Dashboard Battery Light
Discussion
Changing the bulbs is a bit of a task, you have no chance of getting to it from through the footwell, you would need to be mr fantastic and have a camera on the end of your finger and then you would find it is glued in solid.
First i will tell you what i consider is the easiest option, cut a big square out of the side of the centre of the dash in the drivers footwell to get access, and then splice it back in with thin plate and screws after.
The second easiest option but is slightly more destructive then follow suit with what Devil did, using a thin pice of card or plate slide behind the console to locate the bolt shanks and cut out from the side with a fine cutting disc, it will inevitably cause a little damage to the surrounding fibreglass and the console, he then fabricated a new centre console which was bigger to cover all this back up.
I got to it by taking out the entire dash, but even this is a task, If you want more insight into how the entire dash and console is pieced together, there are lots of pics on the Noble rebuild thread, which can be found on page 1 of the current threads.
If you want to remove the dash then you need to start by removing the L shaped access panels which are located behind the front wheels, this will give you access to all the nuts local to the windscreen and the air ducting pipes/ airbox etc.. undo all the screws underneath the dash which are accessible from the footwells but you will have to drop the steering column, you will need to get access to the tunnel to remove some nuts which hold the dash near the gear lever, you will also have to remove the gear lever which means removing the associated trim which on mine was also bolted through the tunnel, you will have to pull back the carpet to get to the side screws, but this was also sandwiched by the knee pad trims which again are bolted through the tunnel. Even when you have done all this you will struggle to get the dash out, you will need long arms to reach in to undo the AC controls and wires that stop you from pulling out the dash.
I believe the other option is to gain access from the front of the car by removing the airbox, again you will need to have access from the wheel arches, unhook the cable from the airbox lever which controls hot and cold and release all the air ducts via the footwell and the L shaped access panels but the airbox is all sealed in from both sides, i do not see how you can reseal from the inside when you put it back while the dash is still in place, also as you will see on the Noble rebuild thread there is still a major obstical between you and the console, which is that mid span support structure which links the tunnel to the horizontal chassis bar.
Changing or checking a console bulb is not a simple task and that is why i would recommend to convert the centre console to a removable design for ease of future access, and as i say the easiest way to do this is cut out an access panel to start with.
There is one Noble owner on the forums that posted about removing the dash easily from inside the cabin, i forget who it was, but when we asked what the trick was there was no reply, it must have involved breaking things because i had full access with a car completely stripped down to the chassis and it was still a pain, even with the window out and doors off and everything released i still struggled to get the damn thing out due to it being moulded around the roll cage, i have modified the dash now and cut it back slightly around the roll cage for easy future removal, where the bolts are local to the windscreen are being changed to a removable system (but i have not worked out how to do this yet ; ), as i doubt i will ever have the windscreen out again either, that thing was glued in so well it took a full day to remove all the sikaflex.
First i will tell you what i consider is the easiest option, cut a big square out of the side of the centre of the dash in the drivers footwell to get access, and then splice it back in with thin plate and screws after.
The second easiest option but is slightly more destructive then follow suit with what Devil did, using a thin pice of card or plate slide behind the console to locate the bolt shanks and cut out from the side with a fine cutting disc, it will inevitably cause a little damage to the surrounding fibreglass and the console, he then fabricated a new centre console which was bigger to cover all this back up.
I got to it by taking out the entire dash, but even this is a task, If you want more insight into how the entire dash and console is pieced together, there are lots of pics on the Noble rebuild thread, which can be found on page 1 of the current threads.
If you want to remove the dash then you need to start by removing the L shaped access panels which are located behind the front wheels, this will give you access to all the nuts local to the windscreen and the air ducting pipes/ airbox etc.. undo all the screws underneath the dash which are accessible from the footwells but you will have to drop the steering column, you will need to get access to the tunnel to remove some nuts which hold the dash near the gear lever, you will also have to remove the gear lever which means removing the associated trim which on mine was also bolted through the tunnel, you will have to pull back the carpet to get to the side screws, but this was also sandwiched by the knee pad trims which again are bolted through the tunnel. Even when you have done all this you will struggle to get the dash out, you will need long arms to reach in to undo the AC controls and wires that stop you from pulling out the dash.
