I was cleaning my car and i went to move my dashlight, a screw and washer fell off it and rolled down here...



Where does that go to? Is it bad to use the air conditioning? how can i get the screw out? [&:]

 

Looks like defrost vent to me. Not sure how to access it though to get it out.

 

The 2nd Gen one is a little bigger, and you can pop off the grate...and once off you can see a pretty flat slop towards the firewall. Try popping off the grate, and either way just probe around with a magnetic retrieval tool?

 

First gen grates don't come off. About the only way to get anything out is to remove the dash and take out the duct work or hope you can get a magnet in there to stick to it long enough to fish it out. Truth be known on a truck as old as yours (or mine, lol) there is no telling whats in that vent. I found 22 bullets, pennys, wadded up gum wrappers, and some goo in the vents on my 88 dime when I took all the HVAC duct work out.

 

Well i can always get another screw for my light, if i get a day with nothing else to do i might take it apart. but, will it will cause any damage to the A/C ? or the car? or anything? lol

 

Only thing I can think of is something might finally fall down into the blend door and keep it from closing all the way. I know for a fact there is at least one pen in the vent of my 87 blazer and its been there for the better part of a year with no major problems yet. I plan on removing the HVAC when I swap dashes and giving all the duct work a good scrub but thats still a good bit away as its still a daily driver. I hate driving without a dash or door panels.

 

grr, should have a mesh grate on there or something, didn't GM realize **** would fall down there? :\ now my dash light is tilted, hopefully i can recover the screw. Now when i take apart the dash, do i need to take apart the steering column to? and radio? I don't like taking apart everything lol, i took 4 screws off from the vents and the whole dash felt like it was loose. So what exactly has to be disassembled?

 

If you've never had it out before I'd suggest giving yourself 2-3 days to get it out and 2-3 to replace it and take lots of pics. To get the HVAC ductwork out everything has to be removed. I normally just unbolt the sterring column and let it hang down and rest on the seat. Its a major PITA if you've never done it before.

 

Not the best but it might give you an idea.

 

Wow...that's much more involved than I thought a dash would be....yikes...