VW New Beetle Blend Doors Fix Without Removing The Entire Dash.

Step by Step instructions on how to fix the blend doors in a VW New Beetle without removing the entire dash. About a 1/3 of the dash needs to be removed to gain access to the blend doors. I show how to remove what you need to fix the blend doors and then reassembly the dash.

[@billbartee1653]

Good job, I must say your patience is inspirational. I’ve had to do some work on my son’s’01 Beatle. I had decided that covering the wholes in those plates was just too hard to get to. But now I may have to consider doing it. Thx

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Thanks for watching and the comment. I'm glad you checked out the video. I'm not a mechanic but I was able to take my time over a long weekend and get this done. You can do it I'm sure especially if you have worked on your son's car before. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for watching and the compliment! Kelly

[@jerryhombergen]

Thanks for this great video! It certainly helped me getting the dash apart to fix (clean and tape) the blend doors. However, when you start with the saw around 48 mins, I continued removing the plastic over the complete size. At that point, there's only a handfull of screws left (mainly around and under the steering wheel) and you don't have to take the steering wheel off, just hover the panel to your ceiling. If you want to keep the plastic in one peace, just take the additional few mins of work.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Glad it worked out for you. I tried to do it the simplest way possible. But I'm happy you got yours fixed too.

[@robaxelsson530]

Not sure about others, but the plastic interior parts of my 01 (only 53k miles) is literally crumbling in my hands.. wish I could do this without damaging what’s left of my dash

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Thanks for watching. Are you talking about the plastic ac components or your interior plastics in general?

[@Smoking2142]

Hello sir... i just followed your video to fix my blend door. My garage told me it was not worth it pulling the dash.... thank you for making this video. My wife is super heppy with her 2003 beetle cabrio again !

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Thanks for watching and your comment. Yeah it really is expensive for a garage to fix the blend doors because they want to remove the entire dash and replace the doors. Most of the time it costs more than the car is worth. So I'm glad you were able to use my video to fix the problem yourself and make your wife happy! Check out my other videos when you get a chance. More are on the way! Thanks again. Kelly

[@cdoublejj]

JB weld STICKS to plastic, as in it can let loose. 3M semi rigid which ain't cheap will BOND to plastic. i reconstructed the NB's front shattered fender bits back in to new fenders with 3M Semi R.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Good to know. Mines still holding up fine so far.

[@andrefelixstudio2833]

Nice video, I guess you could just take the center out as you went and cut the part out to get to the doors. I can only think they save $ in the doors when having holes in them. You would have thought the germans would have been a bit more on top of the door issues and not have holes. I am going to try this on my car as I have the same issue AC not cold when very hot outside. Thanks !

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Thanks for the comment. Let me know how everything turns out for you. Honestly it was the easiest way I could figure out how to do it that would permanently fix the problem. Mine is still working great. Let me know if you have any problems or questions. Thanks again, Kelly

[@rogercarson5620]

You did an awesome job. When do you want to do mine? I’m only in Hickory North Carolina.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Thanks for your comment. Hey if I can do it so can you! Just take a long weekend and follow the steps. Be patient and don't let yourself get frustrated. Have faith my friend!

[@rogercarson5620]

@@deadlinekelly9938 I appreciate your confidence 75 years old Vietnam veteran. My favorite Thing growing up that’s working on cars. I want to try to do it but I shake a lot that’s my biggest problem. The old Volkswagen, 2001 beetle, how hot mama 21 year old granddaughter, grave before she passed away, so it is special I hope to get it done sometime. Hopefully I can pull into the garage and just leave it there till I get her done. I have watched a lot of videos on doing this. Yours is definitely on the best!! God bless.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

I'm glad you like the video. I tried to make it as clear as I could. Pulling it into the garage is a great idea. That way you can do a little bit at a time. I'm sorry to hear about your granddaughter. I'm working on another project also. Restoring a 1970 yamaha motorcycle that my uncle gave me. He's also a Vietnam Vet. 85 and still going strong. I started this channel to make videos for him to watch my progress on the bike. But the VW always has something to fix and I can't afford to pay a mechanic for everything. So I decided to make some videos on it also.

[@cdoublejj]

i wouldn;t mind taking the whole dash out if i can have at the HVAC box inside to replace foam seals and all that but, if you gotta remove the heater and evap cores it really isn't worth it. if you can get the HVAC box out you can wrap the aluminum tape all the way around the blend doors so if the adhesive ever lets loose it stays on. looking at upgrading steering wheel and painting the grey panels.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

That tape is pretty sticky and tough. I think by the time it might come off the car would have been dead and junked for some other reason a long time ago.

