Has anyone had to replace or fix the air vent tabs on the front of the car? 3 out of 4 of mine are broken and it's extremely frustrating. I've removed the entire vents from the center, left and right sides (surprisingly easy) and my jerry-rigging didn't really hold up (I tried to glue them on from the back). Now the tabs just sit in the vent but are not held in by anything. They move up and down but not left/right. Has anyone else had this issue?
The Rage
Air Vent Tabs Broken
Yes! This has happened to me. One of the little clips that hold the front tab assembly against the back of the tab broke, and now the whole thing comes apart when you touch it.
Frustrating me is that that the vent vanes came out of place, and they are VERY hard to get back into place, without removing the vent housing. I cannot figure out how to remove the vent housing. If you can tell me how to do this, I will mail you $5.
Frustrating me is that that the vent vanes came out of place, and they are VERY hard to get back into place, without removing the vent housing. I cannot figure out how to remove the vent housing. If you can tell me how to do this, I will mail you $5.
Yup mine actually came that way since I bought mine used. I thought they could just replace the tab/clip, but they had to replace the entire vent. Cost me about $235 if I recall.
I know this isn’t helpful, but the airvent system quality has to be pretty poor, I got mine used also and the passenger AC vent was falling apart and the two Center ones had loose vanes with the driver side next to Sensus had the Chrome tip handle missing so,I need needle nose pliers to .move the flow direction (pretty ****ty for a 90k CDN$ vehicle.)..... to get them fixed you need to spend hundreds of $’s. The passenger one, the escutcheon plate wouldn’t stay on as it had the mounting clip-on pcs broken, the whole new unit costing $250 was easy to pop in once you pried the 2 mtg clips off the old one and pulled the whole contraption out.
Are your cars under factory warranty? Bought our cpo xc90 out of state (‘19 with 27k miles at the time), and one of the 3rd row air vents were broken in the same way. I didn’t notice it until after driving home 1100 miles to California. Took it to semi-local dealer for service a couple thousand miles later, and they replaced the vent (and warped front rotors and worn rear pads) under warranty with no hesitation. Based on this I’d imagine air vents should be covered under the original 4/50 warranty.
Same story...broken without any trauma. I asked the service if it will be covered under extended warranty and they were not sure. They told me that they can ask Volvo when I bring the car in. If not covered, it is $300 inc labor and parts. Parts alone 165 inc tax. Did anybody have it replaced under the extended warranty (which also costs $100 each time I use it BTW)?.
I've removed the vents, tried gluing them in place but they fall right off, no matter what. I ordered some "generic" vent tabs from eBay China - we'll see how those work/fit. Right now, they are just sitting there, if anyone touches them, the fall off. It's insane.
As this seems to happen a fair bit with the XC90, I do hope the rest of the car holds up better for me. in my whole life I have owned 4 BMW’s for the last 20 yrs, a good number of Detroit cars, some other European makes....I am 76 yrs old and had never experienced, seen or heard of this happening to any cars ........I must be getting old, dumb and sentimental for assuming that Volvo Quality was right up there!
My first car was a Volvo 444 and I kinda took a liking 6 months ago to my T6 XC90.....lol
My first car was a Volvo 444 and I kinda took a liking 6 months ago to my T6 XC90.....lol
The vent tab on my front-left vent was broken when I bought mine. It was CPO and they offered to fix it but I was in a hurry and they didn’t have the part and it was too far to bring it back later so I bought a new one for ~$80 from Riley Volvo online and installed it in about 15minutes (7 of which was me psyching myself up to pull hard enough to get the old vent out since I was afraid of breaking something and didn’t have a feel for the car yet).
Interesting to learn it’s a common problem… will have to keep an eye out for any others showing signs if wear.
Interesting to learn it’s a common problem… will have to keep an eye out for any others showing signs if wear.
Also the reason I took the one out of the back is because I didn’t wanna wait for a part. I’m pretty sure I googled it and found the clips
After living almost a year with a broken air vent, I finally fixed mine the other day.
The trick was pulling the entire housing out of the dash. Until I saw a video showing me how this was done, I was stuck trying to repair the vent while it was still in the car.
