W124 air vents / dash

[Mercky]

hi, the main vents in the centre of the dash on my 320 coupe let a slight draft of cold air through even when closed, its as if dampers are not closing fully although thumbwheel is fully closed......anyone got any bright ideas? also one of the directional levers is jammed, can you access this vent mechanism without removing dash? Secondly, I have an odd rattle coming from general area of left side dash speaker grille.....how do you remove this grille to inspect / change speaker?? Thanks.

 

[Keith]

Air vents/speaker rattle

Funny , I have exactly the same.

On the air vents you can remove the actual outer vents straight out of the dash - if you look inside there are 4 lugs on each vent (two at top and two bottom) Use a sharp tool in to prise down each then pull the vent out. If the problem is the control flap which sends air to the vents or not in the first place then that is a dash out job. There are six such control flap actuators which all fail eventually after 6 years or so. I have the parts on order myself and am about to take on that challenge in the next couple of weeks but I know its a big job.

On the speaker rattle I have exactly the same so I will watch this post for advice.

K

 

[Mercky]

W124 dash etc

cheers for that Keith, I'll have a look at the vent and see whats going on.....dont think I'd take the dash out though, the cars very clean with only 46k so I dont want to go hacking it....prefer to put up with the minor draft but I'll prise out the vents as described and have a look. Re the speaker rattle....not 100% its the speaker but the rattle comes from the general area so I thought it would be the first thing to check....according to my mechanic who i spoke to today, the grilles prise off with a small sharp tool....jewelers screwdriver etc so I'll give that a go and let u know how i get on. The rattle is intermittent so its hard to source, anyway thanks again

 

[Keith]

rattle and shake

mine rattles with the lower bass notes if the stereo is up so I think it may be the speaker itself.

Mines got 170k on the clock so I think it deserves some new parts!

 

[Keith D]

Center Vent

Just a note on the above, you can take out the vent as described, but you will also need to use an allen key to undo the fresh air lever action, infact if you want to remove the cold air draft turn the allen key clockwise, this will close the vent tight, but will still give you control with the dial.

Regards

Keith D.

 

[doshbass]

Thanks

Thanks for this thread, I had exactly the same centre vent problem. I did take out the vent, but needen't have bothered as you can put an allen key through top left side of the right hand vent and adjust the vent as described.

Jon