Hi all,

I have searched and searched this forum with no luck.

I have a passenger foot well full of water. I suspect it is the drain in the A Pillar. How do you remove the interior A Pillar trim with the air bag in it.

My dealer wants $325 to fix this.

 

I am going off of memory here so I may not be 100% accurate. I believe I began by pulling the plastic trim away from the pillar near the top of the trim. Then you have to release 3 metal clips/latches from the trim piece with some pliers (not an easy task because of space). The metal clips have tethers on them that mount to the body of the car so when the airbag deploys the plastic trim can move away yet not fly into the driver/passenger. If you have trouble releasing the clips you can try removing the screws that mount the tethers to the body (also not an easy task due to space).

 

Its a *****. I fought it all the way on the front and back. Cant say what was easier tho. It sucked

 

taking the pillars off in my mini was harder than any other car ive touched in my life, thats all ill say.

 

I had the same issue about a year or so ago and it was a seal under the hood. I cannot remember all the details and I am not where I can even look at my car right now. However, look under the hood, right in front of the passanger area. If I remember correctly there is a "well" area where the blower motor and stuff is and there is a seal that sits above that area that went bad and I had to replace it. It seems to me that the seal only diverts the water, but when it is bad it lets the water just run right in. I actually think I discovered it by accident. If I get a chance to look at my car later I can try to be more discriptive and maybe even snap a pic.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9HgL0RfpNA

 

Awesome video! Thanks for sharing!!

 

Thewizz

Did you ever get a chance to take a photo of this seal?

I'm having the same water leak and want to try and fix it myself. I'd rather look at this seal first before pulling apart the a pillar.

Thanks!

 

Mine was fairly easy... took less than a min. I didn't have to pull too hard. I just watched the video above a few times before attempting and got it first try.

 

Hi - I am a bit off topic here but not by much. Does anyone know how to remove the Interior D Pillar Cover?

Thanks!

 

Try Pelican Parts, they have an excellent library of DIY stuff, you might get lucky,