[GUIDE] How to take apart and fix a T6 air vent

[Andysmee]

Another fiddly thing to fix if the slats have gone out of sync or something is stuck in the vents, like a coin. Mine looked like this, the vertical slats were broken so I couldn't control the airflow to the driver:

How to remove the air vent

Pull the bottom of the vent away to start to pop the clips, use a pry bar or gap opener and work from bottom to top.

How to remove the air vent trim

Pull the whole vent out of the dash. Then lever up the 4 clips to remove the front trim. Push the trim off as you lever up the clip - it can be done with fingers. One of my clips was already broken, so I guess I wasn't the first person to try this fix!

How to disassemble the air vent slats

Starting with the horizontal slats, pop them out of the frame from the lefthand edge (this is the driver's side, RHD model).
Lay them out in order for later, be careful to retain the metal coupler!


The vertical slats pop out at the top from the back of the frame, although you can push them out from the front. Again, retain all the parts in order. I found one of my slats was in the mouth of the pipe that supplies the air, so I could retrieve it. If you've lost a slat, I think you will struggle to rebuild it, as the couplers are designed for the slats to hold it all together.

 

[Andysmee]

How to rebuild the air vent

Starting with the vertical slats, hook in the coupler and fit the two end slats into the frame. The coupler should be set with the curved hooks at each end facing the back of the vent (where the air comes from).

Add the middle slats with the top of the slat inside the back of the vent, and the hinge seated in the coupler. This is a pig to do. You can use a screwdriver to lever the bottom of the slat into the bottom holder, bending the coupler slightly as it pops. Then get the top in. There's no science to this bit!

Then move on to the horizontal slats. This time you need to fit the lowest slat, the middle slat and the highest complete slat first (not the skinny one). I turned the unit around so that gravity kept the coupler dropped onto the posts on the slats. Push the righthand end of the slat firmly into the frame and pop in the lefthand end (top of this next picture).

I used a pair of long-nosed pliers to get the coupler in the right orientation. The coupler should be set with the slots facing out, and the asymentric centre part with the raised part above the middle slat.

Then the last two/three slats push into place pretty easily. I took them back out to take this picture (above).

How to refit an air vent
Reverse the steps above to put it back into the dash.

 

[credast24]

Thanks for the guide. My T6 vent knob had broke in two and this helped me get my vent out and I was then able to repair the damaged knob.

 

[nomislotsirb]

@Andysmee many thanks for the info. We found it most useful when having to reassemble the horizontal louvres after they came out when installing the Van-X glovebox. One thing we did find useful was to wedge some flattened paper straws between the louvres which just helped to avoid them coming away from the coupler.