Hi All

I'm looking for some guidance on the procedure for replacing the defrost flap.

The car belongs to my sister in law. It is a 2005 X Type Estate, 2.0 Diesel. I had a look at it today for her as she was complaining of no air flow to windscreen on Defrost setting.

I removed the defrost stepper motor first and that is working fine. I then looked to moving the defrost flap manually using a hex bit. The hex fitting in the heater unit that the stepper motor engages with just disappeared inside the unit with very light pressure. So the flap is broken (or at least out of place).

I can see on JEPC that the defrost flap is available as a separate part but can find no reference to replacing it on JTIS. I'm assuming that the whole dashboard and heater/AC unit needs to be removed to get access to the flap - unless you know of a short cut?

Looking at side where the stepper motor is situated I'm half thinking I could cut a hand sized hole in the side of the unit for access and then patch it up later. Any views on that?

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

My Ford Explorer had a similar problem. I cut an access hole to do the repair. For testing I used duct tape to make a patch. After it worked for a week I used silicone calk to glue the patch back in. It will be EZ to remove again should I need to.

If you can look at one that is out to know the best place to cut your hole. Go slow...

 

Thanks Larry.

That's encouraging. If it needs to be done then that's the route I will take.

For now, using a small screwdriver I managed (by trial and error) to get the flap in the position that Defrost is on all the time . At least that's better than not at all and sister in-law is happy with that. Not sure how long it will stay like that as a bad bump on the road could jolt it out of position.

If I go down the cut a hole route then I'll take some pics and post them back here for future reference.

 

B1mcp did you ever resolve the fix for the defrost vent / flap?

 

No I never did fix it. The temporary fix/bodge held for a couple of months, then the clutch/DMF failed and she decided to cut her loses and sold the car for "Spares/Repairs"