HOW TO: Removing Protege Dash

[Dpwhitehead1]

Let me explain this to everyone intersted in something like this.

This task is a huge pain in the ass. HOWEVER, it's definatly possible. i would do a how-to on it, but i got NO pictures during my removal. so i'll just explain the best that i can.before you do anything. remove your battery, and wait about 20 mins to allow the power to discharge?a word..i have no idea. take out the radio.(mine was already out)Anyways, then allow yourself about 2 hours of good work time.

(IT'S IN GOOD FORM THAT ALL BOLTS YOU TAKE OUT, YOU SHOULD PUT RIGHT BACK WHERE YOU CAN.I.E-seats, grounding bolts etc.)

First off you want to remove your speedo cluster. which you all should know how to do, just a series of screws.

next, there's a panel on each side of the dash that you'll just need to remove, it allows for side access to wiring and such. pull those out.

following that, remove the front 2 seats.4 bolts, on the bottom of each seat, you'll see.

Next, you're going to want to remove the passenger air bag. get under the passenger side dash, and you'll see a clip hanging, it's yellow, this is the passenger air bag power cord i suppose, unclip that.Go to the top of the dash w/ some kind of flathead screwdriver, and pry up the airbag. It's only held on by clips.

that's a lot of work accomplished. next are the hard parts.

take off the center console, which is held on by 2 screws and 2 clips I THINK. could be 4 screws.mine was personally taken out to begin with.lol.

then, you're going to want to take out the steering column. now, keep in mind you're not taking it ALL the way out..just unbolting it.So, get under the drivers side of the dash. Under the gas pedal i believe, there's a cover, pry this up. under that there's a boot, roll that up the shaft of the column. Now, there's a bolt, i believe it's a 10mm nut, loosen this, and pull up on the column, it should pop out.

next task is a tedious one. there's TONS of wires connected everywhere. disconnect these.. all of them. also, they're clipped onto metal in every which way, pull these out. they CANNOT stay connected to ANY metal. remove all ground wires.

following that, you will be removing the bolts that hold the metal bar in place.(which consequently, holds the dash on this) there's 2 bolts to remove on each side of the dash(where you pulled the panels off earlier) remove all 4. THen, there's 1-2 bolts on each side of where the dash hits the frame(covered by the console)

By this time you'll realize that the dash can move about. get a buddy and pick it up, take it out the front/rear doors..doesn't matter. ic oudln't take it out the front doors cuz i have lambo doors. IF it doesn't come out fully, remove any existing bolts you need to. and i can assure you, you probably didn't get ALL of the connections. sometimes they're hard to see.


to take off the top of the actual dash, you can do so now, because you've got it out in the open.

good luck.

 

[Dpwhitehead1]

bump for anyone intersted in this.

 

[wannabe]

not a bad write up. got any pics?

ps. moved to the how-to section

 

[DiS]

good job man. Props on the info! (thumb) Very helpful info. I always wanted to switch my whole dash board console to a one-color dash as mine is two-tone.

 

[Dpwhitehead1]

not a bad write up. got any pics?

ps. moved to the how-to section

i can go take some pictures..sometime soon. and see what i come up w/. but, it's already pulled out..so. we'll see.



and Dis, that's why i took mine out. i wanted one straight black or something.

 

[DiS]

i can go take some pictures..sometime soon. and see what i come up w/. but, it's already pulled out..so. we'll see.



and Dis, that's why i took mine out. i wanted one straight black or something.

oh nice, you're thinking "DiS's Red Square" way (lol)

 

[Simplejohn]

Mazda Protege Dashboard removal and shift cable replacement

I wanted to thank you for the outlined instructions. My son bought a 1999 Protege and had a fender bender in which the core brace, the hood, the condenser, and radiator were all buckled. Once I got into it I found that the shift cable had broken at the plastic support just above the rubber bellows jacket. With your instructions I was able to replace it over the weekend. I wanted to offer a few additional insights for any readers.

The note about removing the instrument panel was key to the dashboard removal. There is not just the connectors to be dealt with; there is a mounting bolt hidden there. You can remove the two on the left and the two on the right side of the dash, but if you don't get this one you are hosed.

On the 99 Protege I did not have to take the passenger air bag out to get at the yellow cable connector; I was able to disconnect it after removing the glove box.

Additionally, I decided on the username Simplejohn because there was no way I could remember where all of the connectors, push pins, screws, and bolts went after a couple of days. The only way I could do it was labeling each thing that got unscrewed, unpinned, or disconnected with an alphanumeric code on masking tape. It was tedious but one piece with an "A1" went on one connector end and another on the corresponding connector end and so forth and so on. Reassembly was done in reverse. Reassembly is much faster, but you need to inventory the two pieces of tape by sticking them to the door as you go so that you don't miss anything.

With the dashboard out of the way I was then able to work on the shift cable replacement. There was a module for the air bags (yellow female connection site) mounted on a steel platform. That had to be unbolted and removed. Next the heating/air conditioning ducting had to be unscrewed and moved several inches out of the way. I also had to get under the hood and disconnect the heater inlet and outlet hoses for the coolant circuit into the cabin to allow the movement of the ducting.

I disconnected the end at the transmission by removing the odd shaped stainless steel clip with needle nose pliers. I removed the end from the stick shift by hand. It is a little bit delicate as the substructure below the stick shift is plastic so be careful (by disconnecting the end at the transmission and the clip near the air filter I had a little slack in the line to help inside the cabin at the stick shift handle). Next I followed the cable forward from the shift handle and cut the carpet at the windows around the heater duct base.

With a socket I was able to reach behind the ducting from the drivers side and undo the two nuts on the posts holding the firewall mounting flange. The cable assembly required two people to remove it, one pulling from inside the cabin and the other guiding it through the engine compartment to the firewall to the person in the cabin.

I bought a new cable at the dealer for about $108 total. Installation is done in reverse fashion. I had to be careful with all of the twisting that could potentially occur. Once you have it feed through to the transmission be sure to install it onto the shift lever and lock it in place with the stainless steel clip. Then inside the cabin confirm you do not have the cable twisted within its jacket. We did this by hand until it "felt" right. The other end then gets installed at the shift handle, then the flange with the "up" arrow correctly oriented gets bolted on. Then the re-assembly in reverse alphanumeric order gets underway.

Good luck

 

[slavrenz]

+1 on disconnecting the battery before removing the air bags. A buddy of mine got a concussion because he was stupidly trying to remove an air bag with the car battery still connected. Long story short, it went off, and he won't be trying that again.

 

[ScratchNSniff]

Excellent write up...exactly how I did mine...

 

[ScratchNSniff]

Going to. E doing this in the next week or two...will gladly take pics if there is interest...