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How to replace the air vents on a Skoda Octavia Mk3 on your own

30th August 2024, 16:32 by Rahul Nagaraj

I would have had to change all of the vents eventually, this 2-3 hours DIY helped save some 20-30k.

BHPian SLK recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

That makes sense, this should be replaceable im guessing? I have to take my 1.8 TSI for the next service in a couple weeks, will get this checked. thank you !

Here's what I did.

I took out the vents using trim removal tools, this does not require a specific tool but it’s better to use these plastic tools to not scratch the surrounding areas.
Even after watching YouTube videos, I almost couldn’t get the vents out. I eventually figured (at least for the center vents) that removing the internal latch is less important than getting a tool below the vent and lifting the vent up (which would automatically release the latch).

Since the dash is all soft material, removing it is easier up front than the rear vent. For rear vent, you will have to release the latch properly.

Basically, you'll need:

Trim removal plastic tools
Two small flathead screwdrivers or something similar, to lift the latch from within (see these Russian videos)
Small flat plastic bits to keep the latch pressed (see video), could be helpful, but not always needed, I think. If you have another pair of gentle hands helping, that could be very useful. (you can use credit card pieces also)
Tapes of different types!
Old credit cards,
Sizers,
Fevikwik
I used Felt Pad (https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B08...?ie=UTF8&psc=1), which wasn't the best thing to use, but I did, before realising credit card was a better bet.
A piercing tool (something that can make a small hole in plastic/ or other material)
A sanding tool or sandpaper.

For the front vents:
After looking at the videos, once I was able to pull out the vents (and disconnect the cable), I noticed the flexible plastic pieces holding vertical slats from the bottom were broken/ missing. (see below in the first picture)

I used felt-pad cut outs similar sized as the broken pieces, pierced them with a screw-like tool and put them in place after aligning the slats. And then just put a 2-3 layers of tape, including foil tape (which might be a bit stiffer).
By the time I reached the for the side vents I realized that credit card made plastic pieces would work better that felt pad and used those instead.

For the rear vents:
The rear vent had no problem with slats/ flares, but it was just completely shut (no air).
For the rear vent one part of plastic had broken, which made the shutter lever fall free. See image below, to see what had broken (this is only for reference from the front vent in un-broken condition).
I cut out pieces of an old credit card (than you AMEX!) and stuck them together with fevikwik. I then grinded them to an inverted ‘U’ shape to hold the lever to the white wheel and stuck it with fevikwik to the wheel, without binding the lever itself (because it needs to keep moving).

This rear fix was much more effort than the front ones! but it eventually came out much more solid than the front ones.

See images below that I took for reference.

A - The part that breaks for front vents (not an issue with rear)

Took this from a youtube video, quoted at the end.

B - How my repaired front vent looked from below:

Shows the latch that holds the vent in place.
The plastic pieces that break, now replaced with felt pad and taped.
This is the holder of the lever that controls the open-shut of air-gate, this is the piece that breaks for rear, which I replaced with a credit card fevikwik inverted ‘U’ to hold that ball joint looking thing.

C – The front of my repaired vent.

Shows the felt pads visible from inside – only if you really try!
No matter what the youtube video shows, DO NOT hold this and pull the vents out, this will break and then we have another problem to fix.