August 5 - 7: The squirrel project, 95315 . . .
Read MoreThis series of photos deals with what I affectionately refer to as, "The Squirrel Project." The van in the pics is one of our rental cargo vans. The term "Squirrel" refers to the stowaway that was picked up somewhere in Oregon and brought back to Georgia. Representatives from the department who rented the van reported hearing strange noises coming from behind the dash. Debris began appearing on the floor. Then not long after, the HVAC system began to malfunction.
The problem with the HVAC was one of air distribution. The a/c blew ice cold, but mostly through the defrost vent and not out of the dash. No air would come out of the floor vents either.
My initial guess was that Mr. Squirrel chewed through the vacuum lines that control air distribution. But the only way to confirm this, (and to see what else he chewed through), was to physically inspect the system. That meant the instrument panel had to be moved so I could access the HVAC components. I started by removing trim and the engine access cover.Earlier, I mentioned the small piece of yellow debris I found when I first moved the instrument panel out of the way. I quickly discovered where it came from. The yellow vacuum line seen in the photos above and below is for the panel vent vacuum motor. With this line broken, the vacuum motor wasn't able to move which is why I had no air out of the dash vents.