see them when looking up at it. When he dash is ready to be removed, this should allow you to lift the dash up then off with that metal piece still attached to the firewall. And dont mess with any of the bolts that go into the firewall. Also this way you wont have to remove the rod for the brake/ throttle cable.

If that does not work, or you just want to do it the hard way, you can remove the six bolts that go into the firewall(be carefull, these hold onto the brake booster), remove the rod on the brake pedal, and disconnect throttle line if you dont have a fly by wire. You would also need to remove the two bolts that hold that big main white connector to that metal piece.

Now all thats left are the bolts holding the dash in.

Four 10mm bolts on the top by the windshield, and 4 screws/8mm bolts i believe
View attachment 284281

One 10mm bolt attached to the HVAC unit
View attachment 284282
Theres two 13mm under the cup holder area that were covered by that plastic trim piece.
Youve got three 13mm on the drivers side-
View attachment 284283
Three 13mm on the passengers side, two in the same area as the drivers side, and one down under the dash that the kick panel covered.
View attachment 284284
View attachment 284285

The dash should now be ready to pull out. I had my dad help me get it out, youll more than likely need someone to help you. Slowly begin to remove it just to make sure all of the wires are disconnected, like I said before, your truck might be different than mine and need to be positive everything is disconnected. Then do as you please with it.

Anddd....

View attachment 284286


If you are trying to remove the hvac unit, you need to disconnect the heater core hoses, the ac quick disconnects for the evaporator(I also removed the accumulator, it helped get the lines apart. Then you have three bolts holding the box on the inside, and two under the hood on the firewall(both are behind the plate that holds onto the PCM, so it will need to be removed). Then the box is ready to be removed.

I believe I covered it all, hope this helps, if you have any question feel free to ask!

Click to expand...

I sure wished I'd seen this earlier. I commend you on the information and photos, great job! It took me about five days to pull mine apart... 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 4.7. My dash was all cracked and crumbled as I took it apart. It was like working with a jigsaw puzzle, reassymbly was a pain because it was a jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing. I put it all back together in a few days. Now I have electronic issues...Brake warning light is on, ABS warning light is on (despite the new brake light switch being installed) my speedometer isn't working (all other gauges are working, and they all cycle through when you rest the gauges, including the speedometer), my ac button and mirror defroster buttons don't light. Ihaven't charged the air yet due to funds but, it does hold a vacumn.