[rtbrez]

Some pieces of my sun-baked dashboard air vent fell down the vent. Where do I look for them and how can I get them out? Thanks!

 

[Joe Cool]

To fully remove the broken pieces, you'll likely have to remove the dash and the HVAC box assembly, as they are most likely in the area where valves control the air flow direction. If you search the forum, you'll find threads that detail how to remove your dash. It's not too bad if you take your time and keep track of where the screws and nuts go. The only help I needed was to get the dash around the steering wheel when taking it out of the cab; it's much easier with two people. As far as the necessity of removing the broken pieces, I can't really say. I suppose depending on how big they are and where exactly they fall they could cause an issue with interfering how the air flow valves direct air. I had my original vent grill fall apart too; I ended up waiting and removed the broken pieces a couple years later when I had to change out my heater core. I also had glass to remove from a prior incident with a deer.

I purchased a new dash grill on ebay. I recommend getting the speaker covers at the same time, since they are usually just as brittle.

 

[Lonelydriver95]

Not sure if this will make you feel any better and I'm not sure how big the pieces you lost are, but I had the same thing happen to me over a year ago, I lost a couple small pieces down there and I haven't noticed any problems.