Interior vent debris

[Pbastian]

So I've had this foam deterioration for a while but never understood why. Now I know. I live in central TX, so it's not about getting warm air in winter for me. The issue I am having (other than years of foam bits coming out of the vents) is that the AC blows cold air out of the defrost duct vents even though my AC control is set to blow air only out of the center/side dash vents. What this does is cool the windshield, and I get condensation on the outside of the windshield, along the bottom where the glass is cold.

I have tested the AC control settings. I get air through the center/side ducts no matter what. With all controls in the off position, but AC running, air comes out of center ducts and the defrost ducts. If I turn on the footwell ducts, air stops coming from the defrost ducts and out the footwell ducts. This tells me the defrost/footwell flap is working. Working the various combinations, it looks like the center/side ducts flap is not working correctly. It is not closing off completely the access to the defrost/footwell ducts, like it should if you want all air to come out the center/side ducts.

I am trying to figure out if all the flaps have this foam, in which case that is likely my problem, or if there is something else wrong that is preventing the center/side duct flap from functioning correctly.

[78F350]

At first I just had foam blowing out the vents, but after about a year, there was no hot air and on cold mornings, the windshield would frost back up. I quit driving that car on cold days.
I first saw Meir's DIY about two years ago. I downloaded the .pdfs and studied them getting ready to do the job. Great work and well documented. Recently I decided to stop putting it off and get the job done. I pulled the HVAC unit from my parts car off the shelf and used it for a visual aid. Looking it over, I came up with another way to access the flaps.

The flaps are behind a duct behind the dashboard center console.


I tried to see if there was a way to move it without removing the dashboard, but it can't be done.


With that duct out of the way, the flaps are accessible. How to get there....?

[78F350]

1. I ended up pulling out the console, which had already been modified for a 2 DIN head unit.
2. Cut the duct so I could peel it down out of the way and temporarily taped it.
3. My foam was COMPLETELY gone, otherwise I would have cleaned the flaps.
4. Covered the flaps with a heavy duct tape that has a long lasting, thick adhesive.
5. Tested the operation to make sure nothing was blocked and the tape was secure.
6. Put it back together and used the same tape to seal the duct.

Relatively quick and painless. YMMV depending on your center console configuration.:dance:

[Carlton Bale]

Originally Posted by 78F350

1. I ended up pulling out the console, which had already been modified for a 2 DIN head unit.
2. Cut the duct so I could peel it down out of the way and temporarily taped it.
3. My foam was COMPLETELY gone, otherwise I would have cleaned the flaps.
4. Covered the flaps with a heavy duct tape that has a long lasting, thick adhesive.
5. Tested the operation to make sure nothing was blocked and the tape was secure.
6. Put it back together and used the same tape to seal the duct.

Relatively quick and painless. YMMV depending on your center console configuration.:dance:

This is awesome. Seems like relatively easy access to both flaps.

No issues getting your hands/arms in the hole to the bottoms of the flaps?

[78F350]

Originally Posted by Carlton Bale

This is awesome. Seems like relatively easy access to both flaps.

No issues getting your hands/arms in the hole to the bottoms of the flaps?

I used strips of tape that were between two and four inches long. At first I tried poking them in with a trim tool, but using my hand worked best. With the flaps in the resting position, it was difficult, but doable. I think that the best access was with the AC running and the fan on low. I poked my camera in for this shot, then put on one more piece of tape to caver a gap:

[ExplorerLyon]

Has anyone else followed this method? I need to fix the foam in my vents and this seems like the easiest method.

Originally Posted by 78F350

1. I ended up pulling out the console, which had already been modified for a 2 DIN head unit.
2. Cut the duct so I could peel it down out of the way and temporarily taped it.
3. My foam was COMPLETELY gone, otherwise I would have cleaned the flaps.
4. Covered the flaps with a heavy duct tape that has a long lasting, thick adhesive.
5. Tested the operation to make sure nothing was blocked and the tape was secure.
6. Put it back together and used the same tape to seal the duct.

Relatively quick and painless. YMMV depending on your center console configuration.:dance: