dash removal

Dirtautoguy · December 8, 2015

I need to replace the defroster valve in my hvac system on my 1996 k1500. Im pretty sure it just popped off the rail piece on the other side.

would it be better to get one of these and just replace it

http://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-15-50552-Equipment-Conditioning-Defroster/dp/B0016I0DYS/ref=pd_bxgy_263_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1GAKDQ9JSRFQB6S4WZ95

or go to the salvage yard and get a whole box??

I might be able to just put the valve door back on there what are the chances of that|??

also if anyone has a dash schematic or some insight on how to do this it would be greatly appreciated. from my understanding I need to take the steering colunm apart and swing the dash forward. thanks guys!

any pictures would be awesome too!!!!!

grampadirt · December 8, 2015

I think I'd wait to see what's broken or came apart before I ordered the door,might be as simple something came apart.I had to remove the dash in my Burb a couple of years ago to replace the actuator for the recirc door behind the blower motor,not fun.Luckily I had a friend's help.It will take two to get the dash out.

There a ton of screws to remove,some not seen until you remove other things.Bag 'em as you remove 'em and mark the bag.The steering wheel only needs to be unbolted from the brackets and laid down to rest on the seat.A cordless drill with a socket adapter is your friend.Also one with a Phillips tip,luckily I have two Ryobi drills.Once you get the dash loose it will ''pivot'' on two bolts,one at each end of the dash(this is where the friend comes in),pivot it outward towards the seat and lift it up and out.You'll have to fish wires through holes and cutouts as you pull the dash out.One nice thing is if it takes a long tome for all of this you can plug the gauge panel back in and rest it on the dash mounting frame and it will still work(I zip tied mine so it wouldn't move around)and drove it for several days until I had the time to put it all back together.All in all not a bad job but I wouldn't want to do it again.

Look at the very ends of the dash,you'll see the ''pivot'' points,they look the two fingers.

It's a great opportunity to clean out the A/C evaporator

Also a good time to fix any broken mounts,I used JBWeld

This will get you started,I have a few more pics if you'd like to see 'em.

Hope this helps

Dirtautoguy · December 8, 2015

Hmmm ok. My issue is time to do it. I'm doing auto body in college so I have 6 hours a day that I could work on it but then my wife has to work. We only have 2 vehicles so we would have to figure out how we could make that work. I would like to take it apart and then just order what I need but idk how long it would take to get here is the issue.

I also don't want my dash to rattle afterwards that would drive me nuts. I also like the junkyard idea because I could do it to the salvage truck and have an idea of what I'm doing kinda like a practice round. But then again I don't have a ton of money to go spend on it.

The door that hooks up to the actuator near the gas pedal is the door and It feels like it just came out of the passenger side hinge part. Is it just like pushed in a hole or how are they suspended there? Any pictures you have would be great! I figure the more I know before hand the better.

sledog · January 27, 2016

Yes, it just pushes through a hole on the passenger side. Another way of doing this is by removing the floor vent divider (one 7mm screw) and then use a mirror and some kind of long reach tool to help position the door/flap back in place while using your other hand on the actuator side to slide it back in. I've done this before but have also taken lots of these dashes apart and it did take me a few attempts to make it work. You can see on Grampadirts first pic how the flap should be.