I believe the other option is to gain access from the front of the car by removing the airbox, again you will need to have access from the wheel arches, unhook the cable from the airbox lever which controls hot and cold and release all the air ducts via the footwell and the L shaped access panels but the airbox is all sealed in from both sides, i do not see how you can reseal from the inside when you put it back while the dash is still in place, also as you will see on the Noble rebuild thread there is still a major obstical between you and the console, which is that mid span support structure which links the tunnel to the horizontal chassis bar.
Changing or checking a console bulb is not a simple task and that is why i would recommend to convert the centre console to a removable design for ease of future access, and as i say the easiest way to do this is cut out an access panel to start with.
There is one Noble owner on the forums that posted about removing the dash easily from inside the cabin, i forget who it was, but when we asked what the trick was there was no reply, it must have involved breaking things because i had full access with a car completely stripped down to the chassis and it was still a pain, even with the window out and doors off and everything released i still struggled to get the damn thing out due to it being moulded around the roll cage, i have modified the dash now and cut it back slightly around the roll cage for easy future removal, where the bolts are local to the windscreen are being changed to a removable system (but i have not worked out how to do this yet ; ), as i doubt i will ever have the windscreen out again either, that thing was glued in so well it took a full day to remove all the sikaflex.
For what its worth.
If the lamp in the ignition light is blown I think yoiu will find the alternator wont work and the battery will discharge as it needs the lamp to get the exciter working in the alternator.
I couldnt work out what the **** was going on and I really wanted to put an LED lamp on it.
Anyway, I still attached the LED lamp and that works but the normal lamp doesnt??????
If the lamp in the ignition light is blown I think yoiu will find the alternator wont work and the battery will discharge as it needs the lamp to get the exciter working in the alternator.
I couldnt work out what the **** was going on and I really wanted to put an LED lamp on it.
Anyway, I still attached the LED lamp and that works but the normal lamp doesnt??????
Holy Sh%T.......and all for a possible blown bulb! One of these day's I'll get to do an easy job!
RO162, thanks for the fullsome response - I'm going to check the wiring tomorrow to see if I can get the bulb to light, as it's as The Devil say's, the battery's not charging, and I've checked everything else including the alternator, battery, changing the voltage regulator which had an intermittent fault etc. I've found a thread that tells me how to check the bulb using the wiring, so I'm now praying it's not blown. My only other chance is my 13 year old who seems to be able to crawl into places on the car that no-one else can! If he does it it's going to cost me
If not and it has blown then I guess it's out with the Dremel and start cutting an access panel.
Thanks again for your help.
RO162, thanks for the fullsome response - I'm going to check the wiring tomorrow to see if I can get the bulb to light, as it's as The Devil say's, the battery's not charging, and I've checked everything else including the alternator, battery, changing the voltage regulator which had an intermittent fault etc. I've found a thread that tells me how to check the bulb using the wiring, so I'm now praying it's not blown. My only other chance is my 13 year old who seems to be able to crawl into places on the car that no-one else can! If he does it it's going to cost me
If not and it has blown then I guess it's out with the Dremel and start cutting an access panel.
Thanks again for your help.
really? you chop your cars up to change a bulb?
Craig on your car if you know what your doing it would take minutes to remove and check the bulbs, the whole panel would be off in less than 30 mins, on the later cars it would take longer because as Chris said there are some interior panels to remove to gain access.
im not saying its an easy or comfortable job, your head gets to rest on the clutch pedal, your back arches over the sill and your hand might get cut up but the hand heals and you would never know not like the dash.
Matt
Craig on your car if you know what your doing it would take minutes to remove and check the bulbs, the whole panel would be off in less than 30 mins, on the later cars it would take longer because as Chris said there are some interior panels to remove to gain access.
im not saying its an easy or comfortable job, your head gets to rest on the clutch pedal, your back arches over the sill and your hand might get cut up but the hand heals and you would never know not like the dash.
Matt
lol, how the hell you get that bulb out from the footwell is a mystery to me 
Seriously if you have the ability to remove the centre console from the footwell, my hat is off to you. I couldnt even get my arm round the back, how do you see inside to see what you are doing?
