Removing centre vent to remove radio

G

Geezah

Senior member
 Monifieth
How on earth do you do this? I’ve digested the forum and youtube to the Nth degree and spent a considerable amount of time and blue language, no joy.

Released the two metal clips inside at the top and when trying to prise it out, it looks like the front face is separating from the unit which will not budge.

It’s 2008 facelift, is it secured differently?
 
Geezah said:
How on earth do you do this? I’ve digested the forum and youtube to the Nth degree and spent a considerable amount of time and blue language, no joy.

Released the two metal clips inside at the top and when trying to prise it out, it looks like the front face is separating from the unit which will not budge.

It’s 2008 facelift, is it secured differently?
Click to expand...

Use a 2 flat-head screwdrivers to push up the two clips. Once they are pushed in pull out the vent, it will expose the screws to remove the radio.
 
Thanks Jordan, push up you say? All the videos I've seen say push the clips down with the screwdrivers. Is a facelift model different?

Thanks smorris, yes the clips are supposed to release the vent, but it's not budging, that's the problem.
 
OP you are correct

The clips move downwards

I use two thin screwdrivers to ensure they are down then a u shaped pick to get behind the facia on the central bar of the vent to pull it forwards (without pulling the face off)

It may help to move the vent wheels both sides too
 
Geezah said:
Thanks Jordan, push up you say? All the videos I've seen say push the clips down with the screwdrivers. Is a facelift model different?

Thanks smorris, yes the clips are supposed to release the vent, but it's not budging, that's the problem.
Click to expand...
The two clips have to be pulled down. They are a sprung length of metal that engages in a slot above the vent. You can only really see the last couple of mm to get a thin blade onto.
Best idea is to concentrate on one, get that pulled down and slip a plastic trim tool or similar behind the gap on that end of the vent assembly to prevent it popping back in to place. Then move to the other end and repeat.
Once unclipped you need to move the adjuster wheels to get it to slide out easily. From memory I think they have to be about in the middle.
Do NOT pull on the vent vanes as you'll end up with a puzzle to put back together.
 
Ha! As usual, [ref]bigwinn[/ref] and I have said basically the same thing at the same time. :thumbsup:
 
And use a credit card on the left and right side to lever the vent out as that foam at the back makes it quite sticky.

Best at least a gold card, ideally a black one, not sure if a blue one will have the strength :lol:
 
Thanks greatly for your help guys, I'll have another go this weekend, maybe the vent positions are the trick.
Glad to see that the elephants are optional though, that would have been a deal breaker!
 
Been stuck in there since 2008, it is not going to budge. Almost snapping a credit card….even a gold one.! The front face of the vent is in danger of snapping off as its pulling away from the vent body. Cant get a hook through centre of vent as each half is a seperate box. Thanks for you help anyway guys .
 
Don’t despair though as I have removed 5 and I had to give up on one that would not budge. Yours sound like one of those.
 
Some vents can be more difficult than others to remove.

On the bottom of the vent there are 2 tabs you can lift up which release it off the radio:

20250525_130838.jpg

When looking through the front of the vents you can see them in the far left and right bottom corners. Cut 2 strips of the length of a credit card about 5mm wide. Try and lift the tabs with a small screwdriver and jam the credit card strips in there to keep them up. Then try working at the top of the vent like before.
 
We do need to see pics of how badly you have destroyed those vents :lol:
 
I also found a useful poor man’s solution (with no credit cards) to pull the vent out: Feed a loop of cable between the left and right sections of the vent to pull it out, once the tabs are pressed with two small screwdrivers.
 
Thanks Pvr, Usel, Dmike and Umfaan. I'll have another go when I get back in UK in September, here's hoping. Gotta try to fit my Bluetooth adapter to the radio.

Sounds good to have a spare in case I knacker it. I'll DM you Umfaan, cheers.
 
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