Fixing a disconnected slider...

Sometimes the sliders for the internal air temperature, air direction or air re-cirulation cease working. You may notice that the slider moves more freely but still clicks. If this is the case, don't be alarmed - you don't have to dismantle the whole dash!

Start by removing the safety island. To do this, lift up as shown below. I don't recommend using a tool as any scratches left will be very obvious.

Removing the wiring and place the island safely out of the way.

Free the two screws shown with a TX15 bit. Take care not to drop these down inside the dash.

Push the front vent unit forward as shown.

Rotate the vent up at the front so and keep pulling. Be very careful not to snag the illumination bar.

The whole vent assembly will now come free from the car.

You can now access the workings of the air handling system.

You can see that each lever (with the exception of the fan speed) has a platic pin which is used to push a wire back and forth. Sometimes the wire eye can work free from the pin. In this case, the direction selector has been affected.

Once you have reconnected the offending selector, operate the slider a few times to check that it doesn't work free again. You could put a small self-tapper in the top of the pin in order to stop this. Alternatively, you can bend the wire so that the eye is as low as possible.

Note: If your direction selector has stopped working for a while, be careful when you test as switching it to the front position will blow a load of dust in your face!