Lower Air Baffle how do I remove it?

[jmonica]

I've searched these forums as well as the rest of he internet to find out how to remove the lower air baffle and i cannot find it. Only articles on the front spoiler come up which is not what I am referring to. The part I want to remove is a plastic piece about 18" long that sits in front of the Radiator support. The repair manual says, "Step 3. Remove the lower air baffle which leads me to believe that it should be a no brainer, but that's me, a NO brainier. You can see the the part I am referring to in green in the pic. Has any one ever removed his part and if so, can you tell me how you do it? It's $100 for new one so Id rather not destroy it to remove it if I can avoid it. I do not see any fasteners any place on it. Thanks!

 

[Mooseman]

Is this on a TB or an Envoy? I can't remember seeing that part when I removed #8 to access the lower hose.

 

[jmonica]

Sorry I should have included that. Its on a '06 Envoy SLT. Ive just been trying again for the last hour or so. It'ss so frustrating. I can't find anything about it on the internet. But the part is there on my car I assure you. Thank You!

 

[Mooseman]

Maybe remove that #8 skid plate if you have one. My 02 TB and the 9-7x didn't have it but my 07 does. It's held in by just 4 bolts.

Failing that, can you take a pic of it? And the other question... why are you trying to remove it?

 

[jmonica]

Thanks for your help. I am trying to remove it because I am replacing the Power Steering cooler. I'm fairly sure i can get the PS Cooler out without removing it, but I'm worried about bending the fins on the new cooler if I Leave it in. I am assuming the repair manual has a reason for saying to remove it as part of he PSC replacement. The part I posted diagram of is definitely the part. I will try to post a pic of it. Thank You again for your help!

 

[Reprise]

I looked online myself; same result. My Envoy is parked outside right now, covered in snow, it's 15F, and dark, or I'd go look at it now.

From what I can tell, it may snap into place; the only thing I can see it connecting to is #10 (which looks like it does have fasteners. Either try 'pinching in and pulling (you'll need to use some force, but not *too* much), or try taking apart #10 on each side and see if all 3 pieces come off as an assembly (where it'll become easier to figure out how to disconnect them, off-vehicle.) I'm guessing they connect in a type of tab/slot arrangement.

If it breaks, it'll cost anywhere from $36 - $160 to replace (and since it's cold out, you could probably get away without it for a bit.) Duct tape might be a short-term friend, too.

If it does have fasteners, I'd put money on speed nuts. GM doesn't use metal fasteners to join plastic pieces to one another, generally.

Good luck, and if you're still having trouble, I'll take a look in the morning (although I can't move it back into the garage, ATM.)

 

[Reprise]

Ok. Now that I know you want to remove the P/S cooler, I found two YT vids on doing this.

We'll assume you've pulled the front bumper cover off; if not, it has to come off, along with the grille as a prereq.

Video #1, the guy describes how to do it and shows the part, although he doesn't actually remove it. "Push up and pull forward".

Video #2 is on a Trailblazer, but it has the same part. This guy advises to just pull outward on the part (without removing it), and you'll have the room to pull the cooler out. He actually pulls on it to demonstrate. (and as I suspected, it can sustain a pretty good tug - but try the 1st method above (push up on the ends / lower corners first, one at a time if you have to).

The TB bumper cover has a built-in splitter, so his advice on just 'ripping the baffle out' might work for the TB, but I'd try and preserve it on the Envoy, as there's less 'direct' ventilation in that area, compared to the TB cover.

Neither of them describe any fasteners that hold the part in.
Don't worry about removing the #10 pieces that I referenced in the earlier post.

 

[jmonica]

Ok. Now that I know you want to remove the P/S cooler, I found two YT vids on doing this.

We'll assume you've pulled the front bumper cover off; if not, it has to come off, along with the grille as a prereq.

Video #1, the guy describes how to do it and shows the part, although he doesn't actually remove it. "Push up and pull forward".

Video #2 is on a Trailblazer, but it has the same part. This guy advises to just pull outward on the part (without removing it), and you'll have the room to pull the cooler out. He actually pulls on it to demonstrate. (and as I suspected, it can sustain a pretty good tug - but try the 1st method above (push up on the ends / lower corners first, one at a time if you have to).

The TB bumper cover has a built-in splitter, so his advice on just 'ripping the baffle out' might work for the TB, but I'd try and preserve it on the Envoy, as there's less 'direct' ventilation in that area, compared to the TB cover.

Neither of them describe any fasteners that hold the part in.
Don't worry about removing the #10 pieces that I referenced in the earlier post.

Awesome Thank You. I ended up bending one side of thing out and cutting the other end off to get it out and installed the power steering cooler. I can re-attached the cut side with some rivets.
I do have the grill off but I will need to pull the bumper to replace it I think. I really appreciate your help on this! Now I just need to figure out how to pull the front bumper off but it can't be too difficult. Thank you again! Jim