[@cdoublejj]

.....Brilliant engineering there.... had me laughing and it's not funny because its my problem and my job to do now too.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Yeah. What were they thinking?

[@cdoublejj]

foam might seal better when new and also act as a sound dampener but, i'm not sure i buy that. these NBs were first generation plasteque and planned obsolesce, tow imboilzers so a dead gauge clusters kills the car.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

It's like they build them so you have to take them back to the dealer to get fixed.

[@Thanhnguyen-jb4fg]

Patient man get the job done. I respect that. Thanks

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Thanks so much for watching and the nice comment. Hopefully the video helps out everyone with this same problem. Much respect back to you! Kelly

[@Zerof__cks]

sad part is that he was super close to not having to cut that section of his dash.... if you have to cut anything just cut the small part from under the steering wheel. after you do that the entire part he cut can just be lifter out.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Ah don't be sad! Everything turned out great! It's still working perfectly and no one would ever know that anything was cut. For me this was the quickest and easiest way to fix the blend doors. Everything's great! Be happy 😊. Thanks for watching and the comment! K

[@bradleyscofarm6151]

Update you guys, I just did this process. Completely fixed my HVAC issues. I now can actually choose what vents I want and what temperature! I also had no idea how much air my blower motor was actually moving! (I bought the car with the foam already obliterated). The only thing I did different was I plastic welded my duct work back in because it was available to me and was way faster. The whole process took me between 3-4 hours. If you think you can’t do it, yes you can. It looks hard but it’s crazy simple.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

That's awesome. I'm glad it worked out for you. Yeah it looks a little scary but you can do it!

[@woody95124]

Good job bud.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Thanks for watching. Kelly

[@woody95124]

@deadlinekelly9938 I have a excellent shape 08 vert bug..Good to know on blend door...

[@cdoublejj]

funny thing is that metal tape was designed for HVAC duty any how.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

That's why I used it.

[@bossmack187]

Would this fix weak air flow coming from the vents?

[@deadlinekelly9938]

If you are having trouble directing the airflow to the vents you want it then absolutely this will help. That is one symptom that you have this problem. So if you for example direct the airflow to come out just the forward vents but you feel it coming out the defrost vent and the vent for your feet then you know for sure the blend doors are compromised.

[@joewisenbaker3032]

If you were mostly concerned with fixing the blend doors, couldn't you just proceed with that when you removed the center console? I do see that accessing the vents would help you clean out the mess from the deteriorated foam but isn't that the real benefit from most of the removals from about 19 minutes into the process?

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Thanks for watching and the comment. Ok well when you remove the center console section about 19 minutes into the video you still don't have access to the blend doors. You have to cut through the section under that before you see the blend doors. See about 57 minutes into the video and you will understand why I had to cut out that section. Thanks, Kelly

[@joewisenbaker3032]

I do get the cutting out for accessing the doors. But, wouldn't that be possible without removing all of the additional components on the passenger and driver sides?

[@deadlinekelly9938]

No.

[@joewisenbaker3032]

Ok - I'll go with that. @@deadlinekelly9938

[@martinweizenacker7129]

Still nobody knows for sure why there are holes in these blend doors in the first place.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

I think they just want you to have to take it back to a dealer to be fixed. But you can fix it yourself for just a few dollars and some patience.

[@martinweizenacker7129]

@@deadlinekelly9938 I read a theory saying the holes are there for the reason of making the blend doors easier to move. One factor would be simple weight reduction and the other is more technical. While the fan motor is running on a high level, the rush of air creates a force making it harder to move the blend doors. The holes with the original sponge-like coating would allow for _some_ air to pass through them, resulting in less air resistance.

[@coachnutt61]

Car has some screws missing! Don't we all! 😂

[@deadlinekelly9938]

For sure my friend!

[@lukeparnell742]

Know someone selling a 2004 tdi beetle with 214 k miles on it but sounds like it has the same vent issue. Do you think 1,000 is worth it. Thank you

[@deadlinekelly9938]

I bought mine for $900 and it had 85k miles. Over 200k I think you are looking at the lifespan for this car. I would keep looking for something with lower miles.

[@raydarmijo4260]

Thank you for the video and for your patients. I needed someone to show me exactly this way.. CHEERS my friend

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Thanks for watching and the comment. You can do it!

