JS2004

Sorting out my dash lights also - is it possible to replace the normal small sidelight bulbs, with the long prongs and green sheath thing with LEDs? The bulbs on mine blew, but not the orange LEDs, so I just want to swap out the dead bulbs for something better. Im not sure if theres a certain voltage.. ampage or whatever that should be used (electrical newb).

Mines over on Venture co

Certain.. dont you mean the majority? This one made me laugh: And the southpark episode of WOW is ace.. Timmeh ! haha

Haha its not bad for a casual mess around. Dont be alliance

Explains why the thing didnt move then haha. Almost cracked the dash getting it out as there were a few extra bolts I didnt notice. I just dont think I would remember where all the looms went on the dash, however now I know how to get it out, should be easier if I decide to do it in the future Can see light at the end of the tunnel at least..be glad when its done (and it works)

For being a mechanic he should suffer an automatic 2 hour penalty added on lol. Cheers for checking Homer, seemed as if I did have all the bolts off that I could find. Spoke with Jezz too and now I have to remove the plates on the bulkhead for the air con and the water pipes and the whole thing should pop out, then bang in the new matrix and bobs your uncle. Really glad I put masking tape labels on all the plugs though. I wanted the dash retrimming or flocking, but after seeing how big / fragile it is, dont think I will risk shipping it. Plus probably need to strip the looms out of it too. J_J.. your crazy if you enjoy doing these lol. There will be no "next time" for me

Homer.. damn you!! lol. I am currently totalling 8 hrs and not done yet. Not sure what you mean by take the whole heater box out.. is that the thing secured by 4 bolts at top and three below? I cannot find the 4th unless its the one far right, that seemingly isnt part of the system..

Ah crap, that means a mobile callout to drain air con then I guess as it aint going nowhere at the moment. Ive called it a day for today, will have round 3 with it tomorrow. Might have to wait till Monday though to get that gas drained. Im really not sure which pipes to disconnect for the air con. Tempted to put it back together and just be cold lol. So close yet so far.. Thanks for the help so far though guys, really really appreciate it!

Excellent. Thanks for the help so far guys - need a bit more though please! We have progressed - Dash is out. Now stuck on the next part (wondering why I actually started this in the first place now). The heater matrix box, according to the walkthrough. 4x 12mm bolts top, 3x10mm bolts in the footwells. I have removed 3 of 3 of the 10mm ones, I have removed 3 of 4 of the 12mm ones. Cannot find the fourth 12mm one.. I have drawn red cirlces on the pics to show the locations of where the bolts were. Any ideas where the missing 12mm one is hiding? Also- once the bolts are out, do I just pull the whole of it out? Is there a way to get at the matrix without pulling that lot out as it wont budge. Loosing hope with this quite rapidly *edit - There are two bolts holding in a plate within the engine bay. I had disconnected those pipes previously, to stop coolant flowing to the matrix. However, do I need to remove these bolts from that plate? (pic added) The system still has air con in it also, Dont want to drain the gas unless its needed as its only been in a few month.

Ok we have released the dash but its held in by some sort of plug.. which is connected to a hose.. help! Im trying to get a picture, but its the small horizontal vents to the right of the cigarette lighter, behind that is a square piece of plastic which is connected via a pipe, this pipe runs backwards. Anyone know what that pipe is?

I did an inverted roll and found the bugger (I.e. I was upside down under the steering column). Thats a stupid plug in the first place but I have now freed it. The entire blue plug comes off of the white bracket, and you have to unclip the blue plug going into it also.. its more of a connector block than a plug. Got all the relevant looms unplugged, taken the bolt out of passenger vent, the two in the footwell passenger side, the drivers side well screws x2 and the nut x1 right of steering column. Also got the two center bolts out. Dash should come out now but bloody refuses to. Must be a trick to this lol

If you have a photo handy that might be of great help - I am also concerned about hwo I plug the thing back in given the difficulty getting it out.

I can get the left side of the plug out, but that is connected to a bunch of wires that goes seemingly back in, towards the engine. The one to the dash just wont shift. Ill have a go with the white band thing as I thought that was possibly the case yesterday, but ran out of light. Another day of shaved knuckles inc!

Going to have another go on this tomorrow morning. If anyone knows how to get that plug out, would be appreciated. I have got taken out all the screws I can find to loosen the dash, but that wire is keeping it in place.

