How to Repair Broken AC Vents Yourself

There's nothing worse than losing cool air because you have air vents that don't work. When they are broken or loose, you can't adjust the vent , if even at all. This causes your air to be guided in the wrong direction , resulting in either wasted cooled or heated air inside your car's cabin. That's just like running the air conditioner at home with the doors open !  

So what do you do ? Well , that's simple. You replace the vent tabs (sometimes called vent clips) on your car's air vents. This short article will describe how to replace those clips . 

Don't rush out out and take it to a repair shop or a dealer, it might cost you $200-250 per vent , replacing the entire vent assembly. That's a lot of money and time to fix a relatively simple issue .  

Buy a Vent Tab , then carefully remove the broken or loose one. A thin, flat head screw driver will allow you to "release " the clip from the blade ( the louver). Try to release one edge so it rests on the blade , then slowly  walk it off the blade. Do not pull it strongly because you may un-seat the louver and essentially break the vent.   If you have a partial vent clip on the blade , use pliars to carefully remove it from the blade- same warning! 

With the new Vent Tab in your hand , you need to place it on the louver where the original was located. You should see a marking on that blade that is distinct from the other blades in the vent. Next, look into the vent (maybe need a flashlight) and locate the VERTICAL center post. Your goal is to align the vent tab prongs (or the forks) so that they straddle the Vertical center post.Think of a goal post on a football field , you're kicking it straight down the middle.    

Once you have the vent tab on the blade and the forks are aligned, you simply push it onto the louver blade  (and towards the front of car), until you feel the vent tab latch onto the blade. You will hear a clear click in most cases . That sound will confirm you have correctly installed it. Now, test the up/down and side-to-side action that controls the air flow.  You're done , that probably took less than a minute.     

You will find printed installation instructions and videos at   https://www.venttabs.com/how-to-install-vent-tabs.If you have other questions , we can help you on the phone , 657-445-6595 Pacific Time Zone  M-Fri 9-6PM