Changing Heater Resistor In Mk2 Fabia Without Gloveboxes Help Please!

[johntech]

Hello Folks

My son has a 2009 Fabia HTP and the heater resistor has failed.

All the guides I can find for  dismantling  feature cars with proper glovebox with lid.

My sons car has two openings, no lids.  I have examined the assembly and can find no obvious screw heads.

Does anyone know how to gain access to the resistor unit in this model please.

Any help gratefully received.

Many Thanks John

[Tech1e]

Can you post a photo of the dash area please?

[johntech]

Hello

Here is a picture of the dash board.

No signs of any screws!

Thanks for any help in advance.

John

[Tech1e]

IIRC the pen holder section pops out and the retaining screws are behind.

[FAB59]

When you take out the pen holder bit, make sure you pop it out by pulling from the bottom, because it sort of hinges into the dash at the top.

[johntech]

Many Thanks for your replies.

Here are a few notes for anyone else attempting to change the heater resistor on this model!

First remove the pen holder if you pull at the bottom it will break.  Use a small screwdriver to lift the catches at the bottom and hinge out upwards.

Remove the passengers airbag, three large torx screws ease the assembly out of the top of the dashboard I did not unplug it, just place on the top of the dashboard.

Have a peer in the hole and locate the resistor pack. Squeeze the locking tabs on the plug and pull out the plug. grasp the unit and turn anticlockwise to remove.

If the replacement is a non Skoda part you may find it a very tight fit i.e. won't turn to lock into place. I filed a little off the tabs and applied a tiny amount of grease to the tabs, it then fitted.

Push in the plug till it clicks and test OK!

Carefully replace the airbag assy replace the three torx screws clip back the pen holder Job Done!

Edited 9 August, 2014 by johntech

[Ianskoda1]

Thanks for your info on this John, job completed successfully, as you'll see from the scratches I still had bother getting the pen holder off. Have attached a pic of the clips mentioned. Those torx screws took a bit of loosening as well. :clap:

[daddy@jimmywallace]

Many Thanks for your replies.

Here are a few notes for anyone else attempting to change the heater resistor on this model!

First remove the pen holder if you pull at the bottom it will break.  Use a small screwdriver to lift the catches at the bottom and hinge out upwards.

Remove the passengers airbag, three large torx screws ease the assembly out of the top of the dashboard I did not unplug it, just place on the top of the dashboard.

Have a peer in the hole and locate the resistor pack. Squeeze the locking tabs on the plug and pull out the plug. grasp the unit and turn anticlockwise to remove.

If the replacement is a non Skoda part you may find it a very tight fit i.e. won't turn to lock into place. I filed a little off the tabs and applied a tiny amount of grease to the tabs, it then fitted.

Push in the plug till it clicks and test OK!

Carefully replace the airbag assy replace the three torx screws clip back the pen holder Job Done!

do you have to remove the airbag, can your hand not take out the resistor with airbag in place?

[Tech1e]

The airbag has to come out. There is no access with it still installed.

[Jayelem]

I'm finding these threads on resistor pack replacement really useful, so thanks to all posters.  My daughter's car has the open top glovebox/penholder arrangement, so in the description above, is it only the three torx screws under here that hold the airbag, or do the side panel screws need to be removed too? 

[Tech1e]

Just the three retaining bolts under the airbag.

[Jayelem]

Job done and working now, so thanks again for all the great information.  Some points I learned along the way: 1).   I disconnected the battery and even though I suspect it's probably not necessary, I made sure I was earthed before starting.  I also turned off the airbag with the key.  2). The pen holder was a pig to remove, next time, I'll slide some thin plastic under the clips (about 30mm in from each end) and pull from the bottom with a bent piece of thin steel.  3). I bought a 1/2" drive torx set with long and short bits, this made access and unscrewing a doddle.  4). Before I took the bolts out, I blocked up any gaps they could fall through.  5). I used a small magnetic stick to mike sure the bolts didn't fall anywhere.  6). There was no way I could get the airbag cover to pop up with only pressure on the lugs.  The airbag is retained with some hefty tangs, and I lifted the edge of the cover then pushed the tangs in.  7). I couldn't see how the airbag cable locked to its connector, and going for least interference, I left it connected but propped it out of the way.  8). The insulation covering everything need to be removed, but it comes out in one piece.  9)  The resistor itself came out without a fight, and there was no hose to remove.  10) Refitting the resistor was fiddly, but OK.  11). I held the bolts onto the Torx bit with BluTack to enable me to get them located  just by holding the bit, not the bolt.  12). The airbag just snaps back in. 13). I marked the position of the pen holder clips, just in case I ever need to remove it again.  14)  The only thing I needed to do after re-connecting the battery was reset the clock.  Total cost:  £15 for the resistor, £5 for Torx bits and less than one hour, treading very carefully.

[Walia]

I have just been removing the pen holder of my car. Let me add a couple of comments to what has been said in this thread:

Attempting to remove the pen holder with screwdrivers or metal tabs was only good to scratch the parts. I did not achieve anything.

