That fresh air grille - too much fresh air!!!

[Quatrelle]

The other day I thought I'd remove the black plastic fresh air vent grille to see exactly why, even with the knob pushed all the way in, there has always been still a slight gust of fresh air coming in the car.

I removed the four tiny screws at the corners (tiny 6-lobe torx driver required), popped the lugs out of their holes and with a bit of wiggling the vent came free from the body. Inside the exposed fresh air passage there wasn't a speck of dust, not a dead bee anywhere - nothing preventing the full closing of the vent flap. Mystery not solved, but anyway...

But when it came to replacing the grille, the rubber air vent flap which sits on an arm just inside the air passage just flops down like a dead trout. I tried to hold it in place whilst replacing the grille and eventually thought I'd done it but once the grille was screwed back into place it did its dead trout impression again and flopped down. Whilst driving last night at 03h00 I got a blast of cold air right between my legs from under the steering wheel where the brake light switch is. For a full uncomfortable and chilly half hour!!!

Please, somebody put me out of my misery... how is this dead trout, a.k.a. rubber air vent flap, supposed to be held in place when you pop the vent grille back in place so that it becomes fully operational again??? There doesn't seem to be anything it clips onto or against or anything.

The air vent grille is currently covered in a fetching shade of silver masking tape as this is the only thing I can think of whilst I find out the solution to this Renault factory fitting trickery.

Any and all assistance gratefully received.

 

[angel]

It is supposed to be one piece with the outer grille...no hinges at all, just the plastic is thinner where it is supposed to hinge. That's why it will eventually break away and won't close anymore. I have never attempted to repair one (we need plenty of cool air over here...), but I think we had discussed this earlier and there were some solutions about this.

 

[Quatrelle]

Many thanks for the reply, angel. That answers the conundrum! Once again my complete maladroitness has managed to break something that father time had left unbroken for 26 years. No matter, duct tape was invented for this very reason and I'm sure I'll find a way to hinge it back in a manner that it will work again and leave my privates warm and cozy.

We need plenty of cool air here too but the nights are still chilly, especially at the dizzying speeds of up to 100km/h!!!

As a last-ditch hope there's always the breaker's yard...

 

[Quatrelle]

Right, a quick update (without photos, shame on me). The fresh air vent flap was repaired with a hinge made of Doctor Duct's finest tape, the assembly was cleaned and the air vent given a coat of sprout green paint (better than the mess it was in before although it does clash a little with the darker green of the moss growing on the windscreen rubber). I haven't been out in her today so I don't know if my bodge repair has worked, but the lever feels smooth and solid when I move it in and out so I suspect it's done the job and should hold for a couple of years at least.

And since I was in a Quatrelle-repairing mood I also repaired the cigarette lighter which now pops out as it should, re-did the fire-harazdous wiring to the said ciggy-lighter, repaired the dodgy ventilation fan switch (thank you Doctor WD40), the passenger-side interior light door switch and finally I re-glued the front passenger sliding window handle (thank you doctor Gorilla Glue).

A fine day's work followed by mowing the lawn followed by a satisfying cuppa and a fag with my feet propped up in the sunshine.