Warm daah before taking it apart?

I have to remove the air vents above the radio in the middle of the dash
tomorrow, on a 2005 Toyota.

I tried today several times and the bezel or whatever bent without
breaking, but the thing popped back where it was originally.

I'm worried about cracking or breaking the plastic. Today was 68,
tomorrow will be 71 they say.

Is it better to do this in warm weather? I can turn on the heater and
warm up the plastic, if that will either make it less likely to break,
or more likely for the rectangular plastic plugs to slip out of their
rectangular plastic sockets. 3 at the top and 3 at the bottom, left,
right, and middle.

I should more closely but I think or I assume the console and the box
below the radio have the same kind of plugs and they came out easily,
twice. The box doesn't even require any extra pulling, in the videos
I've seen and in person. No harder than picking it up from a table. So
i don't know why these are so hard. More sunlight on them?

On Thu, 19 Oct 2017 17:45:51 -0400, micky >
wrote:

>I have to remove the air vents above the radio in the middle of the dash
>tomorrow, on a 2005 Toyota.
>
>I tried today several times and the bezel or whatever bent without
>breaking, but the thing popped back where it was originally.
>
>I'm worried about cracking or breaking the plastic. Today was 68,
>tomorrow will be 71 they say.
>
>Is it better to do this in warm weather? I can turn on the heater and
>warm up the plastic, if that will either make it less likely to break,
>or more likely for the rectangular plastic plugs to slip out of their
>rectangular plastic sockets. 3 at the top and 3 at the bottom, left,
>right, and middle.
>
>I should more closely but I think or I assume the console and the box
>below the radio have the same kind of plugs and they came out easily,
>twice. The box doesn't even require any extra pulling, in the videos
>I've seen and in person. No harder than picking it up from a table. So
>i don't know why these are so hard. More sunlight on them?
Don't do it in cold, but 68F is not cold.
Things are seldom as simple as they look on U-Tube - get used to it.

In alt.home.repair, on Thu, 19 Oct 2017 19:40:20 -0400,
wrote:

>On Thu, 19 Oct 2017 17:45:51 -0400, micky >
>wrote:
>
>>I have to remove the air vents above the radio in the middle of the dash
>>tomorrow, on a 2005 Toyota.
>>
>>I tried today several times and the bezel or whatever bent without
>>breaking, but the thing popped back where it was originally.
>>
>>I'm worried about cracking or breaking the plastic. Today was 68,
>>tomorrow will be 71 they say.
>>
>>Is it better to do this in warm weather? I can turn on the heater and
>>warm up the plastic, if that will either make it less likely to break,
>>or more likely for the rectangular plastic plugs to slip out of their
>>rectangular plastic sockets. 3 at the top and 3 at the bottom, left,
>>right, and middle.
>>
>>I should more closely but I think or I assume the console and the box
>>below the radio have the same kind of plugs and they came out easily,
>>twice. The box doesn't even require any extra pulling, in the videos
>>I've seen and in person. No harder than picking it up from a table. So
>>i don't know why these are so hard. More sunlight on them?
> Don't do it in cold, but 68F is not cold.

Of course 68 is not cold, but the point of the question was whether it
would work better if it were even warmer. You didn't address that.

Maybe someone else could tell me what they think about warming the vents
to 75 or 80, or even warmer. Would it help keep the plastic from
cracking?

>Things are seldom as simple as they look on U-Tube - get used to it.

What are you talking about? Taking off the console top and the box were
just as simple for me as they were in the videos and I didn't comment on
how hard it was in the videos to do air vents.

But they did get the air vents off, so clearly I know that it's not
always as easy as the video or I wouldn't have bothered to ask about
them.

You just want to carp, even if it's irrelevant to what I said.

micky wrote:
> I have to remove the air vents above the radio in the middle of the dash
> tomorrow, on a 2005 Toyota.
>
> I tried today several times and the bezel or whatever bent without
> breaking, but the thing popped back where it was originally.
>
> I'm worried about cracking or breaking the plastic. Today was 68,
> tomorrow will be 71 they say.
>
> Is it better to do this in warm weather? I can turn on the heater and
> warm up the plastic, if that will either make it less likely to break,
> or more likely for the rectangular plastic plugs to slip out of their
> rectangular plastic sockets. 3 at the top and 3 at the bottom, left,
> right, and middle.
>
> I should more closely but I think or I assume the console and the box
> below the radio have the same kind of plugs and they came out easily,
> twice. The box doesn't even require any extra pulling, in the videos
> I've seen and in person. No harder than picking it up from a table. So
> i don't know why these are so hard. More sunlight on them?

Odds are your vents are ABS. Most car plastic is a range of ABS.
Heating won't have much effect until it gets to 220F and above.
Cold won't have much effect either, until it gets really cold.
UV and oxygen degrades it and makes it brittle.
12 years is long enough in a car for ABS to become brittle.
Good luck.

