Hi all,

I can bend all the little flaps up but 1 on the left handside. It's been bent in too far and I'm having trouble getting the little bugger out. I've tried prizing a screwdriver behind the side (between the dash and the sled with no joy, theres not enough space.)

Has anyone got any handy tips or tools to try?

Cheers,

Raas

If you decide to use a Dremel with a small cutting wheel to cut the tab away at its root (last resort only), make sure to cover up the docking connector so that the dust from the cutting doesn't contaminate the connector pins.

And by the way, sometimes when I've done this, it just took a lot of working at it with a screwdriver (from the inside of the sled) until I finally got enough "bite" on the tab to do it.

I don't know what kind of car you have, but is the dash plastic (the part that the tabs are attached to) removable? Sometimes you just unscrew a few hidden screws and the whole assembly pops off without trouble. Then you can get to everything from the back. It makes installations and deinstallations a lot easier if you know how to remove the dash. Have you got a Crutchfield Master Sheet for your car? Can you order one?

hmmm.....I haven't looked into removing the dash yet. But after spending an hour with every kitchen utensil under the sun, I think its time. I have a Peugeot 306 with a plastic dash, I'm sure the Haynes manual will point me in the right direction.

Excuse my ignorance....whats a Crutchfield Master Sheet?

Excuse my ignorance....whats a Crutchfield Master Sheet?

Crutchfield is a mail-order car stereo merchant in the US. They are very popular. The master sheet is something they send you that tells you how to install a stereo in your specific car. They are pretty good guides on how to take your dash apart and what tools you need. You get the MasterSheet for free when you buy a stereo from them (usually at list price). You can also just buy the MasterSheet here for $5.

Does Crutchfield ship overseas yet? Not sure what country Raas is from...

He's right, the Haynes manual should help, too. Sometimes it's pretty obvious how to take the dash apart, but on some cars the screws and clip points are cleverly hidden. In the latter cases, you could risk damaging the trim if you don't know the right way to take it apart. In those cases, documentation like those Crutchfield Master Sheets is critical.

Does Crutchfield ship overseas yet? Not sure what country Raas is from...

If it's the same Raas who posts on the mp3car forums, he's from the Netherlands.

Haynes manuals suck a fat hairy one. Ive done my share of hardcore engine work and well as just about anything else that can be done to a car. I would recommend the factory service manual for anyone that plans on doing anything other than an oil change for your car. The haynes manual is full of bad information, vague instructions, and piss poor pictures which suck. On a side note name the car here its a little project of my friend.

Are you sure you're not thinking of Chilton manuals? Haynes aren't great, but at least they don't have pictures that look like they were smudged in a photocopier.

I've found that Haynes is pretty decent, but the pictures seem to stop when the steps are the most difficult.

Try looping some strong, high tensile strength wire (maybe like picture-hanging wire) underneath the tab and using that to pull it up.

Try looping some strong, high tensile strength wire (maybe like picture-hanging wire) underneath the tab and using that to pull it up.

Heck, the grammar police got in ahead of me, I can vouch for the picture wire working!

The Haynes guy went to my school, and wrote his first manual there, the rumours were that he was either expelled or mutually agreed to go, the school didn't take kindly to being a mail order house! - nothing like it had been published before and he was inundated.

I think he's either a Sir or a Lord now, he's certainly a multi-millionaire.

I'm in the UK, not Netherlands

I've had another stab at it with a thin hand crafted metal skewer.....needless to say, no joy yet.

My bro is a merc mechanic with some pretty smart tools so I'll let him have a pop at it, if he doesn't have any luck then its time to take the dsh apart.

Ta