Phone Prep Mechanism

[moltuae]

Are there any internal illustrations of how the phone prep mechanism releases upon opening the armrest or does anyone know how this works?

Mine has suddenly stopped ejecting the phone cradle, which is now stuck in the down position, making it rather difficult to get the phone in an out.

[HPsauce]

From the picture presumably it's a facelift model with large armrests.

It's a hinged mechanism with a small gas spring inside that pushes it up when released - isn't there a catch for that? That gas spring has probably failed.

I recall looking to fix one a few years back and couldn't find a replacement of the right size and pressure anywhere.

Press the catch and lever it up. Comes out fairly simply IIRC but can't remember quite how.

[moltuae]

Thanks.

It seemed to be jammed down somehow (maybe that's the problem, rather than the spring/release?) -- can't even pull it up. Think I need to take a closer look or try to dismantle it.

[IT]

There were 2 different mechanisms on the facelift depending on year. The later one did seem far more robust that the chocolate teapot version they first came out with.

Even the purist in me gave up ever trying to repair the dam things, they just seem to want to fail...!

[moltuae]

Well I decided to strip it down and take a look yesterday and, I'm happy to report, I found the problem and it's working again

The mechanism consists of a small, plastic, spring-loaded lever that connects to a metal strip which runs under the inner plastic tray and acts as a kind of pull-rod.

View of the side of the inner tray, showing the lever mechanism to the rear, which slots into the back of the tray:


Here you can see the pull-rod under the tray:


Upon removing and disassembling the lever mechanism, I discovered the cause, a broken strip of spring steel (approx 22mm x 5mm):


I decided to attempt to fabricate something to replace the broken spring. I'll probably replace it with something more permanent later, but here's what I did ...

After a rummage through my bits and bobs drawer (you know, the drawer you use to keep all those screws, clips, springs and other small parts you think might come in handy one day) and the closest thing I could find was a bent spring clip (originally used to hold a headlight glass in place, I think) ...



After some persuasion with a pair of pliers a hammer and a vice, it became a relatively flat piece of spring steel:



I then attacked it with a junior hacksaw and a file or two, to produce this, which slotted into place nicely:




I'm going to try to source a better piece of spring steel in case it breaks again, but so far it's worked flawlessly 20+ times.

[moltuae]

Just an update on this:


While my repair has continued to work, I wasn't totally happy that it was a permanent/perfect repair so I continued to search for a more suitable source of flexible 'spring' steel, something that was readily available, inexpensive and preferably required little in the way of modification/fabrication.

Clock suspension springs seemed to be the closest thing available. They come in various sizes, including this one, which seemed perfect:



Ebay link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261099848539

Comparing the material thickness, the original material is roughly 3 or 4 times thicker than these, so I figured I would put 3 or 4 of them together, effectively making a kind of leaf-spring, in order to improve the spring strength and better match the rigidity of the original material.

First thing to do is to remove the brass ends. Since the piece of material between the ends is exactly the right length, the easiest way to do this is to snap them off. By holding a brass end in a pair of pliers and bending the steel sharply to 90 degrees and back, it snaps off easily and cleanly:



I found that 4 pieces fitted perfectly and snugly.

I think this may even prove to be an improvement on the original design. Having 4 individual thinner strips of steel should make it more flexible, stronger and more reliable.

Once you know how the armrest comes apart, if you have the clock springs to hand, this is a 10 minute repair (no need to remove the armrests completely, as I did the first time):

• Put both seats all the way back and push the driver's armrest all the way up.
• Pry off both sides of the passenger armrest (these are held with 3 strong clips. You'll need a large flat-blade screwdriver and a bit of force).
• Remove the 4 small black torx screws (2 each side).
• Unplug the phone cradle cable and pry out the plastic grommet it passes through (from underneath).
• Pull the entire insert and mechanism out by pulling it up and forwards from the front.
• Once removed, remove the pull rod from the bottom of it and slide out the black release mechanism.
• Carefully take the release mechanism apart (3 clips).
• Remove and replace the broken spring and re-assemble.