Hi,

I am wanting to know how to remove the centre console as I need to replace the cigarette lighter, the car went into the garage for the accelerator pedal and I mentioned that the cig lighter didn't work (only found out when I needed sat nav, thank god for modern phones!) they had a look and said that the metal clips on the bottom had broke off but it wasn't covered under warranty.

So to cut a long story short I am going to replace the lighter socket myself, got a new one for £5.50 only problem is I dont know how to remove the centre console and once thats away how easy it is to swap the lighter socket?

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks

Did you check the blade fuse in the fuse panel inside the drivers side of dash? look up fuses in your manual and it will give you a diagram of which fuse does what.

And you can jam something in and pull the old socket out, will break the clips but you wont need it anymore. Most likely fuse though id say

Thanks for the replies,

I've checked the fuse, when the sat nav wouldn't charge i went and bought a pack 15amp i think they were n swapped it but still no joy.

If i just rag it out though its not going to damage anything to stop the new one fitting properly though is it?

There's two torx bolts under the rear ashtray/cupholder unit right at the back, depending what you have fitted. That frees up that side. The front end is clipped on the sides down in the footwells, and there's another 2 torx under the ashtray unit. Might be more than those 4 though. Trial and error.

You don't need to remove it completely to get at the lighter. Undo, the bolts as said above and one in the centre of the area under the ashtray. Unclip the gear lever gaiter at the bottom and pull up out of the way. You can then pull up the rear of the console and see the lighter. The advantage of not removing it is that you don't have trouble lining up the bits at the front when trying to refit it. Whilst you're at it, it may be worth taking a wire from the existing lighter to the front/side/etc of the console and fitting another lighter socket. This means that you don't have the satnav wire draped across the handbrake. I put a multi plug version on the passenger's side of the console at the front, so can use satnav, camera etc etc without problems.HTH

Thanks guys,

At least I know I'm not going to break anything and have to pay for something else! Just waiting for it to be delivered now :-).

You don't need to remove it completely to get at the lighter. Undo, the bolts as said above and one in the centre of the area under the ashtray. Unclip the gear lever gaiter at the bottom and pull up out of the way. You can then pull up the rear of the console and see the lighter. The advantage of not removing it is that you don't have trouble lining up the bits at the front when trying to refit it. Whilst you're at it, it may be worth taking a wire from the existing lighter to the front/side/etc of the console and fitting another lighter socket. This means that you don't have the satnav wire draped across the handbrake. I put a multi plug version on the passenger's side of the console at the front, so can use satnav, camera etc etc without problems.HTH

Careful as some of these things will consume power. If it's the same on all Fabias, the cig lighter is not switched by the ignition, and having such a thing hard wired will kill your battery in a couple of days, maybe sooner.