TIP: PULL REALLY HARD. The trick to getting my vent out was not worrying about the retainer clips popping off. They can be re-attached.
After I pulled the assembly out, it was very easy to Gorilla Glue (and clamp) the air vent tab back together, and then re-assemble the vanes (which took over an hour). Reinstalling the chromed piece is easy once the vent is out.
It's been a week, and the tab seems to be doing just fine. The Gorilla Glue did a great job uniting the two surfaces of the tab, and it did not leak into the vane to jam or mar the plastic.
HEY VOLVO, SELL US SOME $0.15 TABS SO OUR $60,000 CARS CAN FEEL NOT-CHEAP.
The trick was pulling the entire housing out of the dash. Until I saw a video showing me how this was done, I was stuck trying to repair the vent while it was still in the car.
TIP: PULL REALLY HARD. The trick to getting my vent out was not worrying about the retainer clips popping off. They can be re-attached.
After I pulled the assembly out, it was very easy to Gorilla Glue (and clamp) the air vent tab back together, and then re-assemble the vanes (which took over an hour). Reinstalling the chromed piece is easy once the vent is out.
It's been a week, and the tab seems to be doing just fine. The Gorilla Glue did a great job uniting the two surfaces of the tab, and it did not leak into the vane to jam or mar the plastic.
HEY VOLVO, SELL US SOME $0.15 TABS SO OUR $60,000 CARS CAN FEEL NOT-CHEAP.
Here's a non perfect resolution that takes 15 seconds and costs maybe $5.
I bought these cheap, foreign replacements thinking "no way they'll work" but who cares, it's $5 (actually less) and while it takes a month to get them, they actually did the trick! Now they're not perfect, there is a little give to them but after breaking off the middle piece, they snap right in and look fine. It's a no-lose situation.
I bought these cheap, foreign replacements thinking "no way they'll work" but who cares, it's $5 (actually less) and while it takes a month to get them, they actually did the trick! Now they're not perfect, there is a little give to them but after breaking off the middle piece, they snap right in and look fine. It's a no-lose situation.
I looked for instructions on how to remove the front side vents but couldn't find anything. Mine is a 2017 XC90. The right air/AC vent frame broke off and I need to take the whole assembly out to put the frame on correctly. Any help would be hugely appreciated!
Thank you. I was able to remove the "frame" easily and your diagram showed me where the metal clips were. A long screw driver and 5 minutes later, everything came out. It took another 50-60 minutes to get the flaps seated properly using the metal guide and we are back in business. Not a scratch. THANK YOU, SIR!
Vent Vane Fix: What You Really Need to Know (Because No One Else Told You)
If only someone had made a proper YouTube video showing the generic tools you can use... and how to properly lay out your vent vanes so you can put them back in easily.
I’ll be making a video on this myself because finding real information on Google, DuckDuckGo, or even YouTube has been nearly impossible. Everything out there is super generic... just quick “how to remove the screen” or “how to fix AC vents” guides... and they only ever show a 4pc VIDA pictogram or the center console vents.
Whatever you do, keep your magnets and old pieces. Don’t toss anything.
Word to the wise: If something breaks, leave the tab on the vane. Do not pull it off. If that tab falls into the vent housing, there’s a real chance it could land in the blower motor area and mess everything up. Then you’re not fixing a vent... you’re replacing the motor.
But if you're actually trying to remove the outer vents — driver or passenger side — you're dealing with a completely different setup.
There are tabs that lock those outer vents into place, so they seat properly. If you haven’t noticed, they also have tiny neodymium magnets that let the vanes move with a nice, smooth, controlled action. Without those magnets, the vanes just flap around and blow all over the place every time the AC kicks on. The magnets are crucial.
And don’t even get me started on the middle vane, which houses more magnets for a metal strip on the side that snaps away when you try to pull out the vanes. That one is a pain in the a** to reinstall. You’re looking at at least an hour... maybe an hour and a half. You’ll need:
Steps (Do Not Skip Any!):
1.
