Opening the dash

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Van
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Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
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Opening the dash

Post by Van » Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:44 am

Once you've done it it's fairly easy but you need to know where the screws are. These pictures tell you the story.

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under the top of the cover are two screws in front of the display unit
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left and right under the dash you see two screws
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the fan switch and the blind with the flickering led can be easily taken out with a small screwdriver
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the switch cluster can be slided out by moving towards the side window
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only on the left side are two screws, then move the dial unit left and towards you
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unlock the two main connectors, the grey flat cable leads to the info display selector switch, by moving out that switch you can disconnect the grey cable at that end

If the screws don't come out easy be careful not the pull off the front panel as you may break the mounting holes.
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

dxi310
480 Newbie
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Location: Poole Dorset

Re: Opening the dash

Post by dxi310 » Fri Jul 17, 2015 11:46 am

After many months I decided to tackle the bulb replacement in the push button heater controls on my celebration and following a search found this thread

I can but say that this job that i had put off for so long was suddenly extreamly easy and took no time at all

Thanks Van for a detailed explanation on how to tackle this job and thanks to the Volvo 480 Club Europe for a great forum

Dennis

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volcar16
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Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:07 pm

Re: Opening the dash

Post by volcar16 » Wed Oct 26, 2016 9:33 am

I'm currently doing the same job removing the instrument cluster, on the dashboard I've so far removed fan switch, clock, info centre switch, alarm light, demist/fog light switch - Does the rotating headlight knob pull off? Do I need to remove it get dash surround off? Instructions are a bit vague.... It's showing no signs of coming off and I don't want to pull any harder if it's not meant to come off :D
1995 Volvo 480 Celebration 244/480 (owned 20 years)
2002 Volvo C70 T5 Coupe (owned 16 years, featured in "Classic & Sportscar" magazine, May 2021)
2009 Mercedes A160 (the sacrificial car used for work protecting the Volvos :D )

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jamescarruthers
480 Is my middle name
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Location: Cambridge

Re: Opening the dash

Post by jamescarruthers » Wed Oct 26, 2016 11:22 am

You need brave pills, then you pull the rotary headlight switch, yes.

Its not the knob, but the whole assembly that comes out, by the way

Image
1987 Volvo 480 ES, 507274, 217 - Red (Ness)
2006 Citroen C6 Exclusive 3.0 petrol/LPG
2008 Mini Cooper convertible (Mau)

Previous 480's:
J123 CFU -- ES
J449 MNL -- ES auto
D864 CPV -- ES
L691 JFC -- Turbo
F70 MNR -- ES
H858 FGV -- Turbo auto
E981 KHM -- ES (509849)

Alan 480
480 Is my middle name
Posts: 1489
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2011 9:03 am
Location: Aberdeen

Re: Opening the dash

Post by Alan 480 » Wed Oct 26, 2016 11:54 am

remember that you need to remove the three rocker switches first , can be tricky (well I always do) and then the whole tumbler light switch will 'ease' out , mine is actually a wee bitty loose due to numerous attempts to fix the speedo :-(
Alan

480 ES 2litre 'Celebration' ? , C30 1.8ES, SS1

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AleksanderHugo
Started learning about 480
Posts: 54
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2016 7:13 pm
Location: Lodz, Poland

Re: Opening the dash

Post by AleksanderHugo » Wed Oct 26, 2016 12:19 pm

jamescarruthers wrote:You need brave pills, then you pull the rotary headlight switch, yes.Its not the knob, but the whole assembly that comes out, by the way
I think that the proper way of removing the round light switch is to remove the knob first. Then it is possible to press two small plastic "levers" which release the switch, which can be easily taken out afterwards. I do like that and no pills are required. However, depending on the state of the dashboard and the switch, it may be possible to remove the switch at once without detaching the knob :rofl:

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volcar16
480 Newbie
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:07 pm

Re: Opening the dash

Post by volcar16 » Wed Oct 26, 2016 4:55 pm

Thank you for the info gents, much appreciated, I shall proceed with pulling it a bit harder then. The dash to my knowledge has only been apart once before in the 15 years I've owned the car, (for info centre bulb), so I imagine the switch is quite happily settled in to it's role of turning on and off the lights and is not used to this unforeseen tugging. :D
1995 Volvo 480 Celebration 244/480 (owned 20 years)
2002 Volvo C70 T5 Coupe (owned 16 years, featured in "Classic & Sportscar" magazine, May 2021)
2009 Mercedes A160 (the sacrificial car used for work protecting the Volvos :D )

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jamescarruthers
480 Is my middle name
Posts: 2501
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2003 3:19 pm
Location: Cambridge

Re: Opening the dash

Post by jamescarruthers » Wed Oct 26, 2016 5:24 pm

It is quite scary each time, to be fair!
1987 Volvo 480 ES, 507274, 217 - Red (Ness)
2006 Citroen C6 Exclusive 3.0 petrol/LPG
2008 Mini Cooper convertible (Mau)

Previous 480's:
J123 CFU -- ES
J449 MNL -- ES auto
D864 CPV -- ES
L691 JFC -- Turbo
F70 MNR -- ES
H858 FGV -- Turbo auto
E981 KHM -- ES (509849)

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volcar16
480 Newbie
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:07 pm

Re: Opening the dash

Post by volcar16 » Wed Oct 26, 2016 6:17 pm

So far with removing switches, I'm actually surprised how resilient the dash is as it always appeared to be cheaply made, Volvo seems to have put some thought into how everything comes out again with recesses down the side of things to allow prising out again. :o
1995 Volvo 480 Celebration 244/480 (owned 20 years)
2002 Volvo C70 T5 Coupe (owned 16 years, featured in "Classic & Sportscar" magazine, May 2021)
2009 Mercedes A160 (the sacrificial car used for work protecting the Volvos :D )

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