Dashboard removal - upper and lower

[Chris078]

So after yesterdays debacle(see below), I've found that the wiring from the stop lamp relay is all fried. no idea why they linked it up to the dimmer switch, but there it is.

Obviously. now it needs replacing and the only way to do that is to remove the lower dash so I can get at the wiring where it goes down to the fuse box.

I've had a poke around, as far as I can tell, to remove the lower part of the dash, it seems that the upper part has to come off as well.

Does anyone know of any good tutorials/guides for removing the dashboard?
Google so far has led me on a fruitless search.



[debacle: Went to auto electrician to get a post soldered to the alternator so I could install a tacho. Alternator fought every step of the way. all the bolts were seized and had to be drilled out.
Once we finally got it apart, it was pretty obvious it was not going to go back together: bearings were shagged and there was lots of corrosion and the oil seal had split.


After a search, a new one was sourced and installed. started up to test that it was working/charging etc and was perfect.
shutdown, paid the guy, started up to leave and poof! cloud of smoke comes out of the centre box where the dimmer switch is and the instrument lights went out.

pulled the box and it was the wire coming from the dimmer switch had all the insulation burnt off. I unplugged that line from the dimmer switch. Car still ran, assumed the fuse had blown, so I drove it home.

As it turns out I was very lucky. Something weird is going on. The fuse (neither the one behind the dimmer switch that gives it power, nor the one in the fuse box) did not blow.

that line must give power or something to the stop relay, because now I have no brake lights (the washer motor which is also on that fuse still works)

pulled the fusebox today to check the fuse and discovered the burnt wiring on the stop relay.

sigh.

tl;dr should have left it alone, messed with it and now it's going to be a nightmare to fix.

[Dervish]

This probably isn't even half the nightmare you think it is.

Two green wires exit the fuse in question; one to the wiper motor, the other to both the stop switch (not relay) and the dimmer switch. You've obviously damaged this wire. The solution - unless you want to rip the dash off - is to cut out all of the damaged wire that you can see and leave the bits behind the lower dash there. Then simply run new wires, which the dash can stay intact for. Simple.

[Chris078]

This probably isn't even half the nightmare you think it is.

Two green wires exit the fuse in question; one to the wiper motor, the other to both the stop switch (not relay) and the dimmer switch. You've obviously damaged this wire. The solution - unless you want to rip the dash off - is to cut out all of the damaged wire that you can see and leave the bits behind the lower dash there. Then simply run new wires, which the dash can stay intact for. Simple.


Sadly not. The green wire is intact. It's the other wire (I think it's meant to be yellow/white but I can't really tell as the insulation is gone(burnt) and the wiring chart that I have is unreadable.) that goes from the from dimmer switch down to the stop switch that has burnt.

It also has taken out numerous wires with it when it burnt (not surprising seeing how tightly wrapped together the wires are). plus all the wires going to and from the stop switch appear damaged (maybe the switch failed)

To be safe, I need to access all the wires so I can see what has been damaged. I don't what to drive around with a ticking bomb in my dashboard.

borrowing a good camera this weekend, I'll take some shots to show the damage.

[Chris078]

Anyone have a part number for the brake check relay?

not sure if that was the problem, but I figure it can't hurt to replace it.

also, the amount of mud that was behind/under/around the dash was nuts.
Not going to recognize my truck when it doesn't smell like central qld!:D

[Chris078]

Found the short. Very lucky the truck didn't burn down, it was right in the middle of the bundle.

Now to fix it and melted mass of wires around it.

Current state of my Defender - Imgur (http://imgur.com/FU1N96S)

Dash Removal (http://imgur.com/vA8tvGe) http://imgur.com/vA8tvGe (http://imgur.com/vA8tvGe)

[BadCo.]

Are you going to insulate your firewall seeing as you have gone that far? :)

[Chris078]

Are you going to insulate your firewall seeing as you have gone that far? :)

yes/no.
I'm not a fan of putting that sticking insulation on the firewall. It seems to invite trouble from a water ingress point.
what I am going to do is stick some on the back of the dash where it presses against the firewall, replace the foam insulation that was inside the dash ( where the air-flow from the heater core goes) with proper insulation.
-side note, underneath the shelf where the mid-dash electrics go is a thin piece of metal that screws down to cover the heat duct.
Land rover very nicely decided to powder coat that metal. In true Land Rover fashion, they didn't prime the metal first! mine was rusted to hell. took it and a few other parts and got them sand-blasted and re powder coated.

If I have enough of the insulation, I'll do the transmission tunnel as well.
There is a small amount of rust in the seam from the toe box to the firewall that I'm in the process of fixing before i bolt everything back together. The weather in Brisbane has not been co-operating. Either been too hot or too humid to paint, and now it's threatening to rain:mad:.

Good news is I've finished the wiring and it appears that everything still works!