Clogged passenger window defrost vent!!

[NY Andrew]

So like many have seen my vehicle was broken in to and glass was everywhere.

Recently I noticed when the defrost is on there’s a whistle on the passenger side where the glass was busted in...don’t hear the same thing on drivers side.

Put my hand to the window defrost vent and then my other hand on the drivers window defrost vent and can even feel a difference in the blowing. Feels like a much weaker stream of air on the passenger side so I’m assuming that there must be some glass that slipped inside and down the defrost tube....

Curious if anyone knows how to get to the passenger window defrost tubes and fan so that I can check to see if there’s anything lodged inside of it.

Rather ask you guys here for maybe some guidance before trying to take the whole thing apart on my own..

If no luck I guess I’ll see if the dealer will check because it’s under warranty but rather just tackle this one on my own if I could.. These trucks seem fairly easy to remove and reinstall but can see how tubes could be an absolute b*tch.

Thanks.

 

[NY Andrew]

Removed the right trim piece, glovebox, cabin air filter, and blower assembly. Broke the cheap ****** plastic piece off the cabin air filter.

Unfortunately seems like the defrost vent goes to a central location inside the center dash...

Don’t feel like removing the entire dash right now who knows how time consuming and a pain that’ll be...and if there’s even a way I could open it up to peak inside and try to remove the piece anyway.....

Don’t think it’s worth it to have the auto body shop check it out they’d prob butcher it all... so buying a endoscope I guess see if I see anything maybe could even remove it on my own.

Not sure why air flow would be restricted unless there’s multiple obstructions in there or the noise is coming from the blades hitting glass. I would think there’d still be a barrier between the fans and the pipe to vents though...

I guess if I don’t see anything with the endoscope I’ll have dealer take a look next time I get oil change under warranty...

 

[WTM75]

Assuming you turned the break in to insurance, I’d bring to truck to the dealer. If it IS glass/debris from the break in, insurance will pay for it and if it is not from the break in, then it should be covered under warranty.

 

[2010 Infantry Vet]

Removing the dash is an all day job. Like 100 bolts, screws, and air bag all gotta come out.

 

[NY Andrew]

Thanks WTM good point.


And fuckkkkk. Was hoping it wouldn’t be that bad damn.... And you know it’ll never be the same after that ughh don’t know what to do.

Guess like I said I’ll get that endoscope see what’s up and then debate what to do next..

Not sure what type of damage if any is being done when that defrost is on and the noise is going...

As if it ain’t bad enough still getting the damage fixed in the truck and having to already live with the door scratches let’s add this to the list as well [emoji25]

 

[NY Andrew]

Two quick questions for you guys you could easily check next time you’re in truck.


When everyone’s got any type of climate control on do you hear a buzzing motor fan sound from passenger footwell?
Installed that piece again today and just want to make sure that it’s working as it should because I can’t recall if I heard that before or not.


Also had the grove box apart and when it’s opened or closing do you hear like a scratching sound on the right side?
Put that back in today and the heat mechanism seems to be making a noise to where you can hear the gears rubbing with the motion and I can’t remember if that sound was there as well....

Thanks guys!

 

[NY Andrew]

Anyone able to check these quick?..

 

[NY Andrew]

Ok, so I finally got around to using endoscope through both the window defrost (one on drivers side and one on passenger side).

The one with the opening that’s not circled is the drivers side and has clear opening and the air flow is much stronger and doesn’t make any noises.

The one with the red circle is the passenger side one and clearly seems to be obstructed somehow!!! Looks like maybe some air is escaping from the bottom corner!! Something somewhere had to either flow back up to get stuck there or they never cut the opening from factory? I mean the shape looks NOTHING like the drivers side at all. Is there any reason behind this? So this has nothing to do with the window break in then..

 

[Craw]

When my auto is on I dont hear anything.

 

[NY Andrew]

Tried a grabber but it wasn’t long enough so got a hanger and that piece of whatever wouldn’t budge at all... It’s 40” inside.

If I go through the bottom passenger vent I can almost see what looks like the other side of that plastic piece but it’s not as far inside which doesn’t make sense so that must be going to something else.

Couldn’t really tell where that plastic piece is inside if it’s near passenger floor, center dash, or going underneath the hood.

Guessing the true only answer to this is being it to dealer and see if they’ll just give me loaner outright because dash removal will take a day in itself and then putting it back together...and I know it’ll never be put back the same (damage, missing pieces, etc.) [emoji25]

 

[werdna1977]

My dealership replaced my dash in less then a day so it can be done with the proper tech on it

 

[NY Andrew]

So I got my anemometer in and below are my readings.


From my test is seems like the passenger side in general is STRONGER than the drivers side (maybe because blower fan is right near passenger footwell).

But yet the little window defrost vents are noticeably weaker on passenger side vs drivers side.

Starting to think the heat is more noticeable to the hand than cold that’s why I can tell the difference in distance.



Little window defrost vents:

On highest cold setting driver/passenger was: 20/20mph

On highest hot setting driver/passenger: 13/8.5

With cabin circulation on highest hot setting driver/passenger: 15/8.5

With cabin circulation on highest cold setting driver/passenger: 32.5/32.5




The main driver/passenger window big vents were as follows on the highest setting:

Max AC with recirculating: 26/40

AC no recirculating: 18/33

Hot with recirculating: 8/22

Hot no recirculating: 8/22

 

[NY Andrew]

Also recorded the high pitch screech from the blower and the noise my defrost vent makes but not sure how to post audio clip or video here.

 

[Arth]

Also recorded the high pitch screech from the blower and the noise my defrost vent makes but not sure how to post audio clip or video here.

I wonder if it would be worth your time to drop the blower motor and check your cabin air filter too.

Did that on mine and a piece of plastic was stuck between the blower and my filter causing the whole dash to vibrate at higher blower speeds.

 

[NY Andrew]

Actually recently did that and don’t really recall that noise until I did that... didn’t see anything in between anywhere. I mean I did snap off the cabin air filter clip because it was cold and just snapped...but didn’t land in blower motor or near cabin air filter but you’re right guess maybe tomorrow can pop it open again check it out to be sure.