I dropped stuff down my defroster vent?

CHIEFPONTIAC

MEMBER
2005 PONTIAC SUNFIRE
22,100 MILES

Hey man, I dropped stuff down my defroster vent. I can't seem to get to it by removing the vent cover. How can I get in there and retrieve the items? 2005 Pontiac Sunfire Tnx, James

. Okay so at first it was like just change and car wash tokens, but after I removed the grill, it ended up being also a flashlight and a screwdriver. The angle of the windshield is such that its difficult to see what one is trying to remove, thus one tends to drop things!

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Sunday, November 20th, 2011 AT 10:44 PM

3 Replies

RIVERMIKERAT

MECHANIC
6,110 POSTS

You'll have to pull the airbox from under the dash, then the plenum can be removed and emptied. Don't feel bad, I dropped a 1/4k diamond ear ring in the defroster vent once. Wasn't my car, so I couldn't dig it out, either.

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Sunday, November 20th, 2011 AT 10:57 PM

CHIEFPONTIAC

MEMBER
2 POSTS

1/k diamond, now that really sucks! Mostly I think my articles are interfering with the efficacy of the system.
Will I need to remove the dash? How do I remove the airbox, and what is the "plenum"?

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Sunday, November 20th, 2011 AT 11:06 PM

RIVERMIKERAT

MECHANIC
6,110 POSTS

The plenum is the plastic tubing that the air flows through.

You MIGHT need to remove the dash. If you're lucky, the small items have made their way to the lowest point in the plenum, which is near the airbox outlet. The airbox is where the blower motor, blend controls, and heater core are located. With the airbox removed, you can easily remove all of the other plenum pieces and get everything back.

That diamond earring was a gift from the girlfriend, also. Made losing it even worse.

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Sunday, November 20th, 2011 AT 11:38 PM