What's this piece for?

[pmh013]

After one of the many times my car was in the shop, I found this little piece on the floor on the drivers side.That's a Canadian nickle, to give you an idea of how big it is. The picture is a little blurry, I took it while on my commute home.What's this part for? Should I keep it & demand they re-install it? Should I just toss it?

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[Vibe Rater]

THAT my friend is a part from the air bag system. It's probably a wire harness clip or some type of fastener. What work was done on the car? Those air bag harnesses are way up under the dash or on the firewall. I would show it to the dealer. There should never be any spare parts after a job is finished. Sloppy workmanship.

[Sub-Vibe-R]

quote:Airbag partorIt could be a clip to pull out the fuses?!But I agree with Vibe Rater....there should never be any "spare parts" after a jobLooks like the toll to pull out the fuse, by mine is not yellow... So the air bag seems to be a good hypothesis. Usaully air bag part are bright yellow to make them easier to find.

[pmh013]

Yikes!! I think I found it after they replaced my stereo (it made that bad scratching sound when playing a CD while braking).I really don't want to get into another pissing match with that dealership ... can anybody please confirm what that piece does?

[Cidderiforous]

quote:there should never be any "spare parts" after a jobyou took the car in to have it worked on and you found spare parts afterwards??the answer is obvious, that part was what was wrong with your car.if you have spare parts after working on your car and it works right, appearantly it had too many parts

[pmh013]

quote:if you have spare parts after working on your car and it works right, appearantly it had too many parts LOL... that's what we engineers call a "more efficient design."If I can find a clean, dry patch of land to park on, I'll maybe take a gander under the dash & see if I see anymore of these little clips in there rightful locations. If it just holds up some wires, they're probably no big deal. It doesn't look like the kind of thing that connects 2 wires.

[ragingfish]

I dunno...my first reaction was "fuse puller." But take a clearer pic and maybe we can help you with it...

[KSNeptune]

I'll agree, a sharper picture is required. See if your camera has a macro (close-up) mode. Many digital cameras use a little flower icon to signify that feature. Check the manual.It looks "sort of" like a wire clip. But it could also be a panel clip. And it could be a secret nuclear bomb activation key. As you can see, we're gonna need a sharper pic to be sure.KSNeptune

[slbpsi63]

I thought it went to the flux capaciter??? LOL

[ragingfish]

Or perhaps part of the warp core? LOL!

[pmh013]

I don't have the car with me today, so I'll take a new pic tonight when it comes back.That picture I took while driving 70 MPH, so I wasn't exactly worried about focus. I get bored when I drive, sometimes.

[slbpsi63]

Photon torpedoes!!!!! Gamma Rays!!! Warp Speed!!! Light Saber.... Ok its out of my system

[Shadow Realm]

It looks like a fuse puller too me! It usually has a holder where the fuse panel is located so you can store iwth your fuses.Shadow Realm

[Sub-Vibe-R]

quote:It looks like a fuse puller too me! It usually has a holder where the fuse panel is located so you can store iwth your fuses.Shadow RealmIs the Vibe has one inside??? The only fuse luller I found is located under the hood. May be the mecanic picked it up from his tool box and forgot it in your car.

[cohocarl]

It's hard to tell from the pic, but it almost looks like it could be one of the plastic clips that holds on the radio bezel. Not sure though, the one in your pic looks smaller than the ones on the bezel. Try and pull out a little on the right side of the bezel around your radio to see if it seems a little looser than it should be. (disregard the top hooks I circled in the pic, I'm referring to the other two circled)

[scherry2]

I was reading down the post and was going to tell you that it was a bezel clip we replace them all the time at GM truck plant in Ft. Wayne. But someone beat me to it. take it back to the dealer.also your cd player scratched when you put on the brakes? The other day I noticed my car does the same thing, I noticed it when I turned down my stereo real low and thought the brakes were dragging have many others had this problem?

[pmh013]

So much to tell!First off, it was definitely the bezel clip from the bottom left hand corner. I pulled on the bezel, and the darn thing practically jumped off in my hand. OK.... so now that I've figured out how to pull the darn thing off, I notice that there are 3 corners with clips on them. The 2 right ones, circled in the pic above are yellow, just like the one I found. There is also a white one, which goes on the top left of the bezel (near the air duct & the AC button). So, at first I thought that white clip shouldn't be there at all, so I took it off & put the yellow one on, then tried to put it back together. Didn't fit right, the bottom left corner was really loose ... hmmm what's going on?So I feel down in that corner, and there's another prong where the clip should go. The holes where these clips go come in 2 sizes ... large for the yellow clips that go on the bottom left & top right & bottom right, and a smaller hole for the white clip that goes on the top left. So, I put my extra yellow clip on the bottom left and now everything fits like a dream. I wonder if the whole thing is going to start squeaking like mad now?I've attached a few pics of my adventure. I also pulled a contortionist (SP?) act (first ... doh!) to look under the steering column of my car (hoping to see these clips holding up some wires), and noticed a cable that is really close to a bracket ... looks like the cable should be inside this little bracket. I took a pic of it too, so I'll put it in first. I tried to get the cable in there, but it's a pretty tight fit, so maybe it doesn't belong in there? Anybody know about this one?

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[pmh013]

The CD player making a bad noise has been a known problem for a long time. See this post (or search CD player): http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=1455 All you need to do is tell the dealer, they ordered one in for me without even asking me to reproduce the problem.Ok, here's a picture comparing the white clip to the yellow clip. The focus is a little wacky, my camera is not the best, it is very dark in my garage, the map light casts not quite enough light, the flash completely washes out the pic, so I had to put my finger over 1/2 of the flash to get something to be visible.

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[cohocarl]

quote:looks like the cable should be inside this little bracketIf I get a chance today, I'll pull my bezel back off and see what clips go where, and see if the cable on mine is in that clip on the column.

[pmh013]

To see that cable, you need to do some major acrobatics. Start with getting your head very close to the brake pedal, and look straight up underneath the dash. You will have a pain in your back ... you're in the right position.

[cohocarl]

I see the cable and clip you are speaking of, and no, mine isn't in the clip either. I tried putting it into it, but it is almost like they put the hole for clip in the tube too far "up" and the clip isn't in-line with the cable. I left mine out because it seemed like it would have put too much of a bend in the cable. (The cable controls the left ventilation knob).I pulled off my bezel and took a pic. The top left clip is white, and the other 3 are yellow. (the top right one in the pic looks white, but it was washed out by the light, it's yellow also). Hope this helps.Carl

[pmh013]

Carl, that's exactly what mine looks like (the stereo bezel), except when I pulled mine off, the bottom yellow clip was missing (that was the one I found on the floor). Just put it back in & now I'm 100%. I even took the car for a 2+ hour drive today, and no bad squeaks coming from the dash, so I guess everything's OK!

[cohocarl]

quote:See... CohoCarl should be moderator of suspension and handling atleast. Thank you for the recommendation, but I'm 100% happy with just posting stuff that I think may be helpful to others. I'm definately not a suspension know-it-all. Thanks again.CarlP.S. The Michigan meet is quickly approaching!!!!! Can't wait to meet everyone.