[@jimborambo5866]

Thank you for filming this repair of the blend door and showing all the steps involved. I enjoyed every bit of the steps involved to fix this common problem with the beetle. I now have the confidence to do mine. I appreciate the great camera work and detail you put in the this repair.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Thanks for watching and the comment. Let me know if you have any questions and also let me know how everything goes with the repair. Kelly

[@tommymartinez9037]

I seen someone do a video but you don't have to tear apart the dash. Only thing is remove a bottom panel on the passenger side and it's right there up above.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Yeah I would have to see that to understand how that would work. In my year/model there is a wiring harness, airbag components and metal piller all in the way on the passenger side.

[@coachnutt61]

I can tell you the answer to why they made it that way planned obsolescence so that you have to bring it in and have them do it! Wait till one of those plastic pivot points breaks and falls in there! That's what I'm doing right now replacing that whole box!

[@deadlinekelly9938]

I totally agree that they want you to bring it in to the dealership so they can charge you an arm and leg to fix this problem. So fix it yourself and save some money!

[@coachnutt61]

@@deadlinekelly9938 you just don't save time! 🤣 But it's fun!

[@cybercatrdw]

I am approaching the need to look at the blender doors and I have watched your video thoroughly. Where can I find the type of Glue you are using (white when dry). The glue appears to be very solid. My Beetle is a 1999. I have had the Air Conditioning essentially all replaced in 2012 and it is possible that they have fixed the Blender Doors at that time. I am not sure of precisely what they did, so I am in the dark on that. I have tried to look in their using a small endoscope and some light down through the two holes on the portion you have removed. I have not been able to see what is in there so I am thinking of cutting a section out of the beveled portion (the bottom area) of the part you removed. It will only be a small section maybe 5" by 3" and I hope to have both visual and if necessary access to tape the holes. Any suggestions?

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Thanks for watching. The glue is J-B Weld Plastic Bonder. You can find it at Lowes, Home Depot, or Amazon. It is very hard when it dries. You need to look at fixing the Blend Doors if you have black foam particles coming out of your vents when you turn the AC on. Those particles are the foam covering of the Blend Doors. Also if you turn the AC on and select, for example, the setting for floor only vents and you can still feel air blowing out of the upper vents then you probably need to look at the Blend Doors. Finally, you might be able to cut a smaller hole in the bottom section but remember you have to be able to get your hand in there holding a section of tape and be able to move around enough to get the tape into the correct spots. You don't want to miss a section or accidentally tape the door closed so it doesn't work at all. Also you need to be able to clean the Blend Doors before you add the tape. For me it was easier to go ahead and just cut that larger section out and glue it back in after I was done. I did only as much as I had to do to make this fix work. BTW it is Still Working Perfectly 8 months later. Hope this helps. Kelly

[@cybercatrdw]

Hi Thank you very much for your reply. I could not have even thought of doing this process, at all, were it not for watching your video. My old Beetle is getting on and I am trying to keep it on the road. I have proceeded with cutting a section, as I mentioned, and it came out using the vibrating saw that you used. My vehicle has over 292K Kilometers (182K Miles). I live in Canada, specifically British Columbia. The body is like new and has the original paint job. I was having an issue with my AC and not sure just whether these blending doors were working properly, before I looked at the other components of the AC. I cut a section about 6" by 4" and was able to view (and access) the doors. I essentially cut along the top of the bottom section where it thickened and then about 1/2" in from each side. That meant I only cut three sides. I will use similar plastic, as edge backers, and glue them in place. Once they are solid I will put the cutout back and glue it against the backers. (Thanks for identifying the glue.) The doors were working and pristine. Yes the foam was all intact and covered both doors completely. I could hardly see the holes through the foam. I was wondering if the fact that my Beetle has always been driven in colder climates and possibly survived because of that. Anyway it is going back together and I am so pleased for your help. Cheers ...

[@deadlinekelly9938]

I'm glad it all worked out for you. I live in central California and we use the ac every day so maybe that's why the blend door covering wore out faster. Anyway thanks and have fun with your beetle. K

[@gentiangulina257]

I'm sorry. I can't do this for my clients.

[@deadlinekelly9938]

Why not?

[@bradleyscofarm6151]

to each their own. I’m going to do it to mine! The car isn’t worth the labor to remove the dash structure to do the exact same thing. It’s called value, pick your battles man