STICKY IN PROGRESS --NEED TO EMBED PICS

I recently had to disassemble my dashboard to get to my climate controls and thought I'd share the process. This procedure is helpful for anyone who wants to get at the radio, climate controls, instrument panel and removing the dash pad.

Dash Removal

Today I’m taking my dash apart because there are some lights inside the climate controls that have burned out and I want to find out if I can replace them easily. That’s the goal. The process to get there is not so bad. This is the first time I’m disassembling my dashboard.

First I did some research. I found this video on Youtube and it was very helpful for me to locate where fasteners and clips were located. If you want a video of what I did, click the video, it’s the exact procedure I followed. If you are looking to replace the radio, the procedure is the same.


At the end of my project I found one that was already broken, but I managed to not break anything myself! Yay me.
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Step 0: Disconnect the negative terminal from the battery. My girlfriend would be very angry with me if I fried myself.

Step 1: Locate two fasteners above the passenger side airbag. These are 7 mm. Once those are out, tap the underside of the dash pad and it should unclip from both ends. You don’t need to totally remove the dash pad for this procedure, just let it sit loose.


Step 2: Remove the driver’s side air vent assembly. There are two 7 mm fasteners on the side. These are different fasteners from the dash pad, so don’t mix them up. After removing them, wiggle the assembly out. Be careful not to damage the ventilation passages, it is kind of contorted. The dome light switch is attached to this panel. It is a quick connect connection and unclipping it shouldn’t be a hassle.


Step 3: Lower the steering wheel to its lowest position and locate the two fasteners holding the top and bottom steering column shrouds together. These are 5mm. I had purchased a special ratchet socket from an auto parts store. It’s a tight fit, but if you shove it in there, it will catch and spin it out. It will damage the edge of the plastic, but you’ll never see it. Once both fasteners are out, remove the top shroud.


Step 4: Remove the dimmer dial panel. Grasp the dimmer switch firmly and pull and rotate up. This should free the clips holding it in. Depending on your vehicle’s equipment, there are a couple electrical connections behind this panel. They are quick connect connections, so they should be easy to remove.

Step 5: Starting from the driver’s side, gently pull the face piece of the dashboard away. There are two clips next to the removed air vent, one clip over the middle air vent, and two each down the sides of the radio and climate control area, top and bottom. I recommend pulling across the top first and making your way down the passenger side, and then pulling out the driver’s side last. It should come right out with gentle tugs.

Step 6: I removed the radio so I could see what I was doing with the climate controls. There are two 7mm fasteners to either side of the radio assembly. If you have a stock radio, there is an adapter that is clipped on. Just pull it off to remove it. My vehicle has an aftermarket radio in it, so the adapter is different. Removing the two fasteners allows you to remove the radio. The connections on the back of the radio pull out easily.

Step 7: The climate controls have the exact same 7mm fasteners to each side. There are two quick connect plugs on the back of the unit. The plug on the passenger side I removed first. It has a large pinch lock on the back and I gently wiggled it out. The middle plug took two fingers to pry up the lock and wiggle out. There are also two cables attached in the back. Pinch the two of the cable clips and gently pull the cable up. The cable is also curled around a plastic point. I used some plers to pinch it together and the cable slid easily off. With the removal of the two cables, the unit should come out free from the dashboard.

Step 8: There are three fasteners that hold the temperature and mode gear sets onto the unit. These are ¼ in sockets. They remove easily. There are also two ¼ in socket fasteners holding the fan selector dial onto the unit. All these fasteners are identical.

Step 9: Remove the dials from the face of the unit. Grasp them tightly and wiggle them while pulling. They appear identical, but when reassembling the unit, for some reason they don’t work in the other position, so keep track of which dial went where. With the dials removed, turn the unit over so you’re looking at the back. Spin the dials around until the protrusion lines up with the slit on the back. This eases removal in the next step.

Step 10: Carefully pry at the four clips around the edge of the unit. I used a small screw driver to help me persuade it off. This loosens the back of the unit from the face and circuit board.
Step eleven: This is where I stopped. I could see that the lights were LEDs and soldered into the circuit board. I also found that to go any farther, I had to pop the three plastic covers of the A/C, rear defrost, and recirculate buttons. Since I found that I couldn’t repair my issue, I decided not to try and pop the covers. You would have to do this to gain access to the circuit board.
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Assembly is the reverse of disassembly. There are notches on the studs for the climate and mode dials. Pay attention to their direction when replacing the dials. There are similar notches on the gear sets that limit the amount of travel. I recommend waiting to replace the dials on the face of the unit last after you reattach the cables on the back of the unit. That way you can avoid the 30 minutes of frustration of me disassembling, finagling, and reassembling.

Hopefully this will be helpful for anyone looking for tips on removing the dashboard and getting at the radio and climate controls. Good luck!

http://www.cardomain.com/ridepost/63...turn-s-series/

Good Luck and I hope this helps!