Defrost Flaps in Heater Box

[gsr977]

Can you remove the front section (pictured) without removing the whole box from the car? With the clips it looks fairly accessible just not sure if there are also clips on the top side. Basically the flapper on the right is not closing properly and I believe the control rod has come unbolted from the actuator arm of the flapper.

[JohnS]

No, the top is riveted to the bottom two sections and the rivets need to be drilled out to open up the box. Unless someone has been in there before and rebuilt the box previously...

[gsr977]

Makes sense. I think I'll just live with it for now. Just gets a bit noisy over 70mph.

[beammmer]

and yes the clips look inviting but the catch are the rivets at the top. You might be able to remove the clips and stretch the box a little. I would not go too far, the plastic box can be very brittle. Oh and slide the clips off, don't try to pry off.

Good luck.

Don

[gsr977]

From all the nightmare stories I have heard makes sense it wouldn't be easily serviced. Upon closer inspection I could see from the tube holes that the Left and right flappers are actually out of adjustment, where the left one is closed the right will be open about 25%. For a quick and temporary fix I ended up stuffing a square of packing foam into the right defrost tubing that can be easily removed later. Went for a test drive and it is much more quiet. I figure worst case scenario I will still have functioning left defrost. Thanks for the input, always a good idea to check before going too far into a project.

[JohnS]

Oh and slide the clips off, don't try to pry off.

Good luck.

Don

Great tip Don. I ended up using a small rubber mallet to slide/pound the clips off a box that I rebuilt. Reverse when reassembling the thing. No damage to any of the plastic.