In rec.autos.tech, on Thu, 19 Oct 2017 23:55:30 -0500, Paul in Houston
TX > wrote:

>micky wrote:
>> I have to remove the air vents above the radio in the middle of the dash
>> tomorrow, on a 2005 Toyota.
>>
>> I tried today several times and the bezel or whatever bent without
>> breaking, but the thing popped back where it was originally.
>>
>> I'm worried about cracking or breaking the plastic. Today was 68,
>> tomorrow will be 71 they say.
>>
>> Is it better to do this in warm weather? I can turn on the heater and
>> warm up the plastic, if that will either make it less likely to break,
>> or more likely for the rectangular plastic plugs to slip out of their
>> rectangular plastic sockets. 3 at the top and 3 at the bottom, left,
>> right, and middle.
>>
>> I should more closely but I think or I assume the console and the box
>> below the radio have the same kind of plugs and they came out easily,
>> twice. The box doesn't even require any extra pulling, in the videos
>> I've seen and in person. No harder than picking it up from a table. So
>> i don't know why these are so hard. More sunlight on them?
>
>Odds are your vents are ABS. Most car plastic is a range of ABS.
>Heating won't have much effect until it gets to 220F and above.

LOL I don't think the heater gets that hot, but I did measure it once
and I'm not putting my cellphone in front of the air vents in the winter
time.

>Cold won't have much effect either, until it gets really cold.
>UV and oxygen degrades it and makes it brittle.
>12 years is long enough in a car for ABS to become brittle.

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. But I guess warming it won't help.

>Good luck.

Thanks. I was able to plug something in by reaching in from the bottom,
but now I have to unplug it and so far I can't seem to push down the
"latch" and pull out the plug at the same time. Not enough room to put
in two hands and trying to use one hand on the "latch" and push it out
with a long screwdriver hasn't worked.

There is a small ridge around the "top" of the plug, and the screwdriver
keeps slipping over it. Maybe I need a chisel that will stick better in
the corner. Probably too short, so maybe a longer piece of metal I can
sharpen. I'll try that tomorrow.. If nothing works, I have to take out
the air vents and the radio.

On 20/10/2017 4:32 PM, micky wrote:
> In rec.autos.tech, on Thu, 19 Oct 2017 23:55:30 -0500, Paul in Houston
> TX > wrote:
>
>> micky wrote:
>>> I have to remove the air vents above the radio in the middle of the dash
>>> tomorrow, on a 2005 Toyota.
>>>
>>> I tried today several times and the bezel or whatever bent without
>>> breaking, but the thing popped back where it was originally.
>>>
>>> I'm worried about cracking or breaking the plastic. Today was 68,
>>> tomorrow will be 71 they say.
>>>
>>> Is it better to do this in warm weather? I can turn on the heater and
>>> warm up the plastic, if that will either make it less likely to break,
>>> or more likely for the rectangular plastic plugs to slip out of their
>>> rectangular plastic sockets. 3 at the top and 3 at the bottom, left,
>>> right, and middle.
>>>
>>> I should more closely but I think or I assume the console and the box
>>> below the radio have the same kind of plugs and they came out easily,
>>> twice. The box doesn't even require any extra pulling, in the videos
>>> I've seen and in person. No harder than picking it up from a table. So
>>> i don't know why these are so hard. More sunlight on them?
>>
>> Odds are your vents are ABS. Most car plastic is a range of ABS.
>> Heating won't have much effect until it gets to 220F and above.
>
> LOL I don't think the heater gets that hot, but I did measure it once
> and I'm not putting my cellphone in front of the air vents in the winter
> time.
>
>> Cold won't have much effect either, until it gets really cold.
>> UV and oxygen degrades it and makes it brittle.
>> 12 years is long enough in a car for ABS to become brittle.
>
> Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. But I guess warming it won't help.
>
>> Good luck.
>
> Thanks. I was able to plug something in by reaching in from the bottom,
> but now I have to unplug it and so far I can't seem to push down the
> "latch" and pull out the plug at the same time. Not enough room to put
> in two hands and trying to use one hand on the "latch" and push it out
> with a long screwdriver hasn't worked.
>
> There is a small ridge around the "top" of the plug, and the screwdriver
> keeps slipping over it. Maybe I need a chisel that will stick better in
> the corner. Probably too short, so maybe a longer piece of metal I can
> sharpen. I'll try that tomorrow.. If nothing works, I have to take out
> the air vents and the radio.
>
There are a range of special little tools available for doing all this
dismantling and, what's more, they make it possible to do the job
*without damage*. Look into them.

