[palio1.6-2002]

Hello All,

I have a palio, and constant poking by my kids have lead to misalignment in the AC vents in the dashbopard.

Is there someone who can guide me how to repair them without taking out the complete dashboard...

Thanks in advance.

[anupamsinha]

What exactly is meant by misalignment of AC vents? If possible, post some pictures of the same. What problem is the misalignment causing?

[wanderernomad]

I think the horizontal slats or the vertical slats have come out of their grooves. You will need to take out the entire housing and then re fix them from their rear side in case the holders are not broken.

[palio1.6-2002]

My kid has successfully pushed back the vents on the AC duct well inside. Now I am unable to maneuver them to deliver the airflow int eh correct direction.

Can someone help in getting them to the original position by a DIY tip.

I would hate to take my car to service station and take apart the dashboard for just fixing the vents...

[Jaggu]

Are the vents completely inside OR can you see them? If its accessible then use a pliar to carefully get them out. Then figure out how the clips are and slowly push them into place, one side at a time should be fine.

But if it has gone inside then taking it to a garage would be the best idea.

[palio1.6-2002]

Well I will try to get the pics today, but these are the vertical vents and are grooved inside the horizontal ones which are a part of the housing. it is difficult to explain without the pic so I will get it first. I dont think it will be possible to get it out with pliars, they look too fragile and might get broken if I try to do some thing like this.

Any idea how much this would cost if I have to take the entire dashboard out and get it fixed....

[Jaggu]

ahh i got what you are explaining. Are they visible, then use a steel or copper wire to make a hook and try fishing them out. Maybe a good idea to remove the outer rim before you try this.

Once you get them out, push them back in on the outer rim and maybe even put some super glue spots at the locks (which attach the vertical thingie to horizontal) and then refix the whole part.

If you use the pliar gently, nothing will happen.

EDIT: ps ensure that by gluing, you wont hamper the working of these vertical slots. ie ensure that they will be able to move sideways if the anchor points are glued, before you go about.

[v.anand]

The Palio vents are very sensitive and brittle. I too have faced this issue a number of times, the side adjustment pins of the LHS and RHS vents easily goes inside if any new person handles it with any force. IIRC, I have changed the vents a couple of times already due to this very same issue and they are not too expensive. This problem is not there is the middle vents in the center console which feel sufficiently strong for the purpose.

[palio1.6-2002]

""ahh i got what you are explaining. Are they visible, then use a steel or copper wire to make a hook and try fishing them out. Maybe a good idea to remove the outer rim before you try this.""

This is exactly what I'm asking, I am able to see the vents lying in the back, can someone let me know if palio's outer rinm for the ac vents can be taken out??
thanks, jaggu, i was not able to frame my question properly.

[palio1.6-2002]

So anand you are telling me I can simply pull them out, can you please give me a brief idea on how I can do without damaging them...

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by palio1.6-2002

My kid has successfully pushed back the vents on the AC duct well inside. Now I am unable to maneuver them to deliver the airflow int eh correct direction.

Can someone help in getting them to the original position by a DIY tip.

I would hate to take my car to service station and take apart the dashboard for just fixing the vents...

palio1.6-2002,
You can rejoice. No need to take apart the dashboard or take it to the service station. The vents can be easily pulled out and you can fix the fins by pushing them to the slots.

Now, to take out the vents, you need a nose plier or a plier with lean ends. Take a cotton cloth and cover the plier ends to prevent any scratch or marks on the fins. Hold the horizontal fins at the red spot in the picture firmly with the plier and pull it out gently. Key is to hold it the plier firmly enough giving nice grip so that it wont slip. The other end of the vent has a hinge mechanism and its a fixed end (cannot slide out). The hinge mechanism is a small metal part which can be held in its place if it comes out.

Putting it back is simple and can be done with hand. Advice a little patience while putting it back. (better be done while your kid is fast asleep )

The whole process is less complicated than explained above.

Regards,
Bejoy

[anupamsinha]

We had this problem in our Palio. The vents were damaged by the service center. They used a screwdriver to take out the vent. The red dot around the pic. They put a screwdriver in between the vent and its holder and then turned the screwdriver and took out the vent. It's not as difficult as it sound. You can ask your service center to fix it in the next service. But in our case the fix was temporary and as you say it "the vents were again misaligned".

[ch.nathan]

Even my Palio's ac vent had broken - twice - both times the driver's side.

First time I replaced with a new one - costed Rs. 370/- in TASS.

Second time I repaired it myself.
1. Removed the AC vent assembly from the dash using a screw driver. Be careful not to damage/scratch the area around the vent.
2. Again using the screwdriver, detached the vent from the assembly. The vent is rectangular and fitted to the assembly with two plastic rivets on either side. One of them is longer. Try delicately from each side till it comes out easily.
In my case, one of thse rivets had broken.
3. I took a hard rubber bush, cut it to around 1cm long, shaped it to round shape just bigger than the hole.
4. Using this bush, I was able to fit the vent onto the assembly.
5. Fixing the assembly back in the dash is easy. Just insert it and you will hear a 'click'.
6. I did this about 3 months back and till now it's working fine.

Below are some of the PICs of the first broken vent:

The vent (taken out from the assembly):




The side groove where the rivet goes-in:




The rear side (these thin plastic lines are of very low quality and will come out if not handled properly):

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by ch.nathan

Even my Palio's ac vent had broken - twice - both times the driver's side.

First time I replaced with a new one - costed Rs. 370/- in TASS.

Second time I repaired it myself.
1. Removed the AC vent assembly from the dash using a screw driver. Be careful not to damage/scratch the area around the vent.
2. Again using the screwdriver, detached the vent from the assembly. The vent is rectangular and fitted to the assembly with two plastic rivets on either side. One of them is longer. Try delicately from each side till it comes out easily.
In my case, one of thse rivets had broken.

Ok, I get it. The vents near the doors have rivets on both side and is harder to remove. I managed to remove the door side vent along with the bezel, that was easier.

The center console vents have the rivet only on one side. The hinge where the red dot is on the picture is a push-to-fit kind of mechanism. This can be removed without the screwdriver.

Regards,
Bejoy

[palio1.6-2002]

Thanks a lot everyone for all the suggestions, looks like I am going to ahve a busy weekend as I have also planned to change the exhaust myself and now I will be able to repair the ac vents to.

Will update you on monday about how it went, but we can definitely a sum of all the threads in the DIY section.

Amit