How to Remove the Silver Grille at the Base of the Windscreen?

[Lukas]

Hi all,

I can't figure out how to get this bit off - help!

Wipers are removed, and there are 4 black plastic lumps on the engine bay side that don't respond to prying etc. The other long edge is under the windscreen seal. Does the screen need to come out? Is there a mystery screw under the dash somewhere?

Thanks

Lukas

 

[B13]

The black lumps are a plastic plug/retainer affair - push the centres into the plug and they will fall out the back into the wiper-motor cavity, remove the plugs as the plastic centres hold the plug tangs open. They are brittle and will probably break, btw.

I've been lucky with my cars and have been able to recover the centre pins from the wiper-motor cavity and re-use the plugs, but I'm pretty sure they are a single-use item.

Hope this helps,

I.

 

[Lukas]

Makes perfect sense, thanks. Will try it tomorrow.

 

[6.9forever]

If they break, will a self-tapper or rivet do as a replacement? Is it worth getting the grille off to clean out debris (read: "rust/moisture trap")?

 

[Styria]

David, the holes are really a bit big for both rivets and self tappers. The proper plastic fittings can still be bought and are certainly the preferable option. In addition, there is one other type of plastic (bung) that can be used - it is the one (one of several) that pin the metal front door rubber metal strip to the front section of the door.

In my view, there is not a lot to be gained removing the metal grille for cleaning out purposes - most debris finds its way to the two drain holes, but the exterior rubber spouts located against the firewall are closed up and trap the dirt inside them. On 6.9s, the unit on the right hand side located behind the rocker cover is extremely difficult to remove and replace. A lot more dirt usually finds its way to the rubber bellows that connect to the heater fan located behind the dash top. I might be able to locate a pic taken when I removed the dash a few years ago which shows the amount of small leaves etc. that I managed to blow out. Regards Styria

 

[Lukas]

Having successfully removed the parts car one (thanks B13), I'd suggest to others not removing it unless you need to, because:

• The aluminium is soft and easily damaged
• You may compromise the windscreen seal by removing and replacing the grille - if you can even get it back under the seal

If you do remove it, I suggest wearing gloves - I didn't, and had bleeding fingers from the sharp bits under the grills.

I caught 3 of the 4 pins from the black plastic doohickeys, the fourth vanished down a drain hole

What really scared me was the radiator hoses that went to/from the heater box - they initially felt solid (I presumed perished), but squeezing a bit more made crunching noises and revealed the hoses to be soft and in good nick. The crunching was all the crap that had built up inside the hoses breaking free and entering the cooling system

Annoyingly, removing the grille didn't reveal the wiring to the HVAC fan behind the glovebox that I was originally looking for.

PS: Grot does accumulate there, but most of it could be dislodged just by blasting a hose in there and flushing it down the drain holes, so no need to remove the grille for that.

 

[Oversize]

Could someone post some pics with the grill removed, so others know exactly what can be achieved with it out of the way?

 

[Styria]

Lukas - even with the front screen rubber in place, the grille can be refitted, albeit it's a little awkward. Usually, using Inox as a lubricant, you can left the rubber lip back over the grille - sometimes a second pair of hands will help.

Oversize - the layout of the body under the grille is not particularly conducive to taking good photos. Unfortunately, I not long ago re-fitted the grille to Gleaming Beauty. Possibly Lukas would be in a better position to take a photo. Essentially, all you have under the grille are of course:

1) The windscreen wiper motor that hides a greater part of the opening.
2) The two heater hoses, and the spouts for the windscreen washing.

Say once they are removed, there are fairly large drain holes at each end that exit into the engine bay with those large rubber bellows accepting any debris or water. Quite often they are closed off at the end and they need to be opened up to remove any debris.

There is also an additional opening that leads to the bellow connected to the heater fan. That can often fill up with debris as well. As previously stated, I am endeavouring to find a photo I took when cleaning out Gleaming Beauty some years ago. Hope all this helps. Regards Styria

 

[Styria]

Lukas - even with the front screen rubber in place, the grille can be refitted, albeit it's a little awkward. Usually, using Inox as a lubricant, you can left the rubber lip back over the grille - sometimes a second pair of hands will help.

Oversize - the layout of the body under the grille is not particularly conducive to taking good photos. Unfortunately, I not long ago re-fitted the grille to Gleaming Beauty. Possibly Lukas would be in a better position to take a photo. Essentially, all you have under the grille are of course:

1) The windscreen wiper motor that hides a greater part of the opening.
2) The two heater hoses, and the spouts for the windscreen washing.

Say once they are removed, there are fairly large drain holes at each end that exit into the engine bay with those large rubber bellows accepting any debris or water. Quite often they are closed off at the end and they need to be opened up to remove any debris.

There is also an additional opening that leads to the bellow connected to the heater fan. That can often fill up with debris as well. As previously stated, I am endeavouring to find a photo I took when cleaning out Gleaming Beauty some years ago. Hope all this helps. Regards Styria