cheekymonkey Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 So my poor Supra has been under-utilised the last couple of years and I am now starting to get her back to tip top condition. Engine is spot on thanks to Paul Whiffin and I've tasked myself with cleaning up the electrical mods and fixing the central locking which seems to have gone AWOL this winter. After much fiddling this weekend most of the interior of the car is out and I've started the job of removing the dashboard, because after looking at the location of the central locking ECU there is no way my big hands are getting to it. I am considering doing the heater matrix as a precaution while the dash is out - anything else I should consider doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Heater matrix hard pipes & any seals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike33 Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 I painted the long strength bar behind the dash as it goes a rusty colour! You don't see it but at least you know you have done it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Raven Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Plugs plugs and plugs. I ended up having to Change the dash loom due to monkeys. Missed a plug and it caused all manner of strange things to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheekymonkey Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 Oh, plugs... that's actually what I am stuck on at the moment. Trying to unplug the dash loom from each side of the car is proving to be difficult! It's the orange one on the passenger side and the blue one of the drivers side that seem to be attached to the car in some way. Grrrr! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Raven Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 The two control boxes bolted onto the dash passenger side almost caused me to set fire to the whole lot. total PITA both on and off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheekymonkey Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 The two control boxes bolted onto the dash passenger side almost caused me to set fire to the whole lot. total PITA both on and off Did you need to remove them before the dash was able to come off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Doom Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 When I swapped the central locking ECU I could get to it by removing the glove box? Are your hands like Hellboy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheekymonkey Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 When I swapped the central locking ECU I could get to it by removing the glove box? Are your hands like Hellboy? Do you mean upper or lower glove box? I have a facelift and have an airbag instead of an upper box. I removed the lower box today and can see the red locking ECU behind the loom but I can't see how to get it out. And yes my hands are large and unwieldy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendo11 Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 I thought the central locking ecu was the one under the drivers seat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Raven Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Did you need to remove them before the dash was able to come off? Yes the control boxes are bolted to the dash and attached to the loom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Doom Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Do you mean upper or lower glove box? I have a facelift and have an airbag instead of an upper box. I removed the lower box today and can see the red locking ECU behind the loom but I can't see how to get it out. And yes my hands are large and unwieldy It was a few years ago now but I think I removed both (mine doesn't have a passenger airbag). From what I remember the ECU slides onto a metal bracket/clip type thing. With some wiggling/fiddling it came out. There are two different ECU's btw. A red one and a blue one. Both have the same connectors and do the same job but I think the blue is an updated version. The red ones seem to die during really cold winters. I did have a picture of them both side by side open somewhere but I can't find it. You could see that the capacitors were different. I fitted a blue one from Keron and the car has been ever since Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Doom Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 I thought the central locking ecu was the one under the drivers seat? On mine it was between the passenger wing and the glove box. You have to take the glove box out and you can reach around to get at it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheekymonkey Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 Yes the control boxes are bolted to the dash and attached to the loom I would have thought if they are attached to the dash loom they would be able to remain in place as the whole thing comes out, since we are disconnecting the dash look from the rest of the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheekymonkey Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 It was a few years ago now but I think I removed both (mine doesn't have a passenger airbag). From what I remember the ECU slides onto a metal bracket/clip type thing. With some wiggling/fiddling it came out. There are two different ECU's btw. A red one and a blue one. Both have the same connectors and do the same job but I think the blue is an updated version. The red ones seem to die during really cold winters. I did have a picture of them both side by side open somewhere but I can't find it. You could see that the capacitors were different. I fitted a blue one from Keron and the car has been ever since [/quote Good stuff mate thanks. I know mine is red even though it's a facelift car. If I can't source a blue one I will see if I can be fixed either by replacing caps and / or reflowing the solder joints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Raven Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 I would have thought if they are attached to the dash loom they would be able to remain in place as the whole thing comes out, since we are disconnecting the dash look from the rest of the car. Sorry i was a bit unclear, the boxes are fixed the dash itself, they are then connected to the loom via clips. So you have to unclip them to be able to get the dash out unless you are trying to take the loom with the dash in one go? in which case i dont know how that will go as the loom is clipped in to the crash bar in places. I spent ages trying to get my ape hands in there to unclip the buggers, then the same time again trying to reconnect them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheekymonkey Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 Sorry i was a bit unclear, the boxes are fixed the dash itself, they are then connected to the loom via clips. So you have to unclip them to be able to get the dash out unless you are trying to take the loom with the dash in one go? in which case i dont know how that will go as the loom is clipped in to the crash bar in places. I spent ages trying to get my ape hands in there to unclip the buggers, then the same time again trying to reconnect them Oh dear, yes if that is the case I will have problems. I am following the instructions from Jezz's heater matrix guide and the way I read that is suggests the loom comes out with the dash. Further backed up my seeing that the loom is quite firmly fixed to the inside of my dash! Will have to have another look at things in the week. Might try re attempting to access the locking ecu via the top and bottom glove box to avoid all the aggro! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Raven Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 It's possible mine was a bush fix as the loom I took out was tampered with hence its removal. If there is a guide that says otherwise then go with that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Raven Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Found this pic I may be mistaken as I only remember the loom like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Raven Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 (edited) Just had another look at some pictures and I got my loom out without removing the dash from the car. Just loosing it. Looking at the guide it seems my loom had been fixed in a none oem way. Just my luck no wonder I found it so hard to the bugger out [ATTACH=CONFIG]194570[/ATTACH] Edited January 24, 2016 by The Raven (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike33 Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Hi matey the complete dash comes out with the wiring looms! If you have any questions as I've only just put it back in!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheekymonkey Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Thanks for the hints guys. Bring on the weekend where I can play some more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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