General 2016 shift cable console removal

[tammybrian2]

Hi Everyone
i have a 2016 Fiat 500 sport and need to replace the shift cable. right now i'm stuck trying to remove the center console to get to the cables inside the car, but having a heck of a time trying to figure out how these come off, without breaking something. i've removed all the nuts and screws i could find, 3 nuts and four screws. so far i've removed the long panel that where the e-brake is located. in the pic below, the arrow below the #1 is the next section that could theoretically come off, but the #2, where the cup holders are sits on top of #1. i've come close to getting #2 off, but it feels like the 12v DC and aux plugs are preventing me from getting #2 all the way off. the goal is to get #3 off so i can get to the shift cables, again i'm trying to do this without breaking anything. just wondering if anyone has done this before and give me some tips. i'm assuming #2 has to come off before i can take #3 off. i dont know if #1 has to come off at all. and are there clips on #4 that need to come out or off to get #3 out? confused yet??

thanks in advance for any advice!! --Brian

 

[tammybrian2]

just couldnt figure it out, so i spent $18 for alldata. just below the #4 arrow (at the seam), take a small pry tool and that 'lid' pops up (whew...didnt break anything). it pops up and there are two electric connections to remove. once that lid is up/connections removed, it can be removed to get it out of the way. there are 4 screws that can then be removed to get the #3 piece off. there is a small electrical connnection attached to #3, but i did not disconnect it, there was enough room to move part #3 off to the passenger side so its out of the way. the above pic, 1 and 2 are one piece, 2 is the cup holder, the only thing i ended up doing with that is removing one nut in the front and one on the back side, that allowed me to lift the rear of #1 that just simply helped a little to get piece 3 off. so...i've got everything removed now......on to the shift cable!! --Brian