Dash AC Vents

DNC · 04-13-2020, 08:39 PM

My 2016 Journey has round dash AC vents (see photo below). You can rotate these with your hand by grabbing and turning the outside of the vent. You may be able to open the vent louver and grab and turn the louver, but some of the vents don't turn easily and if you try turning them by the louver the louver mechanism will break. I have two that are broken and would like to purchase new ones to replace those that are broken.

That brings me to my question. Does anybody know how to remove and replace these vents without removing the whole dash? You would think there would be instructions and videos on the world wide web explaining how to do this. I haven't been able to find any. I can find videos on how to remove them from a Ford F150, a Dodge Journey, and several other vehicles but I've had no luck finding any info on how to remove them from a Winnebago Journey. Any advice would be appreciated.

John Locke · 04-13-2020, 11:33 PM

I suggest you write into Nicholas at Winnebago to get help with this. He's very helpful. Write to Nic at [email protected]

DNC · 04-14-2020, 09:02 AM

Thanks John, I'll do that.

Morich · 04-14-2020, 09:18 AM

I have a bit different method as things tend to go downhill when trying to get info over the phone.
first thought is to try not to break things with doing some small items to avoid it. Step one when things are hard to use is to look at why. In this case a bit of lube would have likely solved the problem. WD-40 or petroleum jelly to help it move?
Second thought is that there are broken vents, so not like you can damage them by tearing them out to see what holds them? I might guess that they will be some form of snap-in clamping method which has a good chance of just popping out when prying nt eh outer ring. But if that doesn't work, I go for whatever is needed to get it out to look at what it does take. If it's broken, I don't worry so much about breaking it!
As an alternate, getting new vents on hand will often show how they fit? I kind of like to have new parts on hand before starting a project, just so I don't have to go for round two at a different time.

DNC · 04-14-2020, 09:34 AM

Richard, I've typically done the same. I just purchased the unit and one of the vents was broken when I got it. My wife broke the other one, but I'm not going to mention that she should have greased it before turning it.

I also think it will be an easy fix, but before I go tearing into it as I've done in the past, I figured I would find out how difficult it is to remove and replace. If I'm going to have to remove the dash to fix it, I'm going to leave it as is and save the parts money.

Morich · 04-14-2020, 10:02 AM

Okay! We do all have to watch for all those side issues on who broke what!
I suspect it will just pop out but likely to be pretty firm. I am currently burning up down time with doing some wiring on the dash and it is taking some real time to avoid pulling a dash cover off. I find most of my dash switches/control are the type which have small plastic clamps/ fingers which compress to fit the item in and then flip backout to press on the backside to hold it all in. To get the switch out that I want to get to the back for wiring, I had to pry hard enough to fold one of those "fingers" to get it loose.

Second thought? Since I'm standing on my head and looking up under the dash, Maybe I can see what holds my vents in, as they are very much the same as yours. Will do a check and give a shout if I learn anything worthwhile!
I can't see much past the coffee cup right now!

DNC · 04-14-2020, 10:05 AM

Much appreciated. Good luck with your wiring.

Morich · 04-14-2020, 11:28 AM

Sorry, every outlet has something hiding where the duct actually goes through the dash and can't be seen from below.
Meanwhile. I've found the diagrams online do not match my fuse panel at all. The 2015 Vista has a model year change shown but my fuse /breaker panel under the dash doesn't match any of the 2014 or 2015 on either early or late models.
Just more head scratching as I had noted some small differences in the drawings before but those were things that were easy to spot like a switch shown and I had an outlet, etc. but when the breakers are different, that really does make it difficult.
Good luck on your search!

DNC · 04-14-2020, 04:53 PM

As John recommended I contacted Nicholas and received an answer within a day. Nicholas says the base should just twist out. It is threaded. I haven't tried it as of yet but will do so tomorrow. Thanks for the recommendation John.

Wyatt · 04-14-2020, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNC

As John recommended I contacted Nicholas and received an answer within a day. Nicholas says the base should just twist out. It is threaded. I haven't tried it as of yet but will do so tomorrow. Thanks for the recommendation John.

I might go the silicone route, as WD40 has an odor to it, Hope they unscrew, as they mentioned...

DNC · 04-15-2020, 08:11 PM

I was able to screw one of the vents out, but the other one was screwed in too tight. I used a pipe wrench to get a bite on the very out side of the round vent frame and break it loose to where I could turn it by hand. I cut a piece of 3 mill plastic to go around the vent so I wouldn't scratch the dash with the pipe wrench. I got it out and was able to fix it. Once I had it out, I saw that I might be able to fix the other one in place. The tabs on each side of one of the louvers had popped out so I stuck an offset screwdriver in the opening, lined up the tabs, placed the offset screwdriver against one tab and pulled. The ring holding the louvers popped out. I was able to pop the tabs back into where they belonged and popped the louver mechanism back into the housing.

Bob T · 04-19-2020, 06:51 PM

If I remember correctly, the outside plastic ring snaps off and straight forward from there.
I replaced a couple 5 or 6 years ago on my Vectra.

Hope this helps.

Bob

dlwalters3 · 04-19-2020, 06:59 PM

One of my vents broke and I ordered one that fit perfectly from Amazon. Here is the link for the one I ordered.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

jerichorick · 04-19-2020, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNC

My 2016 Journey has round dash AC vents (see photo below). You can rotate these with your hand by grabbing and turning the outside of the vent. You may be able to open the vent louver and grab and turn the louver, but some of the vents don't turn easily and if you try turning them by the louver the louver mechanism will break. I have two that are broken and would like to purchase new ones to replace those that are broken.

That brings me to my question. Does anybody know how to remove and replace these vents without removing the whole dash? You would think there would be instructions and videos on the world wide web explaining how to do this. I haven't been able to find any. I can find videos on how to remove them from a Ford F150, a Dodge Journey, and several other vehicles but I've had no luck finding any info on how to remove them from a Winnebago Journey. Any advice would be appreciated.

I rotate mine, when they get stuck, by sticking my fingers into the vent and putting reserved leverage on the louver with a twisting motion.

RTrider · 04-20-2020, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlwalters3

One of my vents broke and I ordered one that fit perfectly from Amazon. Here is the link for the one I ordered.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thank you for the Amazon link. It is currently out of stock, but I saved the link. I have two that are broken and I never forced them, so not sure lubrication is the issue. I always suspected something just "popped" out of place. I agree many times that if it is already broken, it doesn't matter if you fully break it in extraction, but only if I have the replacement part or know I can get the replacement. Right now it looks ok, just doesn't work right.

DNC · 04-20-2020, 10:31 AM

Bob:

Mine screw in, but there is an inside ring that snaps in.