Need to remove upper dash to stop rattle

[McDub]

I've had a very annoying rattle for some time, and finnally worked out it was the dash or the vent on the dash, because if i hold down the left side of that plastic vent thing in the middle of the dash under the windscreen, it stops the rattle.

Question is, how big of a job is it to remove it, and is there a tutorial around?
Last time i attacked the dash, it was the drivers side lower dash and each time i remove that i seem to brake the plastic clips which is a pain and ends up making more rattles! (a bit of 2part epoxy and cut up credit cards for strength ended up fixing them)

Or is it possible to remove that vent without taking off the whole dash?



thanks

[McDub]

well i can answer the question about can i remove the grill with dash in place: NO, not without braking more clips!
So another broken clip, and i still didn't get it off to try and sort out the rattle, so now the rattle is gonna be worse because of the new broken clip...

So dash removal, is it hard?
Or maybe i can access under the dash from going through the engine bay, i.e under the wipers?

[Rybky]

Check the MKIV how to sticky thread at the top of this forum, in there is a link to a thread on vwvortex with how-to's for just about everything including dash removal.

Adam

[McDub]

cheers but already looked there. can only find the one for the lower driver side dash parts.
i'm gonna have a look to see if i can access under the dash from behind the wipers.

[h100vw]

cheers but already looked there. can only find the one for the lower driver side dash parts.
i'm gonna have a look to see if i can access under the dash from behind the wipers.

Can't get in that way. Dash out will be a trip to the "hurt locker".

Gavin

[JustCruisn]

i had a rattle there once. tried to take out the vent but the 2 wires on it made it too hard. i glued it back in, no more rattle

[McDub]

i had a rattle there once. tried to take out the vent but the 2 wires on it made it too hard. i glued it back in, no more rattle

what two wires? there are solid clips that hold each side in, and i've broken off the one on the left where the arrow is, but no wires that i know of.
I don't think the rattle is the actual vent itself, rather something under neath the dash, like a layer of insulation attached to the underside or something, not sure will have to have a poke around a bit more.
gonna try and work with the small gap now that the vent is half off...
wonder if i can access it if i just take off the glove box... though i guess the air bag is in there somewhere.

[dylan8]

What about pulling your cd player, shelf, cup holders etc out, and going from there? from memory you can get yours hands somewhere there as i ran a wire to the blank switches under the top vents
EDIT: maybe i used wire though...?

[JustCruisn]

what two wires?

In the middle of that piece is a little electrical device which detects sunlight. It is part of the climate control system.
I can see from the pic that that car has A/C not climate control, so maybe it does not have the sensor.

[Speed]

wonder if i can access it if i just take off the glove box... though i guess the air bag is in there somewhere.

Not sure if you can access thru your glovebox.
Passenger airbag is very easy to remove though.

Disconnect your battery cables (Negative first!)
Pry open the PS airbag lid (cover) from the bottom up and flip it back.
Unbolt the four securing screws and tilt to the left to access the connecting wires. (carefull you don't have much slack)
Unclip the connection and pull out the bag.

If your taking it to the Stealers to remove the dash, get them to replace your broken clips.

[McDub]

so speed, does that give me access to under the dash???

plus the clips are the clips that are part of the lower dash parts, so it's not a matter of broken clips, it's broken dash parts really. no biggie

[Speed]

so speed, does that give me access to under the dash???

There's a lot of stuff packed near the bags.
I'm replacing my mine this weekend, will let you know if you can access the area your trying to get to, once I've done mine.

Can anyone else confirm if you can get to the centre under panel vent from the PS airbag position?

[Speed]

McDub, sorry for the late reply. I ended doing my bags today.
Short answer, No you can't get to the area your after from the PS bag.

[McDub]

ok thanks for letting us know. rattle is getting worse so i want to get on top of this
i took out the spair cubby holder and drink rack today to see if that would help, but i'd have to take out much more if i were to get in there that way.
I ended up cleaning my drinks tray in soapy water while it was out, so now it pops out perfectly

Next attempt i'm gonna remove the glove box, surely i can get in there that way, it looks fairly simple to remove.

[Speed]

Unfortunately its not a case of being able to remove one thing to get to where you want.
Once you have the glove-box out you will see what I mean.

Best of luck with it though.