There are a couple of reasons that you may need to remove the Vent covers. You may need to replace the heater hose that is attached inside the firewall and the vent cover removal is needed to do this. You may also want to make the vent area look fresh the way the factory made it. I guess a third reason could be that you have too much time on your hands.
In my case I needed to get to the heater hoses. Some people on the web recommended doing this from inside the car. Save yourself disappointment. Don't even try it that way. The vents are actually easy to handle once you know what to do.
First you need some cool plastic tools like this. I have found through the years that short cuts and not getting the right tool does not pay in the long run. We are going to be messing with the aesthetics of your car and with parts that are either really expensive or unavailable so why mess it up? I bought a set of the plastic tools on-line for $16 and you will use them often so the money is well spent.
In my case I needed to get to the heater hoses. Some people on the web recommended doing this from inside the car. Save yourself disappointment. Don't even try it that way. The vents are actually easy to handle once you know what to do.
First you need some cool plastic tools like this. I have found through the years that short cuts and not getting the right tool does not pay in the long run. We are going to be messing with the aesthetics of your car and with parts that are either really expensive or unavailable so why mess it up? I bought a set of the plastic tools on-line for $16 and you will use them often so the money is well spent.
Take the tools and super carefully pry up the window trim at one end. Note how it is connected at the corner. Continue gently prying up the chrome window trim all the way along. There are little clips holding it in. Do not bend, scratch (no screw drivers please) or rush the careful removal of the trim. It is long and delicate. Where will it live while you are working? Put it away somewhere safe. You are taking photos as you go? Then you will be able to remember how it goes back. While you have it out make sure to take advantage of this time to shine it up with a chrome friendly polish.
prying the chrome trim
The removal of the trim is required because that is how the window side of the vents is held down. The trim is designed for removal because that is what happens if you need to replace your window. Do not be afraid. I then used a vaccum to remove 30 plus years of dirt, bugs, and other goodies held between the trim and the window.
Next open your hood. Look at the vent. It looks like there are three rivets holding it on. However they are not rivets. They are plastic connectors. You can get new ones from Mercedes or aftermarket and you will need new ones. I used a finish nail counter sink, but any correctly sized item should let you punch or push out the little inner part of the rivet like in the photo. The part you push through will fall inside and then you will remove the outer part by pulling it out towards you. in the photo on the lower right you can see one has been removed
Next open your hood. Look at the vent. It looks like there are three rivets holding it on. However they are not rivets. They are plastic connectors. You can get new ones from Mercedes or aftermarket and you will need new ones. I used a finish nail counter sink, but any correctly sized item should let you punch or push out the little inner part of the rivet like in the photo. The part you push through will fall inside and then you will remove the outer part by pulling it out towards you. in the photo on the lower right you can see one has been removed
After removing all three plastic rivets close your hood and gently lift the vent out starting at the windows side. There are little rubber pads they will fall off so pay attention to where they go. Mine were still resilient so I cleaned them up and reused them. You will now notice one of the fine design features of your Mercedes. These vents, as well as the mesh screen you will find underneath are Aluminum so there is no rusting. Good thinking engineers! The mesh screen also has rubber parts and the same attention and cleaning should be done.
You do not need to disconnect anything on the inside you will find that the flap (under the vent) will push down out of the way with gentle downward pressure. You should also try to retrieve the little plastic parts you pushed out earlier as you do not want to cause any troubles for the blower motor as it is about $1,000 to replace.
You can now use your screw driver to remove the heater hose clamp. In the photos below you can see the use of the screw driver, then the hose you are replacing that you can see but not reach with the blower cover removed and the grommet at the firewall that protects the heater hose from chaffing. Is your grommet in good shape? if not; replace it. Make sure when you put in the new hose that you keep the hose clamp angled so that you can tighten it up. I would not put the grills back in until you have had an opportunity to get the fluid back in and run the car as a leak here would make you cry because you would have to do this all over again. Also do not use the green sludge that your local auto parts store offers for radiator fluid. Go with the Mercedes fluid it does not gunk up the car the way the green stuff can. You will need two bottles of it not just one. I also recommend getting distilled water from the grocery store as it will be free of additional stuff that will gunk up the works.
I have only shown one side, but the other side is similar. Putting everything back is the reverse of taking it out. The new little plastic rivets slip in and then the center part gets pushed flush. You are going to be careful with the chrome trim and look at the clips that it slips into to be sure it goes into each one. I choose to repaint the black screen as well as the part of the body that was black. I went with a flat black epoxy designed for heat. It is a little detail, but the refreshing of the black really crisped up the look of the grills when they were all back in.
Enjoy your restoration.
Enjoy your restoration.