--

Noddy! Have you made that call, sent that email?
The number to call: 1300 304 064
The email address:


Xeno

In rec.autos.tech, on Fri, 20 Oct 2017 18:05:08 +1100, Xeno
> wrote:

>On 20/10/2017 4:32 PM, micky wrote:
>> In rec.autos.tech, on Thu, 19 Oct 2017 23:55:30 -0500, Paul in Houston
>> TX > wrote:
>>
>>> micky wrote:
>>>> I have to remove the air vents above the radio in the middle of the dash
>>>> tomorrow, on a 2005 Toyota.
>>>>
>>>> I tried today several times and the bezel or whatever bent without
>>>> breaking, but the thing popped back where it was originally.
>>>>
>>>> I'm worried about cracking or breaking the plastic. Today was 68,
>>>> tomorrow will be 71 they say.
>>>>
>>>> Is it better to do this in warm weather? I can turn on the heater and
>>>> warm up the plastic, if that will either make it less likely to break,
>>>> or more likely for the rectangular plastic plugs to slip out of their
>>>> rectangular plastic sockets. 3 at the top and 3 at the bottom, left,
>>>> right, and middle.
>>>>
>>>> I should more closely but I think or I assume the console and the box
>>>> below the radio have the same kind of plugs and they came out easily,
>>>> twice. The box doesn't even require any extra pulling, in the videos
>>>> I've seen and in person. No harder than picking it up from a table. So
>>>> i don't know why these are so hard. More sunlight on them?
>>>
>>> Odds are your vents are ABS. Most car plastic is a range of ABS.
>>> Heating won't have much effect until it gets to 220F and above.
>>
>> LOL I don't think the heater gets that hot, but I did measure it once
>> and I'm not putting my cellphone in front of the air vents in the winter
>> time.
>>
>>> Cold won't have much effect either, until it gets really cold.
>>> UV and oxygen degrades it and makes it brittle.
>>> 12 years is long enough in a car for ABS to become brittle.
>>
>> Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. But I guess warming it won't help.
>>
>>> Good luck.
>>
>> Thanks. I was able to plug something in by reaching in from the bottom,
>> but now I have to unplug it and so far I can't seem to push down the
>> "latch" and pull out the plug at the same time. Not enough room to put
>> in two hands and trying to use one hand on the "latch" and push it out
>> with a long screwdriver hasn't worked.
>>
>> There is a small ridge around the "top" of the plug, and the screwdriver
>> keeps slipping over it. Maybe I need a chisel that will stick better in
>> the corner. Probably too short, so maybe a longer piece of metal I can
>> sharpen. I'll try that tomorrow.. If nothing works, I have to take out
>> the air vents and the radio.
>>
>There are a range of special little tools available for doing all this
>dismantling and, what's more, they make it possible to do the job
>*without damage*. Look into them.

Thanks. I never thought I'd need such things but I bought them for the
previous car (which I only had for 10 weeks and now can't even remember
what the dashboard looked like!), but never had a chance to use them. I
have the orange plastic crowbars, and I have a stiff wire thing with a
right angle at the end. I can get the right angle in and twist it
around, but so far, the bezel somehow slips away from it. I'll try to
hold it differently so I can see what's happening or better it, use the
plastic thing after I get it part way up with the right-angle thing.

They also include something with two separate straight stiff wire, that
an ebay or amazon ad said was for taking out certain radios, but I
haven't figured it out.

micky wrote:
> In rec.autos.tech, on Thu, 19 Oct 2017 23:55:30 -0500, Paul in Houston
> TX > wrote:
>
>> micky wrote:
>>> I have to remove the air vents above the radio in the middle of the dash
>>> tomorrow, on a 2005 Toyota.
>>>
>>> I tried today several times and the bezel or whatever bent without
>>> breaking, but the thing popped back where it was originally.
>>>
>>> I'm worried about cracking or breaking the plastic. Today was 68,
>>> tomorrow will be 71 they say.
>>>
>>> Is it better to do this in warm weather? I can turn on the heater and
>>> warm up the plastic, if that will either make it less likely to break,
>>> or more likely for the rectangular plastic plugs to slip out of their
>>> rectangular plastic sockets. 3 at the top and 3 at the bottom, left,
>>> right, and middle.
>>>
>>> I should more closely but I think or I assume the console and the box
>>> below the radio have the same kind of plugs and they came out easily,
>>> twice. The box doesn't even require any extra pulling, in the videos
>>> I've seen and in person. No harder than picking it up from a table. So
>>> i don't know why these are so hard. More sunlight on them?
>>
>> Odds are your vents are ABS. Most car plastic is a range of ABS.
>> Heating won't have much effect until it gets to 220F and above.
>
> LOL I don't think the heater gets that hot, but I did measure it once
> and I'm not putting my cellphone in front of the air vents in the winter
> time.
>
>> Cold won't have much effect either, until it gets really cold.
>> UV and oxygen degrades it and makes it brittle.
>> 12 years is long enough in a car for ABS to become brittle.
>
> Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. But I guess warming it won't help.
>
>> Good luck.
>
> Thanks. I was able to plug something in by reaching in from the bottom,
> but now I have to unplug it and so far I can't seem to push down the
> "latch" and pull out the plug at the same time. Not enough room to put
> in two hands and trying to use one hand on the "latch" and push it out
> with a long screwdriver hasn't worked.
>
> There is a small ridge around the "top" of the plug, and the screwdriver
> keeps slipping over it. Maybe I need a chisel that will stick better in
> the corner. Probably too short, so maybe a longer piece of metal I can
> sharpen. I'll try that tomorrow.. If nothing works, I have to take out
> the air vents and the radio.

