I noticed that one of the bulbs was out in the 3 gauge panel. So I popped off the trim to get at it and discovered...Yuck!

A LOT of soft foam rubber parts were falling apart in the air vents. Some of it was stuck in the grille, while a lot of it was ready to turn to goo the moment I touched it. It also smelled old and musty like it had been around for 10 years. Go figure.

This is what it looked like.


I got the gauges out of the way (so much for that bulb right now, this was serious!) and started pulling apart the air vent.

After I got the vent parts out of the way I could see that the deteriorating rubber was everywhere. You can see that there used to be a foam pad on the vent flap that was basically crumbled away.



So I cleaned all the parts and wiped down as much of the stuff in the dash as I could get to. Vacuumed out a lot of debris inside the dash and ducts.

Then I cut a new foam pad for the flap out of the leftover 2mm dense foam I used on the A pillar recovering. Sprayed adhesive on it so I could mount it to the flap.



I installed new soft foam weatherstrip everywhere I removed it. Mounted the flap pad.



Finally, back to the gauges. I replaced the bulb and polished the clear plastic lenses with Meguiars liquid polishing compound (safe for plastics and clear coats). Then polished the trim panel up a bit.

Before I mounted it, I added some thick foam blocks to the empty areas around the inside of the panel to help deaden noise. I figured it never hurts to do it if you can.

And now all back together. Busy evening's worth of work.

 

Good job, my drivers side vent is noisy (funnily enough only for a few minutes when I first start the car) so I my have a similar job ahead.

 

Nice job!

Here is another rendition a couple of years back....https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...t-stank-51711/

 

Yeah I'm gonna take a look at the side vents tomorrow. Most likely there is some rework due there too.

 

nice job - no more musty smell andd dash looks awesome!

 

This foam deterioration must only be a 'hot climate' issue.

I've had a number of centre and side vents apart in the UK and the foam has been intact. Strange that running the heater at high temperatures for lengthy periods doesn't appear to have the same effect.

Graham

 

Good effort, well worth doing. Results are perfect...!

 

Graham,

We're considered a moderate climate, and the HVAC foam deterioration issue is definitely present in both of our Jaguars. It's not to the point yet where I need to remove the panels and address it, but I know that day is coming for both cars. My guess is that if you keep the car long enough, you'll eventually be dealing with it as well....

My strategy thus far has been to use my Shop Vac to suck any visible loose foam bits through the vents whenever I vacuum the interior of either car....

 

Jon,

I had to replace a side vent about three months ago and the centre has been out within the last six months. No sign of foam deterioration at either.

Can you just see loose foam through the vents on yours or is it blowing small fragments out?

Graham

 

Graham,

It's mostly a "suck 'em up when I see 'em" issue, but on very rare occasions both HVAC systems have blown a small foam piece or two out of the vents upon ignition....

I hope you stay lucky and your foam remains intact....

 

Today I pulled off the left and right air vents to give them the same rework as the center. I was surprised to see that neither one had the same crumbling foam as the center area. I gave'em a good vacuum and wipe down. Also polished the lenses on the gauge cluster along with the rest of the wood trim pieces.

I think I am done with the dash area at this point. Smells better already and I haven't even driven it yet.

Looks really good again too.

 

Your dash wood looks amazing! Mine has a "haze" or "clouding" over the center gauge area and glove box. Have you done anything to your wood to make it so beautiful? Just curious if I can refinish or polish mine to get it to look like that.

 

I always do all my polishing by hand. This stuff works well on the wood, plastic gauge faces, headlights and clear coat on the paint. Takes out light scratches, swirls and removes that cloudiness from anything clear.

The hand polishing is slow and tedious but the results are worth it. For the wood I think I have polished it about 20 times now.

http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotiv...hing-compound/

 

My car came from Dallas, spent most of it's life there until 2009, The previous owner drove it enough to fade the back black seat belts to a faded maroon. I had the dash apart a couple of years ago chasing down a loose connection, (some lights were flickering) I saw no deterioration of the foam. Makes you wonder if the suppliers sent some bad material.

 

Some of the early 2000/2001 cars had a problem with the finish turning milky or cloudy, purportedly due to a lost recipe or QA problems with the retiring of the guy responsible for wood finishing at the factory for decades.

The only solution to this is refinishing. Either Madera Concepts or BritishAutowood are familiar with this restoration.

 

So one guy retires at the factory and the wood interiors are immediately doomed to failure?

"We don't need no stinking quality control...."

 

Yeah, I have personally witnessed this happen at my own employer, many times over.


Nice looking dash. I am currently pursuing a Nav-to-gauge cluster conversion, and have been considering the chrome trim rings. I think the car needs it, but I'm not going to purchase them until after I see the job completed. I think I will stop at the gauge rings with the chrome, not adding the shifter bezel or any other chrome accessories I have seen. I think the car needs the gauge rings, but the rest is too much for me.