Dash Board Removal Thread

[Broseph]

Last question if anyone can help.What does the black connector in the photos connect to? Kind of hard to see but it’s by the white connectors attached to the main harness. Everything turns on that I can tell and no errors.

It’s behind and above the glove compartment close to the passenger door.
Appreciate any help

 

[Broseph]

Yep, that was it. Transceiver connector was missed (small green connector on top towards radio). Got it started and system bled. Thanks Joe!

One last question. I have 3 of the large gold colored bolts left over and can’t figure out where I missed anything. Is there a blow up diagram of the dash and crush bar that would help identify these?

They’re the ones De-Marko showed by the passenger and driver door (1 each ), 2 under the defroster cover, and 1 behind the plugs where the doors close.

Sorry for blowing up the thread. This can be disregarded. It was four bolts and I forgot the transmission tunnel mounting holes for the center of the dash. Hate having left over screws on big projects

 

[GreyWisent]

I'll be tackling this job this weekend ... and maybe the next.

I have 2 questions (Gen 2):

1. I think I already know the answer to this, but need to check: can the heater core be removed WITHOUT removing/disconnecting the A/C Evaporator Core? All the instructions I see involve removing the Heater Core And Evaporator Core Housing, which imply removing that evap unit too. I would like to avoid disconnecting my A/C as much as possible, since I'm only changing the heater core.


2. How much stuff can I remove ahead of time and still drive the car (safely)? I'm assuming just the floor console and some of the radio.

 

[GreyWisent]

One more:

3. Also would like to avoid removing my battery (retraining the transmission and such). Are there any fuses I can remove instead? Although I know that de-powering the SRS involved removing the battery ground, so I might as well keep if off.

 

[joegr]

1. AFAIK, you will have to discharge the AC system
2. Not enough to be worth while. I doubt you would save 20 minutes.
3. Disconnect the battery. It's not a big deal at all, and the PCM will relearn quickly without you having to do anything special or different. It's automatic.

 

[GreyWisent]

Joe, yet again, thanks for always answering all my questions so quickly; you're of amazing help on this board!

It's automatic.

Hah! Made my day.

 

[Deleted member 28165]

Great thread. I was looking all over researching location of the instrument panel door actuator on my 05 LSV8. My panel vents won't open, and the DATC shows code 12 63. All functions of AC and defrost seem to be working fine. I have a complete procedure from the manual I found on another website, but was trying to avoid removing console and dashboard. I can look under the driver side and see the floor vent actuator only. This illustration of the back side of the dash doesn't show the panel door actuator, only floor vent and defrost vent (?). I was going to try and remove the inst cluster and lower steering column if needed and see if I could change that part only without removing dash panel completely.
Anyone have and idea where the instrument panel vent actuator is or if I can get to it without the assembly line level of dis-assembly?
Thanks for any helpful thoughts.

 

[joegr]

I think that it's on the upper right side of the evaporator/heater core box. It doesn't look like there's any way to get to it without complete dash removal. I haven't dealt with it, so I don't know for certain.
I would go to the local pick-n-pull junkyard and experiment on an LS there. Maybe you'll get lucky and find one that someone has removed the dash on already.

 

[Deleted member 28165]

Thanks, I was hoping for the left side, thinking the cluster removed would give me an access. I was thinking of pulling the glove box out to see what I could see. I also thought of the junkyard. I went on line to my local LKQ and saw pictures of six cars hoping one had the dash out but no luck. Sad thing about that is three of those cars looked better than mine.

 

[GreyWisent]

CASLS8, I'm still working on this and will do my best to help when I get the dash off.

In the meantime, here's the file you posted in #82, in image format for easier access:

 

[GreyWisent]

I have a question about the Thermal Expansion Valve (TXV) fitting:

How do I get that pesky bolt off (#9 in the diagram)?

It's the last thing I have to do under the hood to disconnect my dashboard/heater core housing. I can't get to it with a socket wrench because the wiring harness junction behind the intake manifold is in the way. It's also recessed into that TXV fitting, so an open ended wrench won't fit in there. I've tried an offset box wrench, but I only have a SAE version and I'm not completely sure of the size of that bolt head (it's either 9mm or 3/8"). Either way, I really do not want to round that bolt head, so I figured I'd ask for some tips from anyone who's done this.

