How to Replace Cowl Air Grill 1997-2001 Toyota Camry
Created on: 2016-08-22
How to repair, install, fix, change or replace a cowl panel that is falling down, coming apart, or is failing on 97, 98, 99, 00, 01 Toyota Camry
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step 1 :Removing the Wiper Arms
- Use a piece of tape to mark the position of the wipers
- Remove the 14mm nut from the wiper arm
- Push down and up to loosen the wiper arm
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step 2 :Removing the Cowl Panel
- Pry up the clips on each side of the cowl panel with a flat blade screwdriver
- Pry up the cowl panel and weatherstrip on the passenger side
- Remove the cowl panel from the weatherstrip
- Repeat the process for the driver side
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step 3 :Reinstalling the Cowl Panel
- Insert the cowl panel on the driver side
- Press the clips on the weatherstrip into the panel
- Insert the passenger side in closest to the mirror first
- Press the panel into the driver side panel
- Clip the weatherstrip into place
- Press in the cowl panel clips on both sides
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step 4 :Installing the Wiper Arms
- Place the straight arm on the passenger side
- Place the curved arm on the driver side
- Tighten the 14mm bolts without tightening too hard
- Remove the tape
Tools needed
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Flat Blade Screwdriver
14mm Socket
Painter's Tape
Ratchet
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Hi, I'm Mike from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and next time you need parts for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks.
We'll be working on a 1998 Toyota Camry. This is probably pretty much the same for the ‘97 to ‘01 Camry, and we're going to be showing you how to remove and reinstall the cowl grill panel.
The items you'll need for this repair include a 14mm socket, ratchet, flat blade screwdriver, and painter’s tape.
We have the hood off, you don't have to do it. It's just makes it a lot easier to film. We're going to take a piece of tape, and put it right above where are wipers are just to mark it so that we put them back on at the same spot. I'm going to do the same thing on the passenger's side.
Now there's a 14 millimeter nut on each one that you need to remove. 14 millimeter socket with a ratchet. To remove them, you should just be able to push down a couple of times, loosen them up, and then pull it up and repeat that for the passenger side.
On each side of the cowl panel, there's a little clip. On the passenger side, to remove these, you push down in the center with a small, flat blade screwdriver, and then pry up around the side, and pull them out. You can actually reset the clips; when you put them back in, push the center part back up.
Then, to remove the cowl panel, start on the passenger side. You just kind of take the weatherstrip, move your fingers along, and firmly lift up the cowl panel. The passenger side will come forward and out, and same thing for the driver’s side.
Okay, again, we don't have the hood on, but if you had the hood on, you just put the cowl panel in. Slide it in this way. There are tabs up here that you want to make sure go underneath the windshield. Okay, make sure that hole lines up where the clip goes. There's a little tab right there that goes down into the hole. Then, you can put these clips in the weatherstrip to the cowl panel. Lock it in place.
Okay, before you put the cowl clips in, if they're still down like that, you want to reset them. Push the center up, so they're up like that. On this side, there's a couple tabs that lock into the driver side panel. Push it up on the edge first. Then, it kind of locks in like that. Put our clip in place. Then, this weatherstrip. You can actually see there's a hook right here, and a hole in the weatherstrip, so just push that on like that. Then, follow the clips down.
If you've done work on your wipers, before you put the arms on, cycle them a couple times, and shut them off, and make sure they go back into the park position.
You've got two different wipers. The straight arm goes on the passenger side, and the curved one goes on the driver's side. There's a D and a P on the OE arms. The straight part of our tape marks where the arms were.
I'll put the arm right down there and push it on. I'll do the same thing with the passenger side. Get them lined up with the tape. You can always, if it goes in the wrong spot before you push down too hard, bring it up, and push it on. Put the nuts back on and tighten them up. Tighten them up, you don't want to go too tight, but be nice and firm. If you don't tighten them up enough, you risk the wiper motor, and the transmission stripping inside the arm. If you tighten them up too much, you risk stripping the threads on the studs. Back on, now we can remove our tape.
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