Replacing dash assembly '95 Coupe - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

dhansen · 11-29-2008, 01:20 PM

Hey Guys! First time poster, been lurking for a couple of months.

We're a three Camry household, I have a 2003 LE, my oldest son has a '95 coupe, and we just purchased a '94 sedan for my youngest. My wife is odd man out with a Ford Escape.

Anyway, my son's '95 dashboard is extremely deteriorated and cracked and is stinking the car up pretty bad so I located one at a local self serve salvage yard. The car had been picked apart pretty clean except for this near perfect dash. I recruited my neighbor and we after much swearing, we got the dash out and I plan on replacing the dash over the christmas break (my son is away most of the time at college).

My question is has anybody had experience replacing one of these, does the wiring loom that runs the length of the dash have connections that can be easily disconnected?

Thanks for any help you can give in advance and sorry for the long winded post!

Doug

BTW I plan on throughly documenting the process to help others in the community.

sm7th · 11-29-2008, 02:56 PM

I hope my dad was that cool, this is what I used :

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1992-...Q5fAccessories

***ASG14*** · 11-29-2008, 03:26 PM

I'll tell you off the bat, it;s quite a bitch to do, but not too hard. Mostly just time consuming. Pretty much all of the harness has connectors all over the place. 1st I'd remove all the trim and anything you can get at, including radio, center console, etc. Also, remive the steering wheel. That will cause issues when you try to remove the dash.

I've helped a friend for a little bit of this, but never fully done it, so thats anout the best advice I can give you.

And as stupid as this sounds, just make sure the dash you pulled from the junkyard also has the passenger side airbag. It's a stupid thing you can easily overlook.

xtremeskier97 · 11-29-2008, 05:11 PM

It's not hard, just time consuming. I pulled one out at the junkyard (mainly for practice) and then pulled mine out of my XLE. Like I said, it's not hard, just time consuming. All in all it probably would take me about 30-45 minutes to pull one out now that I have pulled 2 out. It's DEFINITELY a good idea to have an extra pair of hands. Make sure to pull both front seats out, as that will give you MUCH more room for getting the dash and center console out (console has to come out first).

If, along the way, you have questions or problems finding a bolt/screw, post here and I will help you out. The harnesses all disconnect easily. You wont have to cut any wires. There are several on each side at the kick panels, and several throughout the middle of the dash, especially behind the instrument cluster.

Good luck!

dhansen · 11-29-2008, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ASG14

And as stupid as this sounds, just make sure the dash you pulled from the junkyard also has the passenger side airbag. It's a stupid thing you can easily overlook.

I didn't take the airbag with, his airbag is in great shape compared to the rest of the dash... is there an issue with using his current airbag? I stopped out to the same junkyard last weekend (4 more gen3 camry's...SCORE!) and the airbag from the one was still there, I could always go back out and get that one...

Yeah sm7th my high school car was a 1970 Chevy Nova and I did all my own cosmetic work on it, my dad helped me out with the engine though...

xtremeskier97 and ASG14 I may need to draw on your expertise! Thanks!

***ASG14*** · 11-29-2008, 08:24 PM

Sorry, by Airbag, I meant that it had the space for it. The 92/93 Camry ONLY had a drivers airbag, while the 94-96 had a Passenger.

xtremeskier97 · 11-30-2008, 07:58 AM

On the airbag note....you may want to see how his airbag matches up with the new dash as far as color goes. The one that was in the new dash would probably be a closer match, as they have had the same sun exposure and abuse/tlc, rather than putting his in the new one that hasnt seen the same abuse/tlc.

I cant wait to find a good looking dash in the yards, I need to replace mine BADLY.

the94camryman · 11-30-2008, 10:34 AM

when replacing the dash, you might want to get ur VIN printed on a plate and paste it on to the new one. the VINs are engraved into the dash, not on a plate.

xtremeskier97 · 11-30-2008, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the94camryman

when replacing the dash, you might want to get ur VIN printed on a plate and paste it on to the new one. the VINs are engraved into the dash, not on a plate.

That VIN is NOT attached to the dash. It's engraved on a plate that is attached to the body.

the94camryman · 11-30-2008, 03:35 PM

damn, toyota lied to me. they told me it would be $600 for a new one because they have to order it by VIN because it was engraved on the dash

***ASG14*** · 11-30-2008, 03:58 PM

^ Thats not the reason, they need your VIN to ORDER the dash in the 1st place, so they they order the correct color.

the94camryman · 11-30-2008, 04:01 PM

well, learning something new everyday. appreciate it.

***ASG14*** · 11-30-2008, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the94camryman

well, learning something new everyday. appreciate it.

Thinking about it, I;m going to guess this is what happened. You asked them for a price and thye said they need the VIN thats engraved on the dash. They meant it as they need the actual "VIN", but you thought they meant they needed to order it WITH the VIN on it.

the94camryman · 11-30-2008, 05:31 PM

ya, that's actually about how the conversation went. the rep said they needed the VIN engraved on the dash and that's what I thought they meant. and the plate with my VIN is the same color as my dash so that's what I thought.

dhansen · 12-23-2008, 12:44 AM

Got the old dash out, going to work on the new one tomorrow. Tried to document entire processs but it was too freaking cold in the garage!