HOW TO: Remove dashboard

ProjectPuma

Help Support ProjectPuma:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

danielz000

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2010
Messages
167
Step 00) Take a note of the time.

Step 01) Disconnect the car battery using a 10mm socket

Step 02) Pull the A-Pillar covers off of both sides of the car. Pull the rubber door seal away from the car so it's not obscuring the side of the dashboard. Remove the covers on the side of the dash.


Step 03) Using the radio removal tool (or a piece of coat hanger) remove the radio from dash board. Slide the radio out and remove all wires from the back


Step 04) Using a PZ2 remove the 2 screws from the top of the heater control panel. Slide the heather control panel forward and remove all wires from the back.


Step 05) Open the ash tray and pull it up and out to remove. Using a PZ2 remove the 2 screws from the bottom of the ash tray holder.



Step 06) Pull the tray bellow and to the right of the steering wheel from the base to remove it and expose fuse box. Remove the tray from under the fuse box by bending it downwards at the centre and pushing the front of it backwards slightly. This will release the catches. Using a PZ2 remove the two screws from the fuse box. Next undo the side and base clips from fuse box and push it backwards to release it from the dashboard.




Step 07) Using a PZ2 remove the 5 screws holding the steering column cover on. Wiggle the cover and it should pop off.



Step 08) Using the PZ2 remove the screw hidden away behind the hazard switch. Disconnect the 2 wire connectors from the indicators and remove the indicators/hazard switch.


Step 09) Using a flat headed screw driver remove the passenger's air bag cover. Be careful of the clip on the left of the cover as on two separate covers I broke mine. You may need to stick a small flat head into the clip to release it. I believe the passenger's side air bag cover should be empty on a Puma, if not DO NOT disconnect the air bag yet. If it is, remove the 3 screws from underneath the air bag cover using a T30 (I'm not sure these actually hold anything actually).




Step 10) Using a 10mm socket remove all 10 screws holder the passenger and drivers seats in place. DO NOT remove the chairs yet.

If the bits above have not taken you 30 minutes, go make a cup of tea while any charge left in your air bag system discharges.

Step 11) Pull the plastic panels that sit between the front seats and the doors up and off to expose some wires (I believe these are for the pre-tensioners). Disconnect the wires and remove the seats.

Despite what Ford suggest, Slayllian has kindly pointed out that the steering wheel and horn/airbag do not need to be removed (step 12, 13 and 18). They can, if you want, be removed in situ with the steering column.

Step 12) Straighten your wheels and steering wheel. Turn the wheel 90 degrees anti clockwise and loosen the bolt behind the steering wheel using a 5.5mm socket (it stays mounted on the steering wheel). Turn the wheel 180 clockwise and repeat. Now straighten yours wheels again and lock them into position.




Step 13) Pull the drivers air bag / horn off. Remove the yellow air bag wire behind it. If you have a passengers side air bag now would be a good time to disconnect all of that too.


Step 14) Disconnect the other end of the the yellow air bag wire (behind the ignition barrel). Also remove the cable ties, etc.


Step 15) Remove the screw that holds the PATS transceiver on around the ignition barrel and remove the transceiver.


Step 16) Pull the bonnet release leaver down and pop the wire end out of the leaver. Next pull the back of the wire down and out from underneath the ignition barrel. You may need to wiggle it and/or use a flat head screw driver for leverage.



Step 17) Disconnect the wiring block of the left of the steering wheel (it's for the horn I think).

Step 18) Using a 15mm socket remove the centre bolt from the steering wheel. Unlock the steering wheel and wiggle it lose to remove it.



Step 19) Using a 13mm socket remove the bolts on the left and right of the steering column.


Step 20) Get on the floor, look upwards and follow the steering column backwards until you find the first bolt, it should have a clip around it. Using a 13mm socket and a flat head screwdriver for the clip remove both. Next, push out the nut end of the bolt, this seats partially within the joint and will stop the steering column being released.


Step 21) Give the steering column a pull and a wiggle and it should pop out of the chassis. It might be a bit stiff though so don't knock yourself out with it.


Step 22) Using a flat head screwdriver remove the triangle blanking cover from the left of the centre air vents. Next, using a PZ2 remove the screw from behind it and the two screws above the rev meter and fuel gauge. Pull the silver panel forward, be careful of the 2 (I think) clips at the bottom of the silver panel, you may need to stick a flat head in them to release them. Now remove the wires from behind it and remove the panel.



Step 23) Using a PZ2 remove the 4 screws that hold the rev meter/speedometer panel to the dash. Once removed, pull it forward and remove the wire connector behind it. To remove this connector push the notch down and lift the clip up. Now remove unit.





Step 24) Using a T40 remove the screws you uncovered in step 02.

