Removing a parking docket from the demister/aircon/fan system - Octy II

[Skooter]

Anyone know a good trick for extracting a parking docket that I'm sure has disappeared into the demister vent on the LHS b/w windscreen and dash? A new fluttering noise has appeared when the fan is above 2 or 3 lights.

It happened when the fan had to work on max during Melbourne's ugly heatwave 2 weeks ago. If I can access the system from the side panel (where the vent exits and enters the passenger door), can I vacuum out or extract it somehow, or will I have to resort to the removal of glovebox and fan motor? Good link on Briskoda for doing this, but want to avoid if at all poss.

My brother's GTI dash swallowed his wife's diamond ring when she left it sitting there and ht rolled into a vent when cornering!! A warning in both these tales of woe!!

[woofy]

If you mean the gap at the very front between the dash and the windscreen, the easiest way is to get a helium balloon and use the stick from that and push it all the way to the side. Or something similar....It starts joining up in a curve near the pillar and will eventually push it out onto the dash. My wife made the mistake years back of putting a parking ticket down there instead of in the holder. You can't vacuum it out thats for show and compressed air won't blow it out.

They are a bugger to see when they go down there, we only would have known it was there because we saw it happen.....and had to go line up in a big queue for another ticket.

[Skooter]

Thanks Woofy. Nice to know we're not the only ones to have suffered the same fate - only diff is I think ours has been sucked/blown elsewhere in the vent sys due to max fan speed, whereas you removed yours pronto. Won't make the same mistake again! I use the clip on the RHS pillar always now.

Excellent link on Briskoda for removing glovebox and fan motor (a guy had an unbelievable amount of rodent-created debris stuffing his fan bladed cylinder!); should give me access. Would normally hate getting into and under dashes and removing them (major jobs replacing heater elements), but it seems to be a breeze with the clever design of the Octy/VW. Now I have to hope I can get into wherever the ticket has lodged itself.

[Skooter]

For anyone who might have this problemo in the future, it was a super-easy fix, thanks to the Briskoda link. Side panel off, Tork screws out, glovebox wiggled a bit and out and there was the offending ticket, visible through the recirc(?) vent. Removing the motor took all of 15 sec, didn't need to remove any wiring except the glovebox light connector.
It was so easy I'll now include cleaning the fan once a year. Bliss is ours now that the flutterbug is gone from the aircon sys!

[brad]

was there much rubbish in there?

[woofy]

We have a noise in there now, my wife swears nothing went down there but I pulled a ticket halfway on its way into that same spot. I swear she hasn't learnt from the first time she did it yrs back.

[woofy]

I should ask what link you used..

[Umai Naa!!]

I've got to do the same thing in my T5. I'm pretty sure I can see at least a dozen business cards down there.

Funny story, I went searching for some problem or another on our old Mk4 Golf, which required removing the radio, etc. In there, I found a $5 note, credit cards, a driver's licence, and an access card to a Naval base, along with a few other bits and pieces.

[woofy]

Just found 3 parking tickets down the front of my wifes car. This is after years ago her doing it and losing a very expensive ticket back when it was my work car. The ticking happens on the left side only when on recirc so it could be one that made it all the way through, the oldest ticket I pulled was from April 2012. She has only had the car since Nov 2011 so didn't take long for her to get up to old tricks again.

[woofy]

I've got to do the same thing in my T5. I'm pretty sure I can see at least a dozen business cards down there.

Funny story, I went searching for some problem or another on our old Mk4 Golf, which required removing the radio, etc. In there, I found a $5 note, credit cards, a driver's licence, and an access card to a Naval base, along with a few other bits and pieces.

I once undid the bottom of my dash from my first car, just the bit underneath the glovebox as I suspected something in the glovebox had fallen down back there, it was a 12yr old Ford Meteor and the glovebox had spots where something flat could fall through. A cascade of mail fell out, some unopened, about 8 yrs worth of rego and insurance renewals and all kinds of crap. The previous owner obviously used to throw mail in there for some reason and I reckon most of it was eaten by the glovebox pretty soon after.