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Before I ruin my dashboard/car, I wanted to know if my approach is correct. I don't know much about cars but logically, it seems like a simple enough task to remove vents, reach in and grab items, replace vents.

Some items fell down the center air vents in my car. I want to get them out for various reasons. I was thinking of two approaches:

  1. Remove the center dash and reach in to grab them
  2. Open the glove compartment, remove the cabin air filter and see if I can reach items in the center vent area.

I bought this plastic tool mentioned in forums to pry the dash and/or push clips in the dash to open it. I found on forums and youtube videos how to remove the center air vents in my car but I wanted to know once I get it open, how far do I have to reach into the internals to retrieve the items or can the items move to other areas in the vent system and it would take more effort to track them down than just opening the vent and reaching in? The items are some coins from a preschooler, a small spring, and a plastic holder thing from a GPS holder.

If both of these ideas are dumb, is there another way I can get to these items. The less work, the better since I don't know much about cars.

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1 Answers1

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While the HVAC system paths will vary greatly between cars, try these first:

  • If the items are metal or contain metal, use an extendable magnet to reach straight in, or if it is further in then use a magnet tied to a string or dental floss.

Extendable Magnet

  • You can use a long hook (used in dentistry) to reach in and hopefully loop the item, or again attach it to a string/dental floss to feed it deeper into the vent.

Dental Pick

  • If both of these fail, look for the joints between the HVAC pathways where the item(s) may have came to rest. Sometimes they can be separated without removing anything else, but I have rarely been successful in getting these apart without removing some dash components.
Ehryk
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