I see it has a torx feature (female); I was thinking of putting a torx bit in it and using an open ended wrench to turn that. I don't have much experience with torx fasteners though and was wondering if that wouldn't strip faster.

Last resort is to move the wiring harness junction (behind the intake manifold) out of the way, but following SoalSoak's advice, I don't want to deal with that 3rd retainer that's probably less accessible than the TXV harness bracket bolt itself.

And lastly, do I need to hold the TXV and it's fitting in place when I turn that bolt. The one time I managed to grip the bolt the fitting was moving with it and I felt like I was inviting trouble.

Thanks!

 

[joegr]

I have not done it, but looking at it I think I would remove the intake manifold if I ever had to.
The wiring harness is not that bad, after the first few times.

 

[GreyWisent]

[...]I would remove the intake manifold if I ever had to.[...]

I hate you.

Thanks for the quick reply, as usual. Will report back with what I end up breaking.

 

[GreyWisent]

Anyone know the exact location of the engine bay bolts for the core? This part is almost as difficult as the dash with the tight space in the engine compartment. I want to make sure I’m removing the right fasteners.

In case anyone looks for this in the future, here's where the 3 "Heater Core And Evaporator Core Housing" nuts are (attached to the firewall from inside the engine bay). Mine were close to hand tight - I needed to loosen them with a wrench and then spin them by hand for them to come off the 2 inches of bolt. The passenger side one was a bit more of a problem since it was rusted (possibly from leaking coolant, which brought up some further questions).

All 3 are identical and look like a nut with a large 1.5" washer attached to it. They all have a wide rubber gasket underneath. One came off with the nut, the other 2 stayed attached to the firewall. 11mm size. 7/16" may work too, but it's a bit bigger than the nut.

I removed the engine compartment brace and the cabin fresh air inlet duct and insulator. Not sure if necessary, but the bolt in point 3 might be even more difficult if you don't.

#6 in the diagram

You can figure out the location of the bolts by looking at this image taken from inside the car (notice the two large bolt holes at the top and bottom corners of the square TXV opening).

[CREDIT]

Or this one, of the housing itself:

[CREDIT]

As you're looking at the firewall from the engine bay:
1. Immediately to the right (towards the driver side) of the heater 3 core hoses going into the firewall, between the heater core hose and the TXV. This one is the most accessible. 11mm socket wrench.
2. Immediately below and to the right (towards the driver side) of the A/C TXV (thermal expansion valve). Tie a string to an open ended 11mm wrench (so you can recover it if you drop it) and use that to loosen it. Then turn it by hand. You will likely drop the nut at the end, so I hope you have nimble fingers. I got lucky and mine made its way to the ground (washer and all).
3. This one is a bit hidden: it's on the firewall, behind where the A/C lines and the heater core lines first reach the firewall and bend up. See the pictures below. You have enough space between the firewall and the pipes from the top to attach an open-ended wrench to that nut and rotate it through 45 degrees. Mine was rusted, so I didn't want to risk rounding the nut. I went at it with a 7/16" ratcheting box wrench (didn't have 11mm, and the nut was also swollen from rust). The hard part was angling the wrench to fit over the bolt. If yours is not rusted, you can probably get it out by hand from here, but that wasn't the case for me - again, rust - so I soldiered on. At a certain point you have to stop and remove the wrench, since the advancing nut will be at a distance from the firewall such that the wrench wouldn't fit behind the hoses anymore. You should be able to overcome this by pulling the Heater Core And Evaporator Core Housing out a bit (from inside the vehicle), so the nut is up against the firewall again. But only if you removed the TXV bolt first. What I ended up doing was turning the wrench upside down. You can still turn it from the top with either a string OR (what I did) was move it with a long pair of hose pliers (which have a large loop at the tip); not sure how it works reaching from underneath the car.

After much fighting to just get 3 nuts off that gets the evaporator box out, it's finally out.

In the first pic one of the nuts that holds the box on is behind that rats nest of hoses, for the life of me I could not see what was holding the box up from coming out, so...if you do this, look here.

Here are my pics. You can notice the upside down wrench, in the middle of it all. Good luck with reaching down there.