I think i may have just worked out your technique. I'm guessing you release the side of the centre dash as you agreed the knee pads needed removing from the tunnel, i am then guessing that you bend the fibreglass out as far as possible to get you arm in and see what you are doing, damn why didn't i think of that, i bet its still a bit tricky though?
Seriously if you have the ability to remove the centre console from the footwell, my hat is off to you. I couldnt even get my arm round the back, how do you see inside to see what you are doing?
I think i may have just worked out your technique. I'm guessing you release the side of the centre dash as you agreed the knee pads needed removing from the tunnel, i am then guessing that you bend the fibreglass out as far as possible to get you arm in and see what you are doing, damn why didn't i think of that, i bet its still a bit tricky though?
"bend the fibreglass out as far as possible to get you arm in"? Not likely. If you have a good assortment of extensions (wobbly and fixed, different lengths), you can get to the nuts that hold the center console in place. Three of the nuts are easy, two are moderate, and one is horrible. But it's all possible without mangling the dash, chopping access holes, trying to bend the fiberglass, etc., etc., etc.
Jim O. said:
"bend the fibreglass out as far as possible to get you arm in"? Not likely. If you have a good assortment of extensions (wobbly and fixed, different lengths), you can get to the nuts that hold the center console in place. Three of the nuts are easy, two are moderate, and one is horrible. But it's all possible without mangling the dash, chopping access holes, trying to bend the fiberglass, etc., etc., etc.
You must have incredibly thin arms!!
The devil said:
Jim O. said:
"bend the fibreglass out as far as possible to get you arm in"? Not likely. If you have a good assortment of extensions (wobbly and fixed, different lengths), you can get to the nuts that hold the center console in place. Three of the nuts are easy, two are moderate, and one is horrible. But it's all possible without mangling the dash, chopping access holes, trying to bend the fiberglass, etc., etc., etc.
You must have incredibly thin arms!!
Mike.
Thanks for all the info guy's. So I approached the garage with some trepidation this afternoon, thinking this is going to be one of those days to hide the large hammer. Anyway, two of us in the car with a bunch of cutting tools, and guess what, someone had been there before me! Not one hole in either side of the dash panel, but starting to gently prise the silver panel from the dash surround to identify where the fixings were and the thing just popped off! Looking at it, the previous owner had epoxied 4 heavy duty spring clips around the edge, so it's held firmley in position until you prise it out enough to pop past them. Simple but very effective.
Result I thought, checked the bulb, it's fine, checked the blue wiring run and there seems to be no continuity between the alternator and indicator light, so ran a wire direct from the blue terminal to the alternator plug to bypass. Turned the ignition on, killed the imobilisor and the light came on, fantastic, turned the key and...........nothing! No power to the starter solenoid, everything else comes on, but no starter. Provide seperate power to the starter solenoid and away she goes.b
d!
The car just knows how to piss me off!! Solved one problem, walked straight into another. Between yesterday and today we must have dislodged something, so double checked all the fuses , cleaned up the relays on the bulkhead, and found one of them not working (first on the left looking from the back of the car) which I think is the A/C. Nevertheless swapped it round, still no joy. Checked the ignition relay in the passenger footwell, all OK then suddenly the smell of burning and this one went west. Now have no way to continue, all motor factors closed and am now worse off than when we started. Now I've got it stripped down this far I'm still going to run a seperate wire from front to back....just in case, as when we checked the continuity of the blue wire in various positions using the tunnel access hatches, low and behold we have it. Go figure.
I'm going to turn up tomorrow with an even bigger hammer and threaten death and destruction if the bloody thing doesn't co-operate
that's of course if I can find a motor factor open on a Sunday that stocks relays!!! I'm just hoping this is the problem as I've just run out of ideas and all I want is to drive it.