Fix the hook tool to a hole in the left side on the driver side, on the bottom of the vent. Pull hard and remove the electric wire with a green tab. Pull out the entire housing.
2.
Next, you'll take the faceplate off the housing, carefully prying the plastic tabs all around the backside of the faceplate.
3.
Count your vanes and get a piece of cardboard. Write numbers from 1 to 7 and put the vanes in the corresponding spot. Now you want to wiggle the first vanes above the center vanes and the first vanes below it to remove them out of the way first.
4.
Move on to the little metal clip that retains the vanes. Pay attention to the orientation of the tiny top and bottom hooks. Use a marker if you have to, to mark the outer side. This is very important because they have stoppers on them that allow the vane to only go to a certain point and stop. They look like a little triangle bump (I'll explain more below). This is going to be a total PITA on the next steps, as you may need a light and magnifying glass.
5.
Remove the remaining vanes above and below the middle vanes where your tab sits. Make sure you put them in order.
6.
On the housing, you have that little metal flat piece that sits on two tiny tabs of plastic. Be careful or you will break it, but you have to flex the housing so it opens a bit and pull gently on the vane by the side where the metal piece is. (It’s okay if you break it, as you can super glue it back in using a bit of ashes or sawdust to create a thicker, stronger paste.) Orient the magnet on the metal piece onto your vane. Once you have it out, a drop of super glue will hold it in that plastic piece. (You may need a hook tool to capture it.)
7.
Remove any existing pieces. You should have a piece that connects to the open/close actuator in the back. It sort of hooks on there and somehow magically stays there. You need that, as you are going to super glue that piece to the tab.
8.
Take some Vaseline and put it on the vanes area only where the tab sits.
9.
Put the tab and actuator plastic piece together on the corresponding vane. You may need a small drop of super glue on a toothpick to temporarily hold it together.
10.
Take ashes (since they are fine carbon), spread them on the top of the tab, and put a couple of drops of super glue on there.
Important: Don’t let it drip onto the vane or you will have to buy a whole new housing... or deal with it stuck.
11.
Let it dry, then sand away any drips carefully. It does not need to be perfect — it just has to slide left and right.
PROBLEM FIXED!!!
Reinstall the middle vane first. The side away from the metal piece gets hooked in first. Remember to flex the housing.
Then install the bottom vane, and then the top.
Check to see if the vanes move up and down. You may have the metal vane holder upside down, or the center vane is too far past the tiny triangle I was talking about earlier.
Install the second top and bottom vanes carefully, then the remaining ones. They weave in and out of that metal holder on the side. Be vigilant as you put back the vanes — they should move up and down if installed correctly.
Make sure your open/close actuator works (the wheel).
With all the vanes installed, replace the faceplate.
Pop on your green cable, route it to where it sits on the housing properly, and push the entire vent back into place.
Good job... you are all done and ready to be blown!
Bonus Pro Tips
DISCLAIMER
This repair isn't for the faint of heart... but it’s doable if you're patient and careful, for about an hour to an hour and a half. I’ll post a video soon so the next person doesn’t have to go through all this blind.
If only someone had made a proper YouTube video showing the generic tools you can use... and how to properly lay out your vent vanes so you can put them back in easily.
I’ll be making a video on this myself because finding real information on Google, DuckDuckGo, or even YouTube has been nearly impossible. Everything out there is super generic... just quick “how to remove the screen” or “how to fix AC vents” guides... and they only ever show a 4pc VIDA pictogram or the center console vents.
Whatever you do, keep your magnets and old pieces. Don’t toss anything.
Word to the wise: If something breaks, leave the tab on the vane. Do not pull it off. If that tab falls into the vent housing, there’s a real chance it could land in the blower motor area and mess everything up. Then you’re not fixing a vent... you’re replacing the motor.
But if you're actually trying to remove the outer vents — driver or passenger side — you're dealing with a completely different setup.
There are tabs that lock those outer vents into place, so they seat properly. If you haven’t noticed, they also have tiny neodymium magnets that let the vanes move with a nice, smooth, controlled action. Without those magnets, the vanes just flap around and blow all over the place every time the AC kicks on. The magnets are crucial.
