Why don't you come over and show me how fast you can do it?

i don't mind. where do you live? i once sold a guy a 190e dashboard. he picked it up from me, but didn't know how to install it. just to see how quickly i could install it, i threw it on his car. took 17 minutes to remove the old one, about 45 minutes to install the new, including center console and all associated parts. the w126 would prolly take twice as long though, especially if it has airbag and coin slots and knee bolster

That would be amazing. I have had people tell me that it is a 20 hour job to do it. That is why I want no part of it!

I am in northern Houston. I wouldn't be lucky enough to have you live somewhere near would I?

20 hours? nah, don't believe craig when he tells you that--he'd had to of been high for it to take that long.

but yeah, it's only a couple hours worth of a job. sorry, i don't live near houston though. there's a guy on this site with a funny avatar who claims to be the houston mbca president--he might be able to help, but his abilities are prolly limited

trick I found was that you need to remove the right side center vent grill. The vent behind is a flexible rubber boot, held in by a couple of push pins. From that you can reach the small screws w/ LONG extension on small socket. Unit will disengage from door w/ some twisting (gently) and a few words. Putting new one in place,use long screwdriver to encourage the bent lever on the vac to engage into the flap. Use tape on screws and socket to replace screws. Have done this 3 different times now..about 30 min.

good luck!

Question for Brian and any who've had experience replacing the center vent pod. I'm replacing my leaky defroster, leg vent, and 2 main flap pods (behind glove box), and I figure if those have all failed it's only a matter of time until the center flap pod bites the dust.

Is the main obstruction accessing the vacuum pod the dash or the center console? The reason I ask is that I'm replacing the center console in my car soon, and was wondering if that will give me good access. If it does, I'd like to do it while I have everything open. If not, how much trouble is dash removal if I already have the center console out?

Thanks in advance.

__________________
-Brian

1984 300SD, 375XXX miles, Light Ivory w/ Palomino TEX

Firstly, it's the dual diaphragm pods that seem to fail more frequently. The defrost and main door pods are the usual culprits on the rear diaphragm. The single diaphragm pods, including the center vent, scoop, and footwell don't fail as often.

The obstruction for the center pod is the location inside a small box. The top of the box is the dash and the sides are part of the support assembly for the dash. The center console is irrelevant to this pod.

ok. I'm slow and life intervened. I finally got this element replaced. Now I am looking at the one behing the console. The console is already out, but I can not see the end of the rod to be able to replace it. Can it be done iside the car? I done want to unscrew it if I can't get the metal rod back off.

So I tried twisting hard on defroster element to remove but no luck. May be force is not enough, can i tried moving locks with flat head or something or that may be risky.
Or there is some other trick. I guest its second generation based on 83-665.pdf

__________________
1) '04 S500 Gold/Beige......120k Miles
2) '93 300E 2.8...Green/Tan MBTex..........202k Miles(and going)
3) '89 420SEL...Light Blue/gray Leather....155k Miles (Retired )

You definitely need a set of strong fingers. The direction is counter-clockwise as viewed from the end of the element (the side without the actuator arm).

If you had a set of giant channel locks............life would be much easier.

for better understanding..






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Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
ASE Master Mechanic
asemastermechanic@juno.com

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
HV-A/C Climate Control.
Vehicle build.
Fleet Durability
Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

1985 300SD
1983 300D
1984 190D
2003 Volvo V70
2002 Honda Civic

https://www.boldegoist.com/

I've done some searches and think I found a picture of the defroster pod:



Is that it?

I have the passenger airbag and knee bar removed, but I don't see any pods to the left of the airbag. It's possible one is hiding under the frame which holds the airbag, I'll look again tonight.

Thanks,

-J

__________________
1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

Now it makes sense... I have more disassembly to do:

__________________
1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

That, my boy...........is it!

I found it under the bracket for the passenger airbag... holy crap there are a ton of fasteners on that thing! Just taking off the little side piece with the black alignment screw on it required removing 6 screws. The bigger piece is many more, hopefully I don't have to take it out.

I'll have to break out the mityvac to test the pod more... it worked for about 5 cycles right after I started the car, then quit. Pushing on the pod's arm with a screwdriver didn't do anything, it would spring back to the open position right away. I hope to have more time to look at it this weekend.

-J

__________________
1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.