Fresh air grill covers in cowl - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Johnhazen · #1 05-28-2010, 11:00 AM

I live in Arizona and need fresh air coming in and mixing with my a/c air like I need a rattle snake bite. I think my fresh air pods / flaps are stuck in the open position. I am wondering if I can remove the body part that I would call the fresh air inlet grills. They have ribs and a wire mesh screen under the ribs and appear to be held in place by some plastic button pins. It looks like I can drill out the plastic pins and slide these grills forward for removal and thus gain access to the fresh air inlet holes. If so I would like to either wire the flaps closed (if accessable through these holes) or just plug up the inlet to these flaps so I am not getting nice fresh 110 degree air mixing with my a/c air and pouring luke warm air into my cabin. My hesitation is that I do not want to drill out the pins only to find that there is a lot more to removing these grills than meets the eye (or worse that there is no way to block off the fresh air ingress via this technique) and find myself running into a dead end all for naught. Comments please. Thank you. John in Phoenix. 560 SL 1987 fire engine red.

strelnik · #2 05-28-2010, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnhazen

I live in Arizona and need fresh air coming in and mixing with my a/c air like I need a rattle snake bite. I think my fresh air pods / flaps are stuck in the open position. I am wondering if I can remove the body part that I would call the fresh air inlet grills. They have ribs and a wire mesh screen under the ribs and appear to be held in place by some plastic button pins. It looks like I can drill out the plastic pins and slide these grills forward for removal and thus gain access to the fresh air inlet holes. If so I would like to either wire the flaps closed (if accessable through these holes) or just plug up the inlet to these flaps so I am not getting nice fresh 110 degree air mixing with my a/c air and pouring luke warm air into my cabin. My hesitation is that I do not want to drill out the pins only to find that there is a lot more to removing these grills than meets the eye (or worse that there is no way to block off the fresh air ingress via this technique) and find myself running into a dead end all for naught. Comments please. Thank you. John in Phoenix. 560 SL 1987 fire engine red.

Removing and reinstalling these grilles is a snap, I did it the first time with no experience in 3 minutes. on my 107 roadster.

Tool-wise, you just need a long 1/b" drill or metal rod maybe 4" long and a pair of needle-nosed pliers.

0. Open the hood to its normal position.

1. Press the drill/rod into the holes in the plastic rivets until you hear a poppping noise or you fee the plastic rivet shank drop out.

2. Carefully pull out the plastic rivet with needle nose, they are reusable if you are careful.

3. Have someone hold the hood, which you can disconnect by popping two clips from the hinge. It will no go up further util you rermove the grilles.

4. Prop the hood up with a broom stick and look look inside the grille cavities.

You can also put something to block air under the grilles. I have two sets for my car, one set has mesh the other a thin aluminum plate painted black to permanently close the vents. Your choice.

Reassembly is the reverse of the above and you can just push the rivets in with your finger and/or the tap of a plastic hammer.

Johnhazen · #3 05-28-2010, 05:29 PM

Thanks for the great response.

Not sure what you meant by "It will no go up further util you rermove the grilles."
"will not? go up further until you remove the grills?

Also another post said I would need to pry up the chrome strip under the windshield about 1/4" to get the grills out. True? not true?

strelnik · #4 05-28-2010, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnhazen

Thanks for the great response.

Q 1Not sure what you meant by "It will no go up further until you remove the grilles."

Q2Also another post said I would need to pry up the chrome strip under the windshield about 1/4" to get the grills out. True? not true?

ANSWER 1: If you disconnect the hood from the two side arms and lift, sooner or later the hood hinges under the cowl will actually touch the grille. If you use a broomstick or a second person to hold the grille in a heightened position after you remove the plastic rivets, you can just wiggle the grille out carefully

ANSWER 2: I didn't pry up anything, I just removed the grille on each side slowly, pulling it forward and it came out. It IS a snug fit, but I needed no tools and it had not been ever removed previously, knowing the previous owners.

Johnhazen · #5 06-04-2010, 09:55 PM

Ok, on further inspection, I note that just under the wire mesh I am seeing what appears to be the fresh air flaps. And they are in what appears to be the closed position. If both of those assumptions are true, the I guess I am barking up the wrong tree as the outside air would not be contributing to the less than cold inside a/c temp. This is on an 87 560 SL that has been converted to 134 refrigerant.

Johnhazen · #6 06-09-2010, 05:50 PM

I gave the SL the Frebreeze test while the a/c was running. That is I had my wife spray the air freshener into the outside vent and immediately smelled it inside the care. So I guess I must conclude that even though it looks like the flaps are closed they either are not or are leaking badly. So I guess I will have to remove the vent grills and seal the flaps.

ctaylor738 · #7 06-11-2010, 03:56 PM

Been a while since I had a 107, but does this happen when you have the temp thumbwheel on its lowest setting? You should feel a little click. In that position, the flaps should close. Do I remember a recirculation switch as well? The flaps should close when that is pressed.

You might do better to try to diagnose why they won't close. You can see the vacuum element that operates the flap on the passenger side if you take out the glove box, IIRC.