The radio cage is NOT easily removed. It has four tabs which are *well* secured in place. The plastic must be flexed (thankfully it didn't break) between the SID and radio. So, what I did was removed the whole SID/cup holder to make room. The SID holder has about five metal clips that need to be flexed upwards and finally a few other metal stoppers. It was not that easy. The plastic needs to be flexed to give them way. Once that's removed, you can flex the strip of plastic (careful! very delicate) between the SID and radio to get the tabs to budge. The two top ones are hardest. Once that's done, you then can remove the fascia ONLY AFTER YOU POP OUT the AC vents on each side. This was the most frustrating thing of all. It is SO well in there you need to pull with a lot of force. What I did was put three twisty ties through the grill of the vent on the right side (side close to passenger) and pulled hard while holding the tube it attaches to from the back through the radio hole. It finally (after much force) gave way. I am surprised nothing broke. Then you need to do the same thing on the left side, close to the window. Unfortunately, there it's much harder since there is no access hole to grab onto the back of the tube. I pulled with the twisty ties method until it finally very satisfyingly gave way. Amazingly nothing broke. I did the required work with the odometer, changed EVERY bulb including the mileage bulb (had to get that one from the dealer...). The bulbs for everything else are 2721 which pull out of the plastic bases. There is only one grey base which houses a 2W bulb. I replaced it with a 2723 bulb which is the same size, just 2.3W, a small difference. When it came time to put everything in, the hardest part was popping the AC vents BACK in. On the right side it wasn't bad as again, I held the tube through the radio hole and I pushed from the outside until it popped in. On the driver's side, however, it was a bit of a pain. I have to loosen the lower kick panel (a bunch of screws need to come out, the Tech2 connector loosened, an expanding rivet and the fuse box also needs to be pushed out of the way. Once a bit of room was made, I held the tube firmly and pushed until it popped in. There was no other way than to loosen what I just mentioned. It's important that it pops in otherwise you'll have squeaks and rattles forever. Overall, this was most certainly not as easy as it was made to sound. If I had to do it again, it'd be easier since I know the tricks to it but it definitely doesn't simply and easily just pop out. Careful not to break anything! Very frustrating job...make sure to change all bulbs so you don't have to come back in there. Why didn't they use LEDs?? Bender Posts in this Thread:
Post a Followup
The content on this site may not be republished without permission. Copyright © 1988-2012 - The Saab Network - saabnet.com. This is a moderated bulletin board - Posting is a privilege, not a right. Unsolicited commercial postings are not allowed (no Spam). Please, no For Sale or Wanted postings, SERIOUSLY. Classifieds are to be listed in The Saab Network Classifieds pages. This is a problem solving forum for over 250,000 Saab owners, so expect to see problems discussed here even though our cars are generally very reliable. This is not an anything goes type of forum. Saabnet.com has been a moderated forum since 1988. For usage guidelines, see the Saabnet.com Mission and Purpose Page. Please remember that you are not anonymous. Site Donations Your address is: 54.224.79.93 - Using CCBot/2.0 - Logged. |
(# 268)
(
