anyweb
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2005
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- Sweden
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- www.niallbrady.com
- Your Mercedes
- c238,w120 (diesel)
it might seem crazy to have a post about this, but I just did it and it's not as straightforward as you would believe, hence the post.
While recently replacing my cassette tray for a more modern (and useful) bit's and bobs tray, I noticed that my ashtray has a bulb, ie: it should be lit when the main lights in the car are ON. I never noticed it before, but once I did, I now new it was a dead bulb, so I set about fixing it.
First of all, you'll need a bit of patience and some screwdrivers, both philips and flat head, plus of course, you'll need the replacement 12 volt 1.2 watt little bulb which you can buy in a Mercedes dealership.
Once you are armed with that and ready, your first task is to verify if your ashtray actually has the light or not, that's easy to do, open the ashtray and pop out the removable tray within it, if it has a plastic square in it for letting light through on the right hand side, then you have the bulb, directly behind it, you should be able to see the blown black colored bulb in its holder, or if like me, you attempt to replace the bulb in situ (impossible task as when pushing the replacement bulb in, you thereby knock it's holder into the blank space behind the ashtray), you may not see anything as the bulb holder is hidden from view (knocked out of its mounting).
To replace the bulb we first need to lift up the gear stick facia, and to do that you use a small flat head screwdriver to gently lift up the right hand side (a plastic knife or flat object is also useful here to avoid damaging the plastic).
If it's stiff, don't worry, try applying more pressure on the topmost right corner as in this photo
Ok, once it is loose, lift it up, and you can optionally disconnect your window switches/mirror adjuster but this is not necessary.
Now, put your gearstick into reverse to get more room to work in this area.
* remove the ashtrays removable tray.
* remove the coin holder underneath the ashtray, it is not held in with screws it should simply lift up with some gentle force.
Note the alignment of the coin tray as it has a short and long edge, and incorrect re-fitting of the coin tray will cause the ashtray to not eject to it's fullest extent.
* remove your radio (if a mercedes coded radio, make sure you have the code first !)
* undo the two screws holding the underside of the facia being careful not to let them drop down into the gearbox exposed area (hold your other hand underneath the screw), once done, then undo the two screws at the top of the radio recess, they hold the top of facia in place.
The bulge in the tray photo above is because i fitted the tray incorrectly previously, I will re-fit this correctly during re-assembly by placing the facia on TOP of the protruding part of the tray, but that is for later...
* slide out the centre console tray (if you have the cassette holder, this will be much more difficult and may involve removing the ashtray assembly first as described below)
While recently replacing my cassette tray for a more modern (and useful) bit's and bobs tray, I noticed that my ashtray has a bulb, ie: it should be lit when the main lights in the car are ON. I never noticed it before, but once I did, I now new it was a dead bulb, so I set about fixing it.
First of all, you'll need a bit of patience and some screwdrivers, both philips and flat head, plus of course, you'll need the replacement 12 volt 1.2 watt little bulb which you can buy in a Mercedes dealership.
Once you are armed with that and ready, your first task is to verify if your ashtray actually has the light or not, that's easy to do, open the ashtray and pop out the removable tray within it, if it has a plastic square in it for letting light through on the right hand side, then you have the bulb, directly behind it, you should be able to see the blown black colored bulb in its holder, or if like me, you attempt to replace the bulb in situ (impossible task as when pushing the replacement bulb in, you thereby knock it's holder into the blank space behind the ashtray), you may not see anything as the bulb holder is hidden from view (knocked out of its mounting).
To replace the bulb we first need to lift up the gear stick facia, and to do that you use a small flat head screwdriver to gently lift up the right hand side (a plastic knife or flat object is also useful here to avoid damaging the plastic).
If it's stiff, don't worry, try applying more pressure on the topmost right corner as in this photo
Ok, once it is loose, lift it up, and you can optionally disconnect your window switches/mirror adjuster but this is not necessary.
Now, put your gearstick into reverse to get more room to work in this area.
* remove the ashtrays removable tray.
* remove the coin holder underneath the ashtray, it is not held in with screws it should simply lift up with some gentle force.
Note the alignment of the coin tray as it has a short and long edge, and incorrect re-fitting of the coin tray will cause the ashtray to not eject to it's fullest extent.
* remove your radio (if a mercedes coded radio, make sure you have the code first !)
* undo the two screws holding the underside of the facia being careful not to let them drop down into the gearbox exposed area (hold your other hand underneath the screw), once done, then undo the two screws at the top of the radio recess, they hold the top of facia in place.
The bulge in the tray photo above is because i fitted the tray incorrectly previously, I will re-fit this correctly during re-assembly by placing the facia on TOP of the protruding part of the tray, but that is for later...
* slide out the centre console tray (if you have the cassette holder, this will be much more difficult and may involve removing the ashtray assembly first as described below)
