I take it all the air vents on most fords are the same so i will put this in general ford chat. One of the air vents on the dash to the left of the steering wheel has come apart. I fixed a mobile phone holder into it and a plastic strip with the metal piece behind it has fallen out. Its a pain to fix as 2 mechanics I've been to already can't do it. I refuse to go to the main stealers, so does anyone have a step by step guide to fix this .

Ta.

I take it all the air vents on most fords are the same so i will put this in general ford chat. One of the air vents on the dash to the left of the steering wheel has come apart. I fixed a mobile phone holder into it and a plastic strip with the metal piece behind it has fallen out. Its a pain to fix as 2 mechanics I've been to already can't do it. I refuse to go to the main stealers, so does anyone have a step by step guide to fix this .

Ta.

I did play about with these on my Focus, they should clip together really easily! I was disconnecting them and putting them together again as I was shoving USB cables through... I see you say that the plastic bit has come loose (presuming the horizontal vent?) but the metal slat should be secure? can you post any close up photos of what is wrong? I might be able to talk you through it?

Thanks, I'll take some pics of the 2 pieces that have come away and the vent. Yes one of the pieces is the horizontal plastic strip and the other is a thin metal s shaped connector that fits at the back of these strips. The only way I'm sure you can fix this is by taking the whole vent unit out and repairing whilst unit is easily accessible.

Thanks, I'll take some pics of the 2 pieces that have come away and the vent. Yes one of the pieces is the horizontal plastic strip and the other is a thin metal s shaped connector that fits at the back of these strips. The only way I'm sure you can fix this is by taking the whole vent unit out and repairing whilst unit is easily accessible.

I always took out the full vent unit, and seperated the plastic plastic surround first, and then realligned everything, as long as the metal support rod isnt bent, I see no reason why it shouldnt just have the plastic slat sit into its allocated notches, and then have the support rod lock in place. then fit the surround again, and just slide your vent back into its vent hole!

Simples!

...Not so simples...

Silly question... Have you tried to take apart the other one to compare the two? thats not the part I thought (support rod) - Can you move the vent left/right/up/down?

I think you might have to disect the other one - thats what I would do

Have you popped the vent out, and removed the surrounds, and then loosened the slats? if you shine a light in the slot, you should be able to see where the part should go if you do the same against the working vent...?

...Its times like these I miss having the Focus, I cant just pop out and play with it to find things :(

Yeah the vent works ok, but not all the plastic strips move at the same time. How do you remove the whole vent from the dash? Now that sounds proper scarey.

Tis Easy :) I have done this with a combination of a thin keychain accessory and my focus key, or with a thin, flat blade screwdriver.

See the attached image where I have highlighted green the areas where all you need to do is gently push in a flat blade screwdriver, to the gap (red on picture) between the vent and the dash. Gently push the screwdriver into the gap, and push it into the vent itself, and just gently pry it outwards by pushing the tip into the vent, and then pushing the screwdriver gently against the dashboard. Do this at the three highlighted points (green) as you go round, it will just prise the vent out, no damage done unless you go hammering your screwdriver in there! you can prise them out so far that you can grab your hand around it and pull out the vent.

If at first you dont succeed - keep trying, its a little tricky doing it the first time if your nervous lol... It took me a few goes before I got confident.theres nothing holding it in place, other than gravity, and the fact its snug, there are no clips holding it down, or screws keeping it in.

All you ned to do when done is sit the vent in its hole and push!

How goes thus far then Bottletree?

Bank holiday Monday and raining so no excuse to put it off any longer. Thanks for that diagram of how to dis-attach the vent from the dash. That part was really easy and came out very smoothly. I used a thin screwdriver and gently prised it out.

Got the vent onto a work top. Took the outer silver grey trim of easily and then it got difficult after this. I had to look at the other working vent to see how that metal connector fitted into the plastic strips. Once all 4 strips were in the connector i had to very carefully line up all the strips into there grooves whilst holding them all at an angle and keeping them attached to the metal strip as well as guiding the main strips plastic connector to the vertical strips inside the vent. It sounds more complicated then it actually is, but after a painstaking 30 mins of swearing at it i snapped them into place.

Phew what a ball ache.

Bank holiday Monday and raining so no excuse to put it off any longer. Thanks for that diagram of how to dis-attach the vent from the dash. That part was really easy and came out very smoothly. I used a thin screwdriver and gently prised it out.

Got the vent onto a work top. Took the outer silver grey trim of easily and then it got difficult after this. I had to look at the other working vent to see how that metal connector fitted into the plastic strips. Once all 4 strips were in the connector i had to very carefully line up all the strips into there grooves whilst holding them all at an angle and keeping them attached to the metal strip as well as guiding the main strips plastic connector to the vertical strips inside the vent. It sounds more complicated then it actually is, but after a painstaking 30 mins of swearing at it i snapped them into place.

Phew what a ball ache.

haha, it can be a "fun" job cant it! so all is now good for the Foci once again then?

Glad to be of help! Its the first car where I actually like the general Vent design, it made wiring the car up for the Tom Tom very easy! lol