 

[GreyWisent]

Great thread. I was looking all over researching location of the instrument panel door actuator on my 05 LSV8. My panel vents won't open, and the DATC shows code 12 63. All functions of AC and defrost seem to be working fine. I have a complete procedure from the manual I found on another website, but was trying to avoid removing console and dashboard. I can look under the driver side and see the floor vent actuator only. This illustration of the back side of the dash doesn't show the panel door actuator, only floor vent and defrost vent (?). I was going to try and remove the inst cluster and lower steering column if needed and see if I could change that part only without removing dash panel completely.
Anyone have and idea where the instrument panel vent actuator is or if I can get to it without the assembly line level of dis-assembly?
Thanks for any helpful thoughts.

View attachment 828570168

@CASLS8, are these "the droids you're looking for"?

Sorry, could not get the lighting right to focus both on the p/n and the surroundings.
These pictures are taken from the passenger side, below the dashboard, looking towards the centreline of the vehicle. Think of the angle you would get if you took a picture from the front passenger wheel well, aiming the camera to just above the stereo. Everything in the shot is on the RH of the car.

The foam you see at the bottom right of the image wraps around the heater/ac evaporator housing.
The black cylinder you see at the top left of the image is the passenger airbag. Below is is where the glove compartment starts.

Unfortunately, I can't really tell if taking the glove compartment out will give you access to remove it - there are metal dashboard structural pieces in the way. I will examine further, but the answer is likely no. EDIT: you won't be able to get to it from the glove compartment: the blower and the heater core parts are in the way.
Note that my glove compartment is still attached to my dashboard - haven't removed it.

I have a 2003 Lincoln LS Sport, and the part number that you see in the image is YW4H-19E616-CA. A simple Google search outputs all Jaguar parts.
The 19E616 p/n matches what is listed in the manual though: 2006 Lincoln LS Workshop Manual (and post 82, 85 here). Looking at Ford Parts Giant, the p/n seems to be XW4Z-19E616-CA.
It looks like those last two letters matter, and that 19E616A, 19E616B, 19E616C, 19E616D, 19E616E are all different actuators:
Genuine Ford Blend Door Actuator - FordPartsGiant
This one in particular is 19E616C.

Let me know if there's anything else I can help with. I'm planning on putting this thing back together starting tomorrow.

 

[Deleted member 28165]

EDIT: you won't be able to get to it from the glove compartment: the blower and the heater core parts are in the way.
Note that my glove compartment is still attached to my dashboard - haven't removed it.

Thanks, that answers the main question, what needs to come out. It looks like either removing dashboard or A/C heater pack would give the access, but both equally a pain. I was hoping for the radio, glovebox, or center console removed and a long arm would do it. With the A/C heater pack installed I can't get on top of it from the bottom. The junkyard said i could cut a whole in the top of the dash to get the actuator out but I told them I didn't need the actuator, I can buy a new one and just wanted to see where it was. Pulling the dash seems easier at this point after reading your thread.
Thanks again.

 

[Broseph]

That driver side housing bolt (2) was a serious PITA on first Gen.

I ended up following the service manual and loosening the wiring harness and wiring harness mount bolts (thick gauge bars that were probably for hoisting the engine)
on the back of the heads. Still didn’t have enough room.

Ended up removing the windshield wiper motor and whole armature assembly to get enough space to get my arm back there - another difficult job.

Did the same as you and loosened the nut, but unfortunately the coolant lines prevent you from undoing the nut all the way so I had to pull out the heater and evaporator from inside the car as far as I could to get loosen the nut and let it drop.

That one nut was 4 HRs of torture. But we’ll worth it with cold A/C all summer.

My advice to anyone who is thinking about tackling this in the future - Either really enjoy a good challenge and learning experience, or save your money up and pay someone else close to $2k, or just deal with the summer heat and move on to something else - it’s that difficult.

In case anyone looks for this in the future, here's where the 3 "Heater Core And Evaporator Core Housing" nuts are (attached to the firewall from inside the engine bay). Mine were close to hand tight - I needed to loosen them with a wrench and then spin them by hand for them to come off the 2 inches of bolt. The passenger side one was a bit more of a problem since it was rusted (possibly from leaking coolant, which brought up some further questions).

All 3 are identical and look like a nut with a large 1.5" washer attached to it. They all have a wide rubber gasket underneath. One came off with the nut, the other 2 stayed attached to the firewall. 11mm size. 7/16" may work too, but it's a bit bigger than the nut.

