estimate hours of work on 405

Feb 23, 2004 6 Replies

Hi all,



my 405 estate (1995) needs a bit of work, and since not all jobs are equally urgent I'd like an estimate on how may hours of work an expierienced mechanic may need for:


- replacing a worn handbrake cable



- repairing or replacing a leaky heater matrix



- replacing a few of the dash illumination bulbs and the driving light indicator bulb



any of you guys did this yourselves, or had this done?



thanks a million in advance!



Bzn. Pays-Bas


0.5 Hours

hmm 1 hour

five minutes as he has the dahboard out because of the heater matrix

their not very difficult jobs, perhaps the book of lies can help you ( haynes man...)

taking the dashboard out is the most time consuming

two cents is all i got, and all it needs....

Replacing the heater matrix on the facelift 405 is a right pain. The tome of all knowledge suggests removing the whole dash assembly. I managed to pull it away enough to slide the matrix out but it must have taken the best part of 3 hours and a mate to help pull.

I haven't tried the dash lights yet, although loads are out.

I had a friend who worked for Direct line and when my Matrix required replacement. After being quoted over three hours by the local dealer he stated that Direct allowed one hour. My local achieved it in just over one hour, but there are lots af bits behind there.

I remember helping my dad out doing one of those a few years back when i was at school. Was a bitch of a job as you literally have to take the whole dash apart. Very fiddly indeed! Allow a lot of time for that one!

nope 1 hour that's all it should take for an expert,

mind you that i took about half a day when i did it for the first time. I'm still no expert and it takes me about two hours to do the job so if any dealer say's it takes more time, take it elswhere

Officially: Handbrake cable 1 only-- 1.3 hours. Real time--around half an hour. Matrix--book time 6 hours. Can be done in 1.5 hours. Bulbs require the removal of the instrument panel---no real problem there. But getting it back in and the speedo cable reconnected can be a pain. Book time is around half an hour, but if luck is with you could be done in 10 minutes. If unlucky could be 1 hour. You do not have to take the instrument panel out to do the matrix.

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