How best to remove dash vents and grills?

[fx2ooo]

Hi all,

I have a couple A/C vents where the inner directional panels have detached, and I'd like to attempt a fix.

Also, and more interestingly, the dash seems to have become home to a certain type of bug (little round, brown buggers). The car lives in an underground car park, dark, cool, and every morning I find one or two of these little guys crawling across the dash. New record of 3 this morning.

So, how best to remove the A/C vents and grills atop the dash without leaving little needle marks?

Cheers,
Adam

[Funky Diver]

I used a butter type knife. Ease it in the side you can tell which one by looking at it and levering it out.

[chb]

Pops out very easily, think I used either a screwdriver covered in tape or a flat blade.
To reconnect the vanes on the centre, I used 20A fuse wire. Still works 2 years later.

[Mistero]

I had some uncoupled fins in a couple of vents when I bought mine. Using a piece of old wire coat hanger with a hook end and a slim screwdriver I managed to click all the fins back into place without taking the vents out of the dash.

Hope that helps.

[gmonag]

The job is much easier with the vents removed (I've done this job). They pop out very easily.

Greg

[fx2ooo]

Thanks everyone, job done.

My summary for anyone else searching -

It is easy, with a butter knife, if you know where you need to lever. Inside the bottom of the vent you can see two flush tabs, one wider than the other. When you slide the butter knife under the vent from the bottom (between the dash and the vent, not under the tabs), you need to lever up underneath these two tabs. Same on the top side, but once the bottom side is out the top is almost out as well.

With the vent out you can unplug the hazard switch, and with some fiddly work with the butter knife and a thin flathead screwdriver, get the connecting pipes off of the back of the vent to access the directional fins from behind. Inside there is a thin strip of plastic that clips onto the bottom of each fin (you can actually see it when the vents are in place when you know what you are looking for), and you can easily push back on any clips that have come off.

Here's a good video I found which shows how to remove the vent.