I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Interior
Hi all,
Unfortunately, as I’ve never worked on them before, I’ll be posting a fair bit regarding advice that many may find easy.
The electric windows on my car have packed in. So, after some googling, reading, and YouTube watching, I’ve decided to take the centre console off in order to try and clean the contacts (before I buy a new part unnecessarily).
I’ve undone all the screws, and am at the stage where I’m lifting it away. However, I can’t get the fuel/boot levers through the hole in the console.
It’s infuriating because every video I’ve watched, they do it with ease, but on my car, the gap simply isn’t wide enough.
I’m trying to learn as I go but I’m not looking for any trouble that involves me stripping the car just yet, and I’m at a loss as to why I’m struggling.
On an early car, it may have only come with the fuel flap release and not the boot so the boot release may have been added so the hole in the plastic is not big enough by design to allow both levers to pass through. Its just a case of wangling it around until you find a position the will allow them to fit. Looking closely at the photo, it does look like the plastic has been cut around the boot release.
You have a 1990 car, which shouldn’t have a boot release. Someone has retrofitted the release, but left the earlier console part, and somehow fitted the console. Probably they just pushed the levers down, which bends them, then pull back up.
You see how Mazda opened it up, then covered with a bit of rubber. Time to get the Dremel out and cut away plastic.
Looks like someone had already cut some back, and left wobby lines.
With a stubby screwdriver, you can actually release the window switch without removal of the console. Both windows dead? Check the fuse down by your right leg.
I wriggled it around a bit and it (only just) slotted out as I’ve seen demonstrated. I didn’t realise until it was pointed out that part of the plastic has been cut out.
Anyway, I continued, spent 20 minutes cleaning the contacts and put it back together. All works fine!
So clearly I’m a mechanical genius
In a pure sense of irony, it went back together 4x easier than it came apart, but at least all is sorted.
I probably should’ve mentioned in the OP that I tried the fuse and it was completely fine, hence why the switches were my next best guess.
