I've been working 2 days now trying to pull the dash out of my damn hatch...as for why I'm removing the dash, that's another story in its own. I've taken out every little button, the guage cluster, climate control unit, passenger side airbag, the glovebox, and I've removed every possible bolt/screw. The only thing holding me back is this wire by the guage cluster area that's bundled with the harnesses for the guage cluster...the wire splits into another direction and it's bolted down in the back. Perhaps it is a ground wire? but I can't get the damn wire off. Also, the steering wheel is preventing me from taking the dash out...is there any way I can drop the steering column? Someone please help...this is extremely frustrating. I just want to get my interior back to normal after ******* thieves screwed everything up. TIA

 

I feel you man, it took me 13 hours the first time I took the dash out I didn't have a Helms and the Haynes skipped a lot of steps and necessary screws/bolts to remove before being able to remove it. I removed the steering wheel instead of the entire column, not sure which would have been easier, but just remove the airbag and let the steering wheel hang with a plastic bag supporting it so not to damage the srs plug. The last bit of wiring should be held in by a push clip, just got the clip off, this is all behind the dash anyway. I remember just unplugging that harness to switch it to my other dash because the one I was replacing it with had a harness that wasn't worth a dang (trusted my own more). This was in my 5th gen as well. You have already gotten past the hardest part which I believe was the passenger airbag and the air control unit.

Remove the steering wheel and yank on different ends to make sure that all bolts and screws are in fact out. Good luck.