And don’t even get me started on the middle vane, which houses more magnets for a metal strip on the side that snaps away when you try to pull out the vanes. That one is a pain in the a** to reinstall. You’re looking at at least an hour... maybe an hour and a half. You’ll need:
- Some super glue
- A hook tool
- Maybe even a little sawdust or cigar ashes (this will be mixed with glue to help build up the broken clips aka tabs)
- toothpick
- magnifying glass
- light
- marker
- piece of cardboard
- vaseline
Steps (Do Not Skip Any!):
1.
Fix the hook tool to a hole in the left side on the driver side, on the bottom of the vent. Pull hard and remove the electric wire with a green tab. Pull out the entire housing.
2.
Next, you'll take the faceplate off the housing, carefully prying the plastic tabs all around the backside of the faceplate.
3.
Count your vanes and get a piece of cardboard. Write numbers from 1 to 7 and put the vanes in the corresponding spot. Now you want to wiggle the first vanes above the center vanes and the first vanes below it to remove them out of the way first.
4.
Move on to the little metal clip that retains the vanes. Pay attention to the orientation of the tiny top and bottom hooks. Use a marker if you have to, to mark the outer side. This is very important because they have stoppers on them that allow the vane to only go to a certain point and stop. They look like a little triangle bump (I'll explain more below). This is going to be a total PITA on the next steps, as you may need a light and magnifying glass.
5.
Remove the remaining vanes above and below the middle vanes where your tab sits. Make sure you put them in order.
6.
On the housing, you have that little metal flat piece that sits on two tiny tabs of plastic. Be careful or you will break it, but you have to flex the housing so it opens a bit and pull gently on the vane by the side where the metal piece is. (It’s okay if you break it, as you can super glue it back in using a bit of ashes or sawdust to create a thicker, stronger paste.) Orient the magnet on the metal piece onto your vane. Once you have it out, a drop of super glue will hold it in that plastic piece. (You may need a hook tool to capture it.)
7.
Remove any existing pieces. You should have a piece that connects to the open/close actuator in the back. It sort of hooks on there and somehow magically stays there. You need that, as you are going to super glue that piece to the tab.
8.
Take some Vaseline and put it on the vanes area only where the tab sits.
9.
Put the tab and actuator plastic piece together on the corresponding vane. You may need a small drop of super glue on a toothpick to temporarily hold it together.
10.
Take ashes (since they are fine carbon), spread them on the top of the tab, and put a couple of drops of super glue on there.
Important: Don’t let it drip onto the vane or you will have to buy a whole new housing... or deal with it stuck.
11.
Let it dry, then sand away any drips carefully. It does not need to be perfect — it just has to slide left and right.
PROBLEM FIXED!!!
Reinstall the middle vane first. The side away from the metal piece gets hooked in first. Remember to flex the housing.
Then install the bottom vane, and then the top.
Check to see if the vanes move up and down. You may have the metal vane holder upside down, or the center vane is too far past the tiny triangle I was talking about earlier.
Install the second top and bottom vanes carefully, then the remaining ones. They weave in and out of that metal holder on the side. Be vigilant as you put back the vanes — they should move up and down if installed correctly.
Make sure your open/close actuator works (the wheel).
With all the vanes installed, replace the faceplate.
Pop on your green cable, route it to where it sits on the housing properly, and push the entire vent back into place.
Good job... you are all done and ready to be blown!
Bonus Pro Tips
- Cold beer
- Flat surface, far away from dust
- Peer support (preferably someone who won’t laugh when the glue and tab get stuck on your fingers)
- And a few prayers... because you’ll need them
DISCLAIMER
- If you have broken vanes, this will not work.
- If you have a missing tab, this will not work.
- If you don't have all the pieces, this will not work.
- This will only work if you have all of the small hooks broken off the tab that holds the lever for the actuator to go side to side.
This repair isn't for the faint of heart... but it’s doable if you're patient and careful, for about an hour to an hour and a half. I’ll post a video soon so the next person doesn’t have to go through all this blind.
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