Can you use part of a hacksaw blade? Grind to fit.

In rec.autos.tech, on Fri, 20 Oct 2017 11:25:52 -0500, Paul in Houston
TX > wrote:

>micky wrote:
>> In rec.autos.tech, on Thu, 19 Oct 2017 23:55:30 -0500, Paul in Houston
>> TX > wrote:
>>
>>> micky wrote:
>>>> I have to remove the air vents above the radio in the middle of the dash
>>>> tomorrow, on a 2005 Toyota.
>>>>
>>>> I tried today several times and the bezel or whatever bent without
>>>> breaking, but the thing popped back where it was originally.
>>>>
>>>> I'm worried about cracking or breaking the plastic. Today was 68,
>>>> tomorrow will be 71 they say.
>>>>
>>>> Is it better to do this in warm weather? I can turn on the heater and
>>>> warm up the plastic, if that will either make it less likely to break,
>>>> or more likely for the rectangular plastic plugs to slip out of their
>>>> rectangular plastic sockets. 3 at the top and 3 at the bottom, left,
>>>> right, and middle.
>>>>
>>>> I should more closely but I think or I assume the console and the box
>>>> below the radio have the same kind of plugs and they came out easily,
>>>> twice. The box doesn't even require any extra pulling, in the videos
>>>> I've seen and in person. No harder than picking it up from a table. So
>>>> i don't know why these are so hard. More sunlight on them?
>>>
>>> Odds are your vents are ABS. Most car plastic is a range of ABS.
>>> Heating won't have much effect until it gets to 220F and above.
>>
>> LOL I don't think the heater gets that hot, but I did measure it once
>> and I'm not putting my cellphone in front of the air vents in the winter
>> time.
>>
>>> Cold won't have much effect either, until it gets really cold.
>>> UV and oxygen degrades it and makes it brittle.
>>> 12 years is long enough in a car for ABS to become brittle.
>>
>> Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. But I guess warming it won't help.
>>
>>> Good luck.
>>
>> Thanks. I was able to plug something in by reaching in from the bottom,
>> but now I have to unplug it and so far I can't seem to push down the
>> "latch" and pull out the plug at the same time. Not enough room to put
>> in two hands and trying to use one hand on the "latch" and push it out
>> with a long screwdriver hasn't worked.
>>
>> There is a small ridge around the "top" of the plug, and the screwdriver
>> keeps slipping over it. Maybe I need a chisel that will stick better in
>> the corner. Probably too short, so maybe a longer piece of metal I can
>> sharpen. I'll try that tomorrow.. If nothing works, I have to take out
>> the air vents and the radio.
>
>Can you use part of a hacksaw blade? Grind to fit.

I found a bent "flat" that was scrap I'd saved from something, and I
sharpened it and it seemed pretty good -- I could push some -- but it
still kept slipping off.

So I started in on the air vents and they bent quite a bit without
breaking. I had to do one at a time on the bottom, and then the top
together, So it came out finally, i took out the radio, and I still
could't get the plug out withou one hand. Twisted a screwdriver to push
it out while using the other hand to hold down the latch.

It will probably go faster if I have to do it again.

Thanks.

In rec.autos.tech, on Fri, 20 Oct 2017 18:05:08 +1100, Xeno
> wrote:

>
>>
>There are a range of special little tools available for doing all this
>dismantling and, what's more, they make it possible to do the job
>*without damage*. Look into them.

It's not that important, and maybe if I'm ever working on a car these
fit, I'll figure it out, but in case you know the answer...

Some of the tools that came in the set are obvious, but I have two that
are not pointed but shaped like v. large staples, made of 1/8" rod, bent
like a staple 1.5 inches across and 4" tall. with an orange plastic
"handle" on the 1.5" part. I think you poke all four ends in at one
time to release some car radio, but I don't know what.

I got that from an ad's description but the next one wasn't described at
all.:

Then there are two sheet metal aluminum "keys" with a handle that's a
circle 1.5" with only the perimeter of the circle and a "blade" about 4"
long with a small notch on the end, flat on top but curved up at the end
on the bottom like a sabre. They're identical except one is bent. I
don't think I bent it, but maybe I did.