Replacing dash bulbs etc.

[jj007205 0]

Is there an idiots guide to replacing dash bulbs? Would like to replace all, including instrument cluster so its a known new set of bulbs. Maybe even use led replacements? 

 

Interested in how to safely remove said dash components too. Especially how to get to the 2? behind the heater control dials. 

 

Searched but did not bring anything up.

 

Thanks for any help. 

[Gohn 68]

just in case, you may already be aware of all this, and more besides

 

But I would urge a great deal of caution before taking the dash of any Australian 205 apart

and if its a well preserved example, times by two

 

unless it's preventing roadworthy or otherwise a carstopper, its best to leave it all in place

 

the 205 dash plastics are poor quality to begin with, not up to aust heat/UV conditions, and now 25+ years old

 

no matter how gentle your hands, lots of the fastening points will crack off as you remove and reinstall each component 

 

its difficult to impossible to find an epoxy/glue that bonds properly to the awful plastic, and there is nothing to bond TO with many of the screw points anyway

 

below is some tips for removing the cluster cowling, but its not to be taken as encouragement to proceed ! :

 

and the Haynes manual has some instructions but reading it may give one a false sense of security

 

CAREFULLY:

if its JUST the top cowling over the cluster, from memory I think its 4 pozi screws

one under the top little triangle

one under the larger triangle

and one each side under the dials face

but to get to the last two screws:

each of the 3 round dials pops straight out, grip pull straight out holding the face they slot into

then take out the two pozi screws either side on it and lift out

then under that is the last two screws mentioned above

 

the cluster cowling has two press in points at top right and top centre, it kind of presses in until clunk its snug

once screws and unplugged from these, slide it left, between the steering wheel and cluster

and place on a level surface in zero gravity

the cluster itself has just two screws, one either side and two locating tabs, one each L and R , and two locating tabs on the bottom

there are then 4 elec plugs along the top of the cluster, slide these off

and two at the back (pic shows the white one and the other one near MADE IN FRANCE)

the speedo cable is the last thing to disconnect, it has two little plastic clamps one either side of the spindle

carefully lever these off with a flathead

space is limited

 

once that's done you'll see the back as shown in pic

Its an Si dash, same as GTi

some of the bulbs are missing because they are obsolete , not applicable

and the small black light is one of the cluster bulbs in close up

it is actually a light fitting with a small 1.2V press in bulb

pull out the old one with fingers or something that wont break the bulb

if its blown it'll be grey usually

they're at auto electricians for about $1 each, so you could renew the whole lot if you want

 

 good luck

 

 

 

 

[DamirGTI 342]

Agreed , dash plastic bits are so brittle thus something is bound to break when you start taking it apart .. especially "down under" in such hot climate areas i can imagine how harsh it can be for interior plastic parts . 

 

If everything works , best to leave it as is .. unless it's well preserved car which spends time off driving hidden in the garage .

 

D

[205Rallee 59]

I did a couple of bulbs behind the fuel gauge and speedo and one behind the heater controls on my Rallye last year. Took it really carefully and slowly and didn’t break anything, but my car has lived in a garage for the last 30 years and the dash/plastics are probably in the best condition they could be. It was very stressful doing it as I knew it was a big gamble with little prospect of finding replacement lhd plastics. 

[DamirGTI 342]

Plastic repairs , such as bumpers and similar on newer cars are easy and kinda forgiving but these are often/mostly "ABS" plastic and you can "rework/shape" them with filler and paint to hide the repair , problem with the 205 dash plastics is because it's "PP" plastic which needs special glue which mostly isn't available aside from industrial use .

 

Cyanoacrylate ("super glue") , 2-pack epoxy glues and the likes usually available on the market simply do not work on a "PP" plastic - been there , tried the lot of them and failed miserably !

 

After some research there seems to be some that might've work on a "PP" :

 

https://pascofix.de/eng/webshop/show_special_sets/pascofix_3_set_3_x_20_g/?i=23&in=PASCOFIX 3 Set 3 x 20 g

 

 

Anyhow i gave up on glues , and instead using soldering iron (with adjustable temp.) , donor pieces of the same PP plastic cut in stripes or as needed shapes . And aluminum wire mesh (also cut/shaped as needed) for fusing into the plastic in order to join two cracked parts , making base/structure/support for various reconstruction parts mountings etc. , bridging holes for filling up with molten plastic over , structural reinforcement ..

 

Had to do major work on pretty much entire dash after last summer , as there where a lot of cracks all around and even some big holes as well . 

Luckily i managed to "stitch up" all the bits back , and made reinforcement on a lot of various dash places too .. so now it's nice and tight .

 

Save as much of the broken pieces you can ! as then it'll be easier to perform the repair ..

 

D

 

Edited February 17, 2021 by DamirGTI

[jj007205 0]

Thanks, I have been warned. Motivation is to change all the bulbs including the ones missing behind the heater controls. Cannot see how to remove that backing plate easily. Any hints?

 

Damir, Any pics of your repair handiwork? 

[DamirGTI 342]

Heater controls - one by one grab and pull out round heater control adjusting knobs , once removed you'll then see few screws (three if i remember) which holds the backing plate onto the base .. unscrew and simply pry off the backing plate , then you'll have accesses to the illumination bulbs on the heater control base .

