Ford Windstar Center Console

My brother in law has a Windstar with a clicking noise coming from behind the radio. The noise has to do with the Life Support system -- it is the thing that controls mixing hot and cold to arrive at the desired temp. The noise IS NOT the flow control that directs air to the various vents, and it changes pitch with changes in the temp selector.

He managed to take the upper bezel off and we can look inside the center console and put our hand onto whatever the source of the clicking noise is, but we must remove the radio to gain access. We can't figure out what is holding the radio in, but our best guess is that the bezel that runs from the bottom cubby hole to the top of the console has to come off to get the radio and life support system control out.

We do see an important-looking connector that has nothing to plug into, my guess is that the life support control or the radio has a hole that is looking to be filled. The connector is square, or very nearly square, and has two rows of 6 or 7 pins that are very small (fine). We can't see where the connector goes, but if the radio was removed, I think we would find its home. The radio feels like it has a hole on the back, but I am not certain of this and the radio seems to have all of its features available to us. The wire is not very long, so wherever it goes is in the vicinity of the radio and life support control box.

We are going to start turning every screw in sight, but if you know the actual screws to turn, you could save us time and effort.

Thanks.

PS -- and way off topic I have Fox News on the TV, and they are talking to a couple that lived in Ranco Bernardo. The home was destroyed by the fire, but the amazing thing is that the house looks to be a golf course home where the property is very narrow and long. The neighbor's home is perhaps 12 ft away, and both homes have the garage access on the same side -- one home has the garage on the right side, the neighbor's house has its garage on the left. The house that burned down is almost unrecognizable as a dwelling unit, the home next door has a few singed bushes. These people store the trash cans in the side yard on the garage-side of the house. The house that is still standing has its trash cans, and they are barely even melted on one edge. The behavior of the fire is very strange.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland
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Are there four small holes one in each cornor of the radio face?

MMM arson perhaps? Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

Yes. I discovered that these holes have spring-clips inside of them. I can make the clips release, but the top of the radio has a tab that seems to be striking the bezel, this is why I want to take the bezel off.

Please tell me there is another solution ... Or, that the bezel comes off by removing the ashtray and the cubby hole at the bottom of the console.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Go to your nearest auto sound shop (Best Buy will work) and buy a Ford radio removal kit. It will come with two U-shaped tools, which you insert into the holes on the face of the radio; this will unlock the tab and allow you to slide the radio out. On my Excursion it will come out without removing the dash, yours might be the same.

Regarding the fires you mentioned having seen on Faux News, that wasn't the one that they said this week that Al Qaida set, was it?

Reply to
Matt Macchiarolo

No, I did not see the segment where anybody said it was a terrorist attack. I've heard the rumor that it was a terrorist, and I've heard that somebody reported there was such a rumor going around. I have heard that Fox News reported there was a rumor, but I've not heard the report.

What I did see was a factual report of what has happened to people by people that had it happen to them.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Did you ever figure out what the cause was? My 2000 Windstar does the same thing.

Reply to
Jim Downey

No. My b-i-l put the car back together without doing the repair.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

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