Step 25) Using a T30 remove the 3 screws at the top of the dash near the window.




Step 26) Using a 10mm socket, from underneath where the steering column was, remove the bracket holding the dashboard to the chassis.


Step 27) Using a T40 remove the bolts securing the dashboard to the floor of the car. The dashboard has what appears to be 2 legs on it, which are bolted with two T40 bolts to a 2 legged stand. This stand is bolted to the floor of the car with another two T40 bolts. I believe TIS recommends removing the two upper bolts. I would recommend removing the two lower bolts (this will help you when refitting). The picture is of the upper bolts not the lower bolts...


Step 28) Tip the dashboard forward as far as possible. You need to try and get behind it to undo some screws but all the wires and cable ties will hinder the process. It may help to remove some of these cable ties as you try to tip the dash board forward (particularly the 2 on the bottom near side of the dash).


Step 29) With the dash pulled forward, use a PZ2 to remove the 7 (i think) screws from the back of the air vent pipe. Next look inside the radio slot, at the back there's a little black screw, remove that too. Once all 8 screws are out remove the air vent pipe.



Step 30) Now that the air vent pipe is removed you can unclip the wires that were underneath it. The wires running along the top of the dash are mounted onto plastic fittings which are designed to hold them in place. The wires and holders should pull off the dash.

Step 31) The dash is now ready to be removed. It's fairly heavy, contains sharp edges and may snag on the carpet so I advise that two people remove it.



INSTALLATION

As always, installation is the reverse of removal. Some notes though:

1) The clips that hold the wire mounts in place (in step 30) don't work very well. This makes re-fitting the wire and the air vent the most difficult part of installation. The clips work by opening up inside of holes in the dash as a pin is pushed into them from behind. Push the pins out of the clips using a flat headed screw driver. When remounting the wire holder, push the pins back in using your fingers.

2) The screws behind the air bag / horn should be re-tightened to 5nm.
 
Thanks, has pointed out some bits I didnt realise I needed to do to get mine out.

I'll try and get pictures to add to this.
 
Wow - a lot of effort has gone into this! Superb work - I'm sure many will appreciate this. :eek:k:
 
Cheers for the feed back guys! :)

I've got pictures to add reechard, it's just taking ages for me to write. I'll get the pictured up once written though :)

Also guys if you spot any mistakes please let me know! It'd be nice to make sure I've wrote the process correctly and got the correct size tools.
 
Thanks for the guide, the hanes manual was a bit vauge, will be removing mine this weekend if i get the chance :thumbs:
 
Nice one slayllian. Let me know if you pick up any mistakes while you do it. Also, there may be a few pictures worth taking, I'll add mine, you may be able to take better ones...
 
Top guide! I followed this to remove mine. Yeah no worries I will put some stuff up to go alongside this guide in the next week :thumbs:
 
Didn't notice any mistakes, but mine seemed to have slightly different fittings and some extra ones as well, I think that's because its an earlier build. I might do a separate thread for earlier models? or just pop it in to the guide im doing at the moment for interior removal?
 
Nice one mate... Well If you want to PM me amendments I'm happy to add them... Same with pictures...

What extra fittings did you find?
 
Yeah no worries m8, I will message all pics I have taken and then you can decide which ones you want to add, umm not sure off the top of my head, seem to remember there being more than 10 securing screws around the fascia in mine, but the haynes manual was the same as yours, maybe I just have a funny car lol? It seems to weirdly have more bumper fixings than in scubasteves guide also, maybe ford just decided to save money on later cars?
 
I may just be talking bollocks! I will check tonight if I get the chance just to confirm any differences I found. I tend to go at things a bit like a bull in a china shop, but I did take pics and notes at least this time! lol :grin:
 
slayllian said:
It seems to weirdly have more bumper fixings than in scubasteves guide also, maybe ford just decided to save money on later cars?

Mine had an extra fixing on each side of the bumber compared to steve's too... I was wondering if he's had not been replaced at some point, dunno if he had the car from new... I never put the missing ones back in to be honest though, they seem fairly redundant and just slow down the process of getting the bumper on/off...

Btw, how did you find the job? Did you have much trouble getting the wiring harnesses back onto the dash under the air vent pipe? Mine were a nightmare :(
 
haha, thanks for that mine is going back on tomorrow if all goes to plan, so dreading it a little! :(
 
Excellent guide, thanks a lot mate, i got my dash out with no problems. Thankfully it's not going back in as its a track car, i quite like the way it looks with the Wiring loom exposed, all i need to do now is to fashion up some of support frame for the instruments.
 
I could only get so far working this out for myself before having an emotional breakdown. Much appreciated 6 years on! :grin:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top