I removed the engine compartment brace and the cabin fresh air inlet duct and insulator. Not sure if necessary, but the bolt in point 3 might be even more difficult if you don't.

#6 in the diagram
View attachment 828570205
You can figure out the location of the bolts by looking at this image taken from inside the car (notice the two large bolt holes at the top and bottom corners of the square TXV opening).

View attachment 828570206

Or this one, of the housing itself:

View attachment 828570208

As you're looking at the firewall from the engine bay:
1. Immediately to the right (towards the driver side) of the heater 3 core hoses going into the firewall, between the heater core hose and the TXV. This one is the most accessible. 11mm socket wrench.
2. Immediately below and to the right (towards the driver side) of the A/C TXV (thermal expansion valve). Tie a string to an open ended 11mm wrench (so you can recover it if you drop it) and use that to loosen it. Then turn it by hand. You will likely drop the nut at the end, so I hope you have nimble fingers. I got lucky and mine made its way to the ground (washer and all).
3. This one is a bit hidden: it's on the firewall, behind where the A/C lines and the heater core lines first reach the firewall and bend up. See the pictures below. You have enough space between the firewall and the pipes from the top to attach an open-ended wrench to that nut and rotate it through 45 degrees. Mine was rusted, so I didn't want to risk rounding the nut. I went at it with a 7/16" ratcheting box wrench (didn't have 11mm, and the nut was also swollen from rust). The hard part was angling the wrench to fit over the bolt. If yours is not rusted, you can probably get it out by hand from here, but that wasn't the case for me - again, rust - so I soldiered on. At a certain point you have to stop and remove the wrench, since the advancing nut will be at a distance from the firewall such that the wrench wouldn't fit behind the hoses anymore. You should be able to overcome this by pulling the Heater Core And Evaporator Core Housing out a bit (from inside the vehicle), so the nut is up against the firewall again. But only if you removed the TXV bolt first. What I ended up doing was turning the wrench upside down. You can still turn it from the top with either a string OR (what I did) was move it with a long pair of hose pliers (which have a large loop at the tip); not sure how it works reaching from underneath the car.




View attachment 828570209

Here are my pics. You can notice the upside down wrench, in the middle of it all. Good luck with reaching down there.
View attachment 828570203 View attachment 828570204

e

 

[GreyWisent]

That one nut was 4 HRs of torture. But we’ll worth it with cold A/C all summer.

This is the most time consuming part of this job. And it eats at you too, because after spending hours removing 2 bolts, you feel like you accomplished nothing. If you do undertake this, you have to be very zen about it.

 

[Broseph]

And it eats at you too, because after spending hours removing 2 bolts, you feel like you accomplished nothing. If you do undertake this, you have to be very zen about it.

Pulling the core housing out after was a good feeling and, surprisingly for me, the entire job was one of those rare encounters where it was easier to put back together than tear apart.

 

[GreyWisent]

Again, in case someone looks over this in the future:

I have a question about the Thermal Expansion Valve (TXV) fitting: How do I get that pesky bolt off (#9 in the diagram)?

Torx T40 is what fits inside it. I used a torx bit with a box wrench around it (if you have ratcheting box wrench, it will save time) and I didn't need to take off the wiring harness.
There was not enough room for a ratchet + bit holder + bit in my case. It would be good to have a 5/16 bit rather than a 1/4" since that will probably give you a longer wrench.
10mm socket fits over the bolt head perfectly. However, the bolt head is tapered (rounded at the top) by design, so you will likely have a hard time removing it that way.
Torx to remove, hex to install?

(Notice the tapered hex head, presumingly designed so to prevent over-tightening)

I have not done it, but looking at it I think I would remove the intake manifold if I ever had to.

Managed to do remove it without messing with the intake manifold, BUT I think reinstalling it will be a different story. Not sure how I will manage to torque this down to spec. Since this is an aluminum fitting that holds a high pressure gas, it's something with a small margin of error that I wouldn't want to do by ear (too low and the gas leaks, too high and the thread strips).

I don't have much experience with torx fasteners though and was wondering if that wouldn't strip faster.

Not sure why I asked this, since I know the answer is that the cam-out torque for torx is much higher than hex. The max torque for T40 is about 40 ft-lbs, while a 10mm hex is less than half (and about a quarter for a 7mm one which would be the equivalent size).