Heat and air control flaps

[Abscate]

Dash removal is simple work with hand tools. Take it off, do job once and correctly.
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[RichShaw]

Yes I know, my post was kind of for those who are scheduled to leave for a 10-day trip and are suddenly bombarded by pieces of foam and with A/C suddenly fighting with the heater.

I will do the full repair together with new fan and heater core soon.

[vwwestyman]

Dash removal is relatively simple, but also takes an entire day if you're taking your time because you're afraid of breaking plastic bits (and they are much more fragile when it's cold and that is probably when you're most worried about this) and bagging up the screws and such. And there are a couple large, fiddly bits to get out of the way.

Since you can access the flaps from the hole with some creativity and "yoga positions" and get that done in about an hour or two, this is a perfectly sufficient way to restore the function of the flaps.

Whether it is because you're about to go on a big trip in a few days and don't want to take it all apart, or it's cold and you don't want to take it apart because you're afraid of breaking brittle plastic bits, or you want "good enough" until there is some bigger reason to take the dash apart. (That was the case with my old '03... Did the flaps one fall and then over the next summer the heater core leaked so I did the flaps more properly when I finally replaced the core.)
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
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[RichShaw]

Agreed. I am just in progress of doing it properly. So far, restoring the whole airbox took the longest. Dash removal was about two hours and a lot simpler than I expected, just a lots of bits. Plus the usual fight with removing the airbag (I think maybe I saw someone pull the dash with the wheel still on? But certainly easier without it being in the way).

Disassembling the box, restoring flaps, testing clearences, cleaning in & out, greasing and re-assembling took me a solid two or three afternoons in the living room. Putting it back was also relatively simple. I've broken some tabs here and there (near the 12V plug and one near the headlight switch) but managed to fix everything nicely with JB Weld.

While I had the dash off, I did:
- covered the flaps (I used neoprene-style soundproofing material meant for which should withstand way higher temperatures than coolant/heater gets to)
- thoroughly cleaned the whole airbox, in and out
- applied insulation and soundproofing to the bottom of the dashboard (I had lots of leftovers from doing the back of the van); the original that was on there was falling apart and had that distinct stink to it, so I thought why not
- thoroughly cleaned the A/C evaporator with antibacterial A/C foam cleaner, I used the whole can in several go's
- scraped the remaining foam from the recirculating flap (near the cabin filter) and left it be, since shockingly, that one has no holes in it under the foam
- replaced heater core (mine was still original from 1999 and so it lasted around 550k km/350k miles)
- replaced the fan, I wanted to skip it since I though it could be done with just passenger airbag out, but in the end I am glad I did it
- cleaned up the air ducts that go to driver and passenger vents
- put a Teltonika GPS tracker in a place where it is unreachable without removing the dashboard again

I am yet to puth the dashboard back on, probably this weekend, but I hope it won't be a big struggle.

I also have to correct my earlier statement that it can be 100 % temporarily fixed via the foothole... the harder to reach flap is actually two-part kinda, and its smaller half probably can't be reached through there and can't be seen either. Luckily that one still had reasonable amount of foam on there (only 2.5 out of the seven holes were letting hot air through), so the A/C worked reasonably OK still.

On the photo I've already pulled the remaining foam from the smaller side with 7 holes. Just for fun I tried if I could reach it - yeah, I could but withed opened box in my living toom while seeing exactly where my hand goes and not being in a position my body has never done before... So I think in the car, not when not knowing what and where is, I'd say it is probably unreachable?

So yeah, I agree, do it properly, but plan ahead. There's a lots of things that can be taken care of while the dash is off, so I'd say don't rush it.

[dsh1705]

[RichShaw]

Yes, looking back it's obvious, but when I first was slapping foil tape all over blindly reading up on dozens random forums and facebook groups how to even reach in there, I had no idea what I am doing, really. But it did improve the situation significantly so I thought those two visible flaps were all there is.

Also, this is slightly off topic, but I've only just now realized when looking at your signature...

I've come across your blog on April 15th when I was looking around online for sound deadening of the belly pan and that's when I found your post about it and saved it to notes; and while going through your blog I also saw the https://1705.net/dash-removal-and-foam-repair/ * and immediately saved it as well (that's how I know the exact date), because I had the foam bits flying off the vents for years, and I thought "nice, I'll save this and will read it later to finally find out what it is and where it comes from".

Literal two days later, I am not even kidding, on April 17th, I was just heading out for a long Easter weekend. It was already plenty hot outside, A/C working nicely, but about 3-4 hours into the ~8hr drive, heat started coming out even though it was still hot outside and A/C set to Low. I had no idea what broke at that point, and I somehow survived the trip driving with fan off and opened windows, and it took me probably about another week to pinpoint it back to the air flaps. So that "I'll read it later" was a lot sooner than I expected.

*which also ended up being super helpful & thanks!

[dsh1705]