DIY 12V socket on the dashboard

[frigorifix]

I've been complaining about the fact that the front 12V socket is in the drawer (with the cup-holders) since I've had my Cali that I decided that it was about time I did something about it !

So I bought 2 parts from my VW dealer :
- the plastic casing : 1J0 919 341 A (7.28€)
- the metallic casing which includes the electric plug : 1J0 919 309 B (12.02€)
(so a massive cost of £16 !).

You can either take the cigarette lighter from the original socket in the drawer or buy another one for 14€ (1J0 919 307 9B9).

Two options : either disconnect the original socket from the drawer and use the wiring to connect to the new one, or connect 2 new wires from the plug of the original socket and keep both socket working. As I'm pretty lazy, I chose the fastest option !

Time to realize = +/- 30 minutes if you have the right tools (i.e. a hole saw mainly).

First of, take the drawer out like shown in the picture :





To do so, you need to remove the bottle holder under the drawer first (there are two little plastic thingy to pinch to release everything, and BTW access the fuse box). Open the drawer. Then pull on the left (well right in the UK !) a little bit to access one screw that hold the left part of the drawer, no need to remove all the plastic cover to access the screw (number 3 on the picture above). Then remove the right plastic cover (you need to pull quite hard following the path of the number one arrow to do so). 2 screws to unscrew and you can now pull the drawer and unplug the original 12V socket.



Now that you have remove the drawer, you can push the plastic cover on the dashboard that you are going to use to install the new socket (a little push from under while pressing the clips).
Once you have removed the plastic part (BTW it cost £4 so if you mess up the drilling, no worries ! Ref. number is 7E5 858 433 A 1QB). you will need to cut 3 little plastic "posts" in order to have the room to fit the new socket. (You can also move the B plug a bit higher for better access later when fitting the socket).



You can now use the hole saw (not sure of the proper word in English but I hope you see what I mean). The drilling diameter is 2.70mm (don't ask me how many inches !).



To sum up the different parts :



Now just plug the B plug into the electric plug of the new socket and clip everything back. Put back the drawer and the plastic covers and there you are :





Cherry on top : the socket is lit when the headlights are on...
Hope you've managed to survive my English (pardon my french !) and that it will be useful to anyone.

 

[calikev]

Top work

 

[James]

Bit confused - LHD Van and there are two different Cali's in the pic - one with climtronic and one with more basic heater controls.

James

 

[frigorifix]

Bit confused - LHD Van and there are two different Cali's in the pic - one with climtronic and one with more basic heater controls.

James

Don't be, I used a pic from a topic on the French forum on "how to access the drawer". This one is not from me indeed but it's quite efficient to explain how to dismount the plastic covers on the sides of the drawer.

 

[Andresz]

Grand job!
I did similar thing with a difference of placing the 12volts sockets in the glove box rather than on the blank cover.
Depending of the taste, but I would rather put a 12V socket with cover than full cigarette lighter in the exposed place.

Regards
Andrzej

(this is how I have done it together with the emergency kit)

 

[frigorifix]

Depending of the taste, but I would rather put a 12V socket with cover than full cigarette lighter in the exposed place.

True. Actually, the lighter is just for the picture as it stays in the drawer on the old socket and there's always my GPS plug inside the new plug (Good thing too : the cable from the GPS can go inside the little glove box just above so nothing is hanging from the plug...