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Have you been annoyed by your center ac vents rattling? Here is
what I discovered when I dug a little deeper.
About the hardest part is removing the center console trim that
contains the AC vents.
First thing I did was to remove the shift ball and then the
shifter bezel, simply pull up on the rear by grabbing the inside of
the ring and lifting up and back. Then disconnect the lighter plug.
Next I pushed the switches mounted at the bottom of the panel
through the front. Then I disconnected the switches and removed
them.
There are 6 connecting points, two on the bottom, two in the
middle and two pivot points on the top. Start by pulling the bottom
out first, then you should be able to slide your fingers in from
the side and carefully pop the middle connectors free. With the
lower and the middle connectors free, tilt the panel out, leaving
the top in until you have some clearance and then you will be able
to pull the panel down and clear the top pivot points and the panel
is out.
Here is the panel removed. The 8 white posts are not the
connectors but are just rubber bumpers that support the panel. The
vent cage is a separate component and is held in place by various
methods. The top on mine was nicely secured with three tabs that
had been either pressed or melted. The sides were just barely
melted and expanded.
The problem on mine appeared to be the bottom side where 8 tabs
were melted over. These tabs had not melted into the plastic but
had only been melted over and had become loose. They were probably
not that tight to begin with.
The picture below shows the tabs after I removed the melted over
plastic to make sure the pieces were fitting flush. I guess in
hindsight I could have left it in place.
I first used a soldering iron to VERY CAREFULLY melt the side
tabs.
Next I VERY CAREFULLY melted the 8 tabs on the bottom. You do not
want to melt too much because you will RUIN the panel.
NOTE: If you are uncomfortable melting the plastic then I would
suggest you only use the glue to secure the parts.
Next I used epoxy to glue all around the vent box. I used
"Loctite® Plastic Bonder" from Lowes. There are a lot of epoxy's
available but this one was listed as suitable for "ABS" which is
what the vent panel is made out of.
While inspecting my repair I noticed that there was a small
piece of foam that fits around the vent doors that had started to
fall apart.
I was able to remove the other door foam and use it as a
template to cut a new seal out of felt. Here you can see the felt
seals on both doors.
You are ready to put the panel back in.
Remember how you had to tilt the panel out to get the top to
pivot out? If you look at the top of the panel you will notice how
the prongs pivot out of the way when you install the panel. You can
simply push the panel straight in instead of trying to pivot it
in.
You may need to reach in from the bottom to align the bottom
posts. try to get them lined up before pushing the middle posts all
the way in.
Install the switches and the shifter bezel and shift ball.
Enjoy your rattle free AC!