D4 A8 passenger vent removal

[mak156]

I noticed the directional fins inside my passenger vent aren't connected together meaning the are all pointing in random directions. I see replacements are readily available on eBay, but before I pick one up, I looked at a video of someone removing an A8 dash and it looks pretty involved to get the vents out? From what I gather the whole centre trim piece needs to come out?? Is that right? 

[snapdragon]

Yes you have to remove that whole £1900 trim.

What exactly is wrong the outer fins or the two flaps behind it (common problem due to design/manufacturing fault) 

 

[mak156]

thanks for the video - hadn't seen that before. My problem is that the fins in the unit that direct the air are not linked - the small plastic horizontal piece that should connecting them is missing. Crazy that the whole trim piece has to come out to get that part of it out. It can stay broken! 

I must check if the two fins closing the vent as shown in that video work as well - I suspect they don't

[mak156]

You legend. Opened up the dash to find the actuator that controls the 2 flaps hanging down like the video above. Pic attached. This this might be the root cause of the annoying squeak I posted about previously also. Thanks for your help!!

[mak156]

Its very badly designed as you say. The 4 screw points are very undersized to take the twisting load through the mechanism. It's mightn't be the cleanest solution but I cable-tied the actuator back into place - a temporary fix for now but it does feel solid enough. 

 

I also found the connector piece that links the fins in the vent together. I think I can access all the screws without taking off anymore trim, albeit with difficulty. I'll hold tough for now though and see if a few of my problems are sorted. 

 

Thanks again for your help!

[mak156]

Just wanted to update in case it helps someone else. I took out the broken actuator including the duct. As mentioned previously the fins in the passenger air vent were all disconnected. As it happens, removing the actuator provided access to the back of the vent. I found the missing connector piece in the duct as well. 

After a bit of fiddling (connector piece asymmetrical) I managed to get it back onto the fins and they all work perfectly again.

 

Thought this might be useful for anyone with the same issue. The amount of trim that needed to be removed to get access was fairly ok too

 

Pic below of the connector back on the fins!

[mak156]

I managed to fix the actuator as well with cable ties. I was reluctant to use super glue as it has zero workability. At least cable ties can be reversed.

 

Anyway, 2 cable ties were enough to hold everything together. Was able to thread them through so that they didn't impact on any moving parts. 

A replacement actuator is £250+ so it's a tidy fix for a while. If it fails in the future I'll be sure to post an update. Pics attached for anyone's reference 

[snapdragon]

Thanks for the update. You’re a fast worker!

I have the same problem for a year and still procrastinating so your guide will be bookmarked for times of better weather or an empty garage.  👍

[mak156]

It's not too bad at all. I wouldn't be the handiest but this level of trim removal was fine for me. That video is great

[snapdragon]

Yes that channel has many good D4 how to videos but many are in a foreign language with no closed captions but he does some in English too.