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bulkhead air vents are stuck......


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Hi Guys...

have been looking for some helpful words regarding my TD5's 'rusted up hindge pins' on the vent flaps ......

They have rusted up solid! :(:(

I have purchased new pins and stainless dome nuts but heres the problem.......

how do i remove the handle/knob thats used on the inside to open them?

I think or hope this will help me to remove the vent flap or am I going about there removal all wrong!!

Any suggestions greatfully recived ;) .............

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You could be opening a can of worms with the vents, i recently had a similar problem;

one of my vents would open, but it wouldn't stay closed as the very thin strip of aluminium mechanism had snapped, so i thought "no probs, i'll make a new one" -which in itself took about half an hour, but the strippng down of the dash was a bit longer! everything is hidden pretty well behind the top of the dash and the cover underneath it!

so removing the knobs won't help, the mechanism is screwed into the dash and the underside of the vent, you need to get the top and underside (at least) of the dash out to get to it all.

but even then, if it's the hinge pins that are rusted in, taking the mechanism off won't help you open them. you need to soak the pins for a while then get some mole grips on the ends of them and gently try twisting them out. on mine it has split pins through the hinges.

then when you do manage to get them open, be very careful as the mechanism is very thin and will snap if you twist things around too much.

if it will help i can knock up a diagram of how it all goes together?

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In fact, i've got a busy and grief free day in the workshop today as my other half is on a cleaning fetish! so i'll not be online again until tonight, so i've done a quick side-on diagram of the mechanism for you.

it's basic but should give you an idea if you do take it to bits.

hope it helps.

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wait wait!! before you even remove anything, i'm sure i was able to remove the hindge pin without even opening the vents. ok, yes, they may be rusted together, but with enough determination and WD40 you will be able to get them off.

There are 2 nuts under the cowl vent flaps that hold the mechamisim to the cowl vent flap. once you remove the pins, you can proceed to flip the vent over and undo the 2 nuts to remove the vent flap.

so the question now is, do the vents even open up at all? if yes, you might be able to squeese a 7mm spaner below the opened vent and undo the 2 nuts, now with the vent free, you can slowly, back and forth, loosen the pins.

gathering that you have the pins with nut and bolt, i believe it's 2002 and beyond.

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The mechanism on mine bent a little and its a bit of a nightmare. I've done my best to straighten it by pulling the top of the dash off - but it still won't hold the vent open against the wind when driving - and despite the vent appearing to close fully I am now getting a stream of cold air from it that freezes my left knee... So be careful as they are very difficult to straighten out in situ.

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