 

 

Pics of the 205 dash repair ? if so , no sadly i haven't made any during that repair .. i had some where i repaired crashed bumpers , (plastic) headlight mounts and similar on newer cars but i lost the lot of my picture database when my HD went bust . Lately i seldom take pics when i work on something , seems like "getting old and can't be bothered" !

 

D

[jj007205 0]

Thanks for that. 

 

Pardon me for being daft. Trying to replace this light (Arrow) hence appear to need to remove the 'backing plate' to fix 'missing light' holder? Or perhaps the globe fits in with holder? Looks like it does? Will swap and verify with other when I can get to it.

 

Edited February 17, 2021 by jj007205
typo

[jj007205 0]

Damir, likewise do something and then realise, should have taken pics for later 

[DamirGTI 342]

I blame technology ! these days , just one wrong connected cable or an active short is enough to trigger you're entire PC database into - now you see me now you don't .

Problematic that is , if you don't have practice making other means of your data storage/copy other than simple pile up on the HD .

 

Photography was my family job for years/decades , until the digital came along

 

 

Back on the subject ... a bit unfortunate find . Yes , the bulb holder will need to be installed at the back of the backing plate .. for which you'll need some contortionist skills .

 

It is doable without dismantling the other parts of the dash , but very fiddly .. you can push the upper part of the backing plate inside till the two small white pointy tabs on the sides clears the outer black dash housing , and then carefully push+rotate the backing plate inside the dash so that you have it at an angle and you'll be just about able to slide the bulb holder at the back and lock it on the base plate ...

 

Thin arms or good needle nose pliers will make it easier . Also , when you tilt it at an angle see if its more convenient/easier to insert the bulb holder from underneath trough holes in the dash central part for the switches . 

 

What ever you do , be very careful , as this "operation" is likely to end up with some dash plastic cracks as a result . Don't tilt the backing plate at an too much angle , as there's locking mounts for the heating control cables at the back of the backing plate as well as the plastic cog wheels .

 

D

Edited February 17, 2021 by DamirGTI

[DamirGTI 342]

If it turns out to be too complicated or you end up frustrated to the point of breaking surrounding plastic parts in order to reach the back side , simply solder the bulb directly onto the heater control board without the bulb holder .. and apply some hot glue afterwards so that the vibrations cannot loosen it off .

 

I've done them interior/dash bulbs like so on some other cars makes/models and - all good , no problems . (mainly because some are "fancy by design" with special bulbs and bulb holders , often than not prohibitively expensive supplied trough dealer network only)

 

D

[jj007205 0]

Ha haa, will try to source a body with long, thin, double jointed, abnormaly developed arms, fingers to help in this endevour 

 

Seriously, thanks for tips; will heed warnings.

 

[DamirGTI 342]

The wife/girlfriend , or preferably kids helping hand should do the trick  (if reluctant to help , bribe as needed with sweets or an piece of clothing !)

 

 

D

[Gohn 68]

On 2/18/2021 at 5:36 AM, DamirGTI said:

the 205 dash plastics is because it's "PP" plastic

I never did know what kind it was - thought it was the ABS stuff you mentioned

does the PP stand for Polypropylene or some other ?

(Peugeot probably got a bunch of ground up lawn furniture, milk bottles, and flyscreens and "recycled" it into their dashes with a bit of black or beige tint)

 

I've a couple dashes in need of some major rebuilding so now I'll go lookin for something I can cut into strips too

wasn't planning on doing it immediately but do you have any pics of that aluminum mesh ?

and do you bend it to shape using normal old pliers ?

[DamirGTI 342]

Yes  , "PP" is Polypropylene , thermoplastic .

 

Guess those where the years of most common use of that type of plastic , or it might've been better/easier/cheaper for use in injection mold made parts .

 

Most of the "low end" range cars , cheaper ones , form the 80's and 90's suffer from same problem with the dash plastics cracking .. it's the sun/heat/UV rays which dry out the plastic , evaporating the oils from the plastic and thus making it harder/brittle glass like prone to cracking .

Also summer parts of the year seem to me a lot severe nowadays with regards to temp. than what it used to be before , at least me think so it tends to be unbearable - hate it , simply can't stand the heat !!

 

Covering the entire dash with some white fabric and punting the windshield sun shade during the summer season seems to help (a bit) , as well as spraying/coating the dash periodically with cockpit spray .

Thinking about tinting the windows , i had a few cars before with tinted windows and i remember that too helped .. if anything was less hot inside during the summer time .

 

You can get "PP" plastic welding rods/sticks , for use with the plastic welding heat gun ... but i usually use just the bits of the same plastic as an donor material for making the repairs .

 

Alu. mesh , i cut with the sheet metal scissors in shapes/sizes which i need , then i bend it with my fingers or just regular pliers .. it's easy to twist/and bend  , you can make all kind of shapes .

 

Looks like this : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wire-Mesh-Aluminium-Medium-500mm/dp/B004RC6C8G

 

Important bit is not to overheat the plastic ! you need it up the temp. just so it melts , if it's starts smoking/burning it'll be no good .

 

D

 

 

 

[Gohn 68]

cheers damirs,

 

thanks for the tips