Result I thought, checked the bulb, it's fine, checked the blue wiring run and there seems to be no continuity between the alternator and indicator light, so ran a wire direct from the blue terminal to the alternator plug to bypass. Turned the ignition on, killed the imobilisor and the light came on, fantastic, turned the key and...........nothing! No power to the starter solenoid, everything else comes on, but no starter. Provide seperate power to the starter solenoid and away she goes.
dThe car just knows how to piss me off!! Solved one problem, walked straight into another. Between yesterday and today we must have dislodged something, so double checked all the fuses , cleaned up the relays on the bulkhead, and found one of them not working (first on the left looking from the back of the car) which I think is the A/C. Nevertheless swapped it round, still no joy. Checked the ignition relay in the passenger footwell, all OK then suddenly the smell of burning and this one went west. Now have no way to continue, all motor factors closed and am now worse off than when we started. Now I've got it stripped down this far I'm still going to run a seperate wire from front to back....just in case, as when we checked the continuity of the blue wire in various positions using the tunnel access hatches, low and behold we have it. Go figure.
I'm going to turn up tomorrow with an even bigger hammer and threaten death and destruction if the bloody thing doesn't co-operate
that's of course if I can find a motor factor open on a Sunday that stocks relays!!! I'm just hoping this is the problem as I've just run out of ideas and all I want is to drive it.Well guess what, today solved the problem of why the starter solenoid wouldn't work - a bad earth - also unearthed the reason for the bad earth.......
Traced the earth causing the problem as the one from the relay on the rear firewall so decided to open up the wiring sheath to see if we could identify where the break was rather than just running a new wire. Good job we did as you can see from the pic, at least 4 melted wires, including the 2 earths welded completely to the main power feed. Wires were connected by chocolate blocks where damaged wiring had been removed previously. Also discovered a seperate earth run from the front to the back by a previous owner, obviously to replace the totally melted one. The sheathing has completely melted through on the power feed and also damaged at least 2 other wires.
As the earths were welded to the main power feed we thought it prudent to check the fuse board as power would have fed back to the panel and relay, taking this off revealed why the relay had failed and also identified a melted brown link wire - also bypassed by someone else. It scares me to think what might have happened if this 'repair' had failed whilst my son and I were driving it.
Going to have to call in an auto electrician to see if they can rewire the rear feeds to ensure all is made safe. Not sure they will touch it though if they have to lie on their back under the car to do it!
I don't suppose anyone has the rear half of an old wiring harness knocking about they they would be prepared to part with?
Buyer beware......but if I ever find the bodge artist who did this?????
Traced the earth causing the problem as the one from the relay on the rear firewall so decided to open up the wiring sheath to see if we could identify where the break was rather than just running a new wire. Good job we did as you can see from the pic, at least 4 melted wires, including the 2 earths welded completely to the main power feed. Wires were connected by chocolate blocks where damaged wiring had been removed previously. Also discovered a seperate earth run from the front to the back by a previous owner, obviously to replace the totally melted one. The sheathing has completely melted through on the power feed and also damaged at least 2 other wires.
As the earths were welded to the main power feed we thought it prudent to check the fuse board as power would have fed back to the panel and relay, taking this off revealed why the relay had failed and also identified a melted brown link wire - also bypassed by someone else. It scares me to think what might have happened if this 'repair' had failed whilst my son and I were driving it.
Going to have to call in an auto electrician to see if they can rewire the rear feeds to ensure all is made safe. Not sure they will touch it though if they have to lie on their back under the car to do it!
I don't suppose anyone has the rear half of an old wiring harness knocking about they they would be prepared to part with?
Buyer beware......but if I ever find the bodge artist who did this?????
I was looking at this again today, and it still has me baffled how you manage to do it with the dash in place and not bending back the side of the dash, on both sides the airbox is in the way and you can see from the screw hole in the tunnel where the dash extends back to which leaves about a 20mm gap from the dash and the airbox, so you have to fit your arm through that without bending back the dash, then you have to navigate through all the cables, then somehow manage to get past that triangular mid span support to get to the heads of the nuts, which some are actually hidden behind the trinagular mid span support. You must need bendy arms that are thin with a camera in the end of your finger and then the special tools.
I'm not saying it has not been done, or is impossible, because it obviously has been done, but it still has me completely baffled how the hell you did it
I'm not saying it has not been done, or is impossible, because it obviously has been done, but it still has me completely baffled how the hell you did it
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