Instead I cut a few strips out of some thick plastic from some blister packaging. I bent a couple of those plastic strips a bit to try to be able to reach the pen holder metal tabs/catches.
The plastic strips worked much better, and allowed me to lift the pen holder metal catches without damaging the parts.
It took quite a bit of patience though. Sliding the plastic strip between the pen holder and dashboard it was relatively obvious where the tabs are.
The next thing was to get the tab a bit lifted up so it released the pen holder from that side (it took a few trials). When that happened (the pen holder freed from that side) I left that strip of plastic strip in between the dash and pen holder tab to ensure the tab did not catch again in the dashboard edge. And moved on to the other side.
​(Note that the pen holder tabs are in the bottom side. And as some said before, after you release those metal catches, the pen holder hinges a bit in the top side and then you can remove it downwards. See pictures below)

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[peterhebburn]

Very helpful thread , but I'm really having trouble removing the 3 airbag retaining screws . I've even used my impact driver on them to no avail . Any help would be gratefully received . Thanks

[Walia]

​

Very helpful thread , but I'm really having trouble removing the 3 airbag retaining screws . I've even used my impact driver on them to no avail . Any help would be gratefully received . Thanks

​

Hi, regarding the 3 airbag Torx (30) screws. They may be a bit tight for a screwdriver, but any ratchet should give you enough lever [They are specified to be tightened with a torque of 9Nm (Newton meters), so power tools seem like a very bad idea].

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​A bit more description:

​Once the 3 torx screws are removed the airbag trim cover will still be attached to the dashboard. You will need to lift it from the top. In my case I started from one corner, with one wide flat screwdriver to do a bit of lever to be able to reach the tabs, and another flat screw driver to push in each tab to release it.

Tab by tab until all tabs in the front were released. Then the whole airbag assembly could be removed. I did not unplug the airbag, I just placed it out of the way.

​The insulation trim is in the way, you will need to lift it in the side where the blower resistor is (in my case, the car is the continental european model, so on the left)

​You will quite clearly see the resistor and its connector (Note that this is a continental Fabia Mk2 classic - 5451F4):

​The connector can be unplugged by pressing its 2 tabs and jiggling it a bit:
​

​Then turn the resistor 45 degress counter clock wise and lift out.
​
​Replace in the oposite order.

​In my case I replaced it with a BEHR/Hella 5HL 351 321-301. The part is as original as it can be
​

[Albie10]

Really Helpful Thread. I have been looking for this information so will give it a go. Quoted £148 at a garage!

[mrgf]

On 12/8/2016 at 12:01, peterhebburn said:

Very helpful thread , but I'm really having trouble removing the 3 airbag retaining screws . I've even used my impact driver on them to no avail . Any help would be gratefully received . Thanks

 

 

I would be VERY careful using an impact driver here... Think about it-Airbags go off in an impact! Think of them as a homeless persons unwashed backside...You really don't want them blowing off in front of your face!

[Albie10]

On 03/12/2016 at 12:56, Walia said:

I have just been removing the pen holder of my car. Let me add a couple of comments to what has been said in this thread:

Attempting to remove the pen holder with screwdrivers or metal tabs was only good to scratch the parts. I did not achieve anything.

Instead I cut a few strips out of some thick plastic from some blister packaging. I bent a couple of those plastic strips a bit to try to be able to reach the pen holder metal tabs/catches.
The plastic strips worked much better, and allowed me to lift the pen holder metal catches without damaging the parts.
It took quite a bit of patience though. Sliding the plastic strip between the pen holder and dashboard it was relatively obvious where the tabs are.
The next thing was to get the tab a bit lifted up so it released the pen holder from that side (it took a few trials). When that happened (the pen holder freed from that side) I left that strip of plastic strip in between the dash and pen holder tab to ensure the tab did not catch again in the dashboard edge. And moved on to the other side.
(Note that the pen holder tabs are in the bottom side. And as some said before, after you release those metal catches, the pen holder hinges a bit in the top side and then you can remove it downwards. See pictures below)
 

 

 

 

[Albie10]

Followed the guidance on this thread and managed to replace my resistor and saved ££££s. Thanks to all who added information and pictures.

[Ben_Smith]

Thanks for the help chaps! All I would add is that I think you should ensure everything is plugged in before reconnecting the battery. I connected the battery after I got the resitor in, but before I reconnected the airbag, to heck that it was workig. This means that I now have an airbag fault on the dash that I need to clear. So don't do that! (I believe that's he cause anyhow).

 

My take of getting the penholder out is as follows: I struggled using plastic to unlock the clips in the pen holder, but this may have been because I wasn't using anything to leaver it out..

. Instead I inserted a bit of plastic from a milk bottle between the dash and the pen holder as instructed above. The plastic was folded over and I was able to get a screwdriver into the gap using the protruding fold of plastic as a protective sheath. This also took a bit of brute force to lift the holder with my other hand to make space. I then managed to lift the base of the holder enough to get the clips clear of the lip and I was able to leaver the base out using the head of a large nail as a hook. It worked well and didn't do any damage, difinitely a fiddly job though!

[Djcj]

Thank you to every single person who contributed to this.

 

Just to add my experience, I used a bent credit card to remove the pen face and had it off in about 90 seconds with no damage.

 

I bent the credit card about a third of the way up it so was like a lever if that makes sense.

 

[leepy71]

Brilliant thread the advice worked a treat for me today, Thank you but, fan still not working. Is there a way to take the fan out without removing the dashboard ? I'm booked in tomorrow to get it done and my mechanic friend doesnt have a clue .....

[Jocko]

The mechanic that did mine just lay on the floor and worked up under the dashboard.