Hi guys, Ive been trying to remove my entire dash since this morning following Jezz's guide, however I am finding myself a little stuck. There is a bunch of wires on the drivers side footwell, connected up to a bunch of plugs, which appears to be attached to the dash itself. (They are the plugs near the driver footwell fuse box) I cannot for the life of me remove one of the blue plugs and was wondering if anyone knows of a trick, or an alternative way to free the dash. I have pictures of the offending plug. The left side of it I can unplug, but this seems to run into the front wing and not the dash. The right side is what is attached to the dash but it wont unplug! Anyone know if this thing can be unplugged? Pics.. Also I turned my speedo cluster over and noticed two holes where I suspect bulbs should be (Might explain lack of lights for fuel gauge). Should the two holes circled have bulbs? and anyone know the part numbers?

Looks daunting, im a complete electrical noob. Is it possible to disturb the needles and upset the calibration whilst doing this, or would that only occur if I actually removed the needles?

Headlights look quite decent too.. surprised its not being broken.

Theyre quite awesome. How is the installation guide coming along?

Do they come with some sort of conversion coupling? I think mine are the plug and twist type.

Guys.. might be a daft question.. but when replacing heater matrix how do I stop the airbag coming out of the closet in glorious in your face fashion...? Is it as simple as disconnecting the battery?

Hola chaps, I am looking at buying a jack and some axle stands. Halfords do a kit for £60, but not sure if its any good : http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_241361_langId_-1_categoryId_165727 I was contemplating buying that but thought id have a look elsewhere and there seems to be a lot on the market. For axle stands the choices are pin or ratchet. Are ratchet ones as safe as the pin ones, last thing I want is the mechanism failing. The ratchet ones I was looking at are here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-64431-2-Tonne-Ratchet-Style-Stands/dp/B0001K9Z50/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1294788369&sr=8-9 My car is not lowered, would this jack be ideal? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Liftmaster-Multifunction-Entry-Profile-Trolley/dp/B002QO3W7Q/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1294788369&sr=8-4 If anyone has a jack and / or axle stands that they swear by let me know, I dont want to spend hundreds but at the same time id rather spend the right amount and buy once than end up with a piece of junk. Cheers

They are supposedly doing this to fix the mess made by the previous government.. but I am not holding my breath for the 'mess' ever being fixed, or the price dropping by 20p/l in the future. We will pay whatever the price is at the pump because we have to. Cant imagine the damage this is doing to the haulage industry in the UK. If a truck comes from a European country do they have to pay any additional to bring their operating costs in line with a UK company? The public transport system would probably have great difficulty if say 20% of those using private transport switched to public. Its not just the petrol they make money from though, less cars is less road tax, less parking revenue etc.. give it a few years and we will be looking back of the 'good old days' of £1.30 / l..

Is there no regulations around insurance companies? These quotes all seem to be varying a lot, in some cases more "qualified" and less risky drivers it seems are being hammered hard compared to some other newer drivers. Seems like insurance companies dont even need a balaclava to rob you blind. Wouldnt be as bad if they paid up when the $%$t hits the fan, but i have three friends who all got hit by other drivers and two ended up having to settle 50/50 and the other is going to just settle outside of insurance due to financial penalties of going through insurance (for about £200 quids worth of damage). For the OP.. try calling the brokers and speaking direct to them. When I got my renewal from flux it had gone up from £1890 to £2050. I rejected the renewal and got a quote from elephant (the cheaper of the three under Bell group). I then called flux back and quoted what elephant were going to charge - they asked me to hold and then came back with a price after about 10 minutes, which was 50 odd quid cheaper than elephant. Its worth a shot. You could probably try more local brokers too.. or put it on limited milage on the policy, increase excess etc etc.. Good luck with it dude

Mine was 1890 fully comp at 28, it was my first car which is why the premium was so high - and that was limited milage policy of 3k miles / year. Excess was either 600 or 800. Granted I hadnt long passed my test - but that was the damage, post-25 mark. As Josh mentioned a UK TT is cheaper to insure but they cost a bit more than a J-spec N/A.

At that age, with 0 NCB your going to struggle. Even moreso if its your first car? Dont forget to mention its imported. Expect quotes in excess of £2k with a meaty excess..