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I see this problem pops up on the forum occasionally for years. Has anyone come up with a good solution? Both driver and passenger side defrost vents cracked which was no big deal until they started to vibrate and cause weird fluttering noises. I took them both out and patched them back together with pop rivets and some metal shim stock. After that both were fine for a year but then the retaining clip would fail and they would pop out after an hour or two. Better when it was cold, pop out easily when it is warm. Now the driver side vent is broken again and the retaining clip is broken.
Are used junk yard parts likely to last more than a few minutes? I hate to pay money for a new OEM part I know to be a flawed design destined to fail.
I thought this would be an easy fix. I was wrong. Ordered a vent from a junkyard online, it showed up with the end where the retaining clip goes already broken off. They sent me a photo, it was whole going into the box so broke off in shipping. So now I have 2 broken vents.
The 2 legged retaining clip is supposed to be Jag part C2S44682xxx where xxx is the color code per SNG Barratt and others with online parts diagrams.
Ordered one online. Not the right part. The old broken retaining clip is 19mm tall with 2 legs that reach through the dash and hold the vent down. The part I received with the same part number has 4 clips and is only 6mm tall. It does nothing to hold down the vent but it plugs the hole perfectly.
Looking at a parts diagram from a Jag dealer it shows a completely different system, it has a screw holding down the vent and this "blanking plug" is just cosmetic filler for the no longer needed 2 legged retainer clip. But with the same part number as the 2 legged clip!! I have no idea how to get the part I want if there are different parts with the same part number.
Someone else posted his remedy on here some years ago, and I carried out the same 'fix' and it has worked like a charm. You obtain a couple of rare earth magnets around half an inch in diameter. Glue one to the underside of the vent and another to the body underneath. Put the vent back in and let magnetism do the work. They pull the vent in tight and don't fail. The previous poster who did this explain the procedure in full, but I can't find it.
Saga continues. Driver side windshield defrost vent is broken. Epoxy + thin metal shim stock + pop rivets worked for some months then the 2 legged retaining clip would pop out frequently and I get lots of rattling. Ordered a used vent (see post #3 above) that showed up broken in exactly the same place as the original part. I have been without the vent piece for months. With winter coming on I ordered another from a junk yard thru car-part.com. New vent showed up supposedly from a 2006 X-Type. I took the previous advice and epoxied in some rare earth magnets and then as I attempt to put the new-to-me vent in it pops up at the other end away from the retaining clip, over near the center of the dashboard. I pull out the junk yard part and realize my 2005 X-Type vents (far left and right in picture below) have an extruded finger that hooks below the dashboard vent opening to hold that end down. The junkyard part from the 2006 has no such feature. It clearly is not broken off or missing, the injection molded part is very smooth there. No broken plastic.
What the heck happened to the inboard or middle of the dash attachment? I see no way at all to attach this vent to the car.
Well, I figure, I found a good solution. It's another Jag-design-shortcoming, which I modified for the better. I had the same issue - vents broken at several places. First I contacted someone, who was scrapping an X-Type, but no dice: Vents broken already, and he told me that those vents are broken already at most cars. Thus, this is what I did:
To start with, independently of the vent issue - I covered the top of that extremely cheap looking dash (in an ugly colour, too) with real dark green sheep-skin leather (matching with my green Jag X).
I removed the remaining bits and pieces of the vents and glued them together from the back with either hot glue or silicone (can't remember). I spray-painted the top of those vents in the original green colour of the Jag.
And rather than trying to make my life hard by somehow attempting to get the vents down to where they were once sitting, I have cut thin wooden frames for those vents and tinted the wood a bit darker than it was. Those are now obviously sitting a bit elevated to the OE parts. And note that anything bright would reflect in the wind-screen - this is why I tinted the wood a bit darker. Looks fab!
And note that the folds, which are currently visible on the leather surface are normally not there. It's currently wet and damp here - when it's warm again and hot, there will not be any folds anymore - plus they disappear with the ageing of the leather anyway.
Plus, when I bought my Jag S 2004 four month ago, that very front dash-inlay was merely a sad puzzle. Thus, hot glue again and dark green sheep-skin leather. Looks fab, too. It's also a green Jag.
I guess it takes a real Jaguar fan to put additional money into reversing the Ford/Jaguar cost saving exercises...
"Jaguar" should "read": Wood & Leather, and not Plastic & Brittle Plastic...
But at least Ford conserved the Jaguar idea by maintaining the Jaguar shape. That is until 2009, when Tata took over...
Defrost vent grille
