Need to remove dash? 96 SE

[Spit]

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I have a strange sliding/rattling sound in the passenger side of my dashboard. As crazy as it sounds I'm quite sure that what I am hearing are kernels of hard corn that some how made it's way into somewhere that I can't get to...everytime I take a turn I can hear it slide. The noise has been there since I got the car used 18 months ago. While I was working on getting a defective aftermarket arlam system removed and the factory keyless entry working again I had the toe panel on the passanger side off and I found a handful of corn?

I have taken out the glove box liner and found & removed a kernel or 2. I also took out the trim strip on the front of the dashboard that butts up to the windshield. But I still can't get to it I Have also rermoved a lower access panel below the glove box..but again no luck in finding the kernels. I'm thinking it sounds like it could be below the passenger side airbag?

Any ideas welcome...but I think I need to remove more of the dash to get to where ever this corn is trapped... The car had quite a smell in it at one time and I wonder if a mouse carried the corn in somehow and died/rotted in the dash area. Anybdy have illustrated instructions on pulling a dash?

Spit

[Spit]

Update: A friend of mine who owns a body shop took a look at it, He tried to blow 175psi air through the vents etc. to blow what ever he could out... no luck! He told me that He thought that removing & replacing the dash is coded at 8 hours of labor..and that when he has to replace a passenger side air bag, he'll have it done by a mechanical shop rather than have his guys screw with them.. Big Job!!! He did offer to get me printed instructions for the dash removal....Looks like I'd be smart just to live with the noise.

Chuck

[BillBoost37]

Your dash is held in by the center console and about 12 bolts/screws. The average guy can do it alone in roughly one hour.

disconnect battery and wait 40 minutes.
Remove center console
Remove hush panels from bottom of dash
Remove glove box insert
Remove dash trim panel by windshield
Along windshield remove the 7mm screws (~5-7)
Remove dash trim panel and cover under steering wheel.
Lower steering column via 4 bolts holding it to dash support
On driverside under dash find the 2 bolts holding dash to structure of car and unhook the one electrical connector up against the side of the car that is clipped to the bottom of the dash.
Passengerside. Sit in seat, looking in where glovebox was located, looking left there are two 13mm bolts remove them, look right for two more, remove them. Under pass side unhook the connector like you found on teh driverside.
As I recall there one nut on each side underneath as well. Wiggle dash to locate them, remove.

Lift dash back about 1 foot and disconnect main electrical harness connector via the 7mm bolt that passes through it.

Get a friend to help you lift your dash out.

Once you get into it..this is as easy as it sounds. The air bag stays on the dash and is not a problem and does not need to be fussed with.

[imidazol97]

I think I'd take out the heater blower motor and try to us a piece of large plastic tubing, clear vinyle from Lowes, and try to suction up some of the kernals. Then I'd try having someone poke it down the defrost vents while looking through the windshield with a flashlight and poke in the heater vents at the bottom to try to suck the kernals into the plastic tube duct taped onto the end of my shop vac.

[Spit]

Thanks for both of your posts..I'm not sure that the kernnels are in the duct work...I never hear them hittiing the fan or anything like that ...just the side of them sliding from one side to another... I'm all for trying easy before difficult, so I give suction a try, before I pull the dash. We tried compressed air through the air ducts any nothing happened...maybe suction can help

Spit

[white06lacrossecxs]

A few years a go I bought my first Park Avenue ultra. A '92. From the first day we bought it we noticed that air wasn't coming out of the panel ac ducts that well. I saw a couple of Fruit Loops shoved in a crevice between the IP and the A Pilar. So I tried to tackle the job and couldn't do it and took it to the dealer. The mechanic, who had worked at the dealer about 8 years at the time couldn't believe what he saw. He said it looked as if about a half a box of Fruit Loops had been put into the IP vents. What an expensive mess. $538. They had to replace a few parts while they were down their. Plus a part they broke and wouldn't fess up to. ($70 bucks for that alone + Labor)

[StraTact]

Thank you BillBoost37 for your detailed instructions to remove my 97 Bonneville's Dashboard!

I couldn't find any information on this elsewhere.

I'll follow up on my progress.

[95naSTA]

For what it's worth, Bill hasn't been active on this forum for a long time.

[StraTact]

Thanks everyone for your help.

I finally re-assembled my dash and completed the restoration of my 97 Bonneville, and then drove up Rt 93 to get an inspection sticker, when I got into an accident which essentially totaled my vehicle! Arrgghh! My first accident since I bought it new in 1997!

Anyways, I posted it for sale on the Parts For Sale or Trade section of this website, and I'll accept the best Reasonable Offer for it.

It's loaded with some brand new parts, and some recently installed parts (within 5K miles). It only has about 178K original miles on it (it's only a baby!). You can see all the details on the Parts For Sale or Trade section of this website.

Cheers!

[StraTact]

Earlier, I assumed my crashed Bonneville had too much damage and was considered "totaled", but when I returned to the towing company where it was stored, I took a much closer look at it (underneath too) and realized that it wasn't "totaled" and decided to keep it and repair the damage! I also deleted my posting for my car as a "parts car" on the Parts for Sale or Trade section of this website. So I had it towed to an outdoor storage facility and was greatly helped by the Storage Manger (Rich) and the AAA driver (her name is Thyme) to push my Bonnie into the 10x20 storage bin for me to repair later.

One reason that I'm keeping it is that It's loaded with some brand new parts (Walker exhaust system with band-clamps, Curt rear bumper hitch, heater core & hoses, full-size spare tire, blower control module (BCG), body control module, and AIR LIFT Rear Air Spring Kit), and many recently installed parts (within the last 5K miles), and it only has about 178K original miles on it (it's only a baby!). Another reason is that I removed the lower side panels and carpeting to grind out all the rusted metal and then covered it with "Rust Bullet" (from Amazon) to help prevent it from rusting again, and then covering that with rust-proofing (from Harbor Freight).

Also, the car that hit me (Mitsubishi) was a total wreck because its front end was crushed in beyond repair. That says a lot about my 4x6 pressure-treated wooden bumper (covered with sheet metal, and then covered by the original plastic bumper cover) that I installed because I couldn't find a good rear-bumper reinforcement bar. My rear bumper looked hardly damaged at all!

I'd show pics of my wooden rear bumper reinforcement bar, and other reconstruction pics, as soon as I figure out how to show these pics in my Google Drive Bonneville reconstruction pics folder. I think all I need to do is set it's permissions to let anyone view this folder.

Anyways, I'll keep you all up to date on my re-restoration progress.

Cheers!