Need some help..removing fascia

[Acatala7]

Hey guys i'm a bit lost, and i need help. I think that something is wacky with my coolant resevoir. When my engine gets warmed up, it starts spitting out coolant from the front fascia. It could be that the tubing came out, or bottle punctured (speedbump). Either way, i need to get to the resevoir, so i tried taking off the **** thing..to no avail. I got all the screws off from the bottom, and side without a problem. When it came to taking off those 3 rubber stoppers (or whatever they are) they just won't come off. Am i missing something? Any have advice?

Thanks!

 

[Janni]

There is a tool called a door panel remover tool - looks like a little pry bar. They are $10 at Pep Boys. You can slide that under the plastic push fastener and pull up. Better yet, slide it under the fastener AND the fascia so you don't damage the fascia. Those little "Christmas Tree" fasteners are a pain to remove without the right tool.

 

[kverges]

I do not remove the fascia skin from the support. Once you have removed the lower fasteners (1/4-20 bolts with integral fender washers) and the wheelwell screws, you need to remove 4 nuts from "stove bolt" style studs on the frame. Two of the nuts are easily accessible from the front of the grill area, the other two are somewhat hidden and require you to access them from just below the airbox area and underneath the headlights. Also remove the hood latch handle from the core support and don't forget to disconnect the foglight connectors.

As for the plastic "tree" fasteners, I never re-use them, but instead use 1/4-20 stainless steel button head bolts with fender washers and rubber washers under the fender washers. If you decide to keep them, get new ones as you will mangle them when you pull them and they will not hold as tigthly ever again. I find I need to pull my fascia every year or so to clean for leaves and debris in the radiator and every other year to have the inevitable scrapes and chips repaired.

Once you get the hang of it, it's about 20 minutes to pull the fascia.

Keith

 

[Bad_Byte]

Be a MAN!

Use your teeth!

grrrrr!!

They are just a little snug that's all.

Don't forget the ones under the inside front of the facia. They stuck those thingys all over the place.

Un-like Keith I simply pop out the little plastic stoppers. I started to unscrew the big bolts but that wasn't necessary for me. Do get new plastic thingys they are common and at most auto supply stores.

You can un-hook the hood latch cables if you look carefully at them you see they are just stuck in the latch. This prevents the need for removing the hood latches.

DO NOT CLOSE THE HOOD WITH THE CABLES DISCONNECTED.
(not that I did it or any thing)

 

[GTS Dean]

Like Keith, I don't pop any of the push-in nylon fasteners. I just loosen bolts and remove the entire assembly. You almost have to to it the hard way once to figure out the easy way.

 

[Acatala7]

Janni, Keith, Bad_byte (Sempre Fi), and Dean...thank you for the help. I did get it off with only minor bloodshed (don't ask).I appreciate the help greatly! Oh and Bad_byte, I'm a former grunt with the 82nd Airborne. using my teeth was my next option.

 

[Tiepilot]

Tomer,
I had aproblem with the passenger side of my '96. I used rubber spacers and placed them on the headlight module/fascia area the push out the fascia in order to make it flush with the hood. It has worked nicely. I had to remove my fascia to replace my coolant bottle and just figured I'd shim out the fascia.

Chuck

 

[Tomer]

Keith, if you are ever in the Bay Area with 20-30 minutes to spare, I would love a tutorial on how to remove the front fascia on my 96...My headlight/hood/fascia gaps are not close enough for my liking, so I need to learn this procedure...

Tomer