Mk1 Seat Leon - Ash Tray will not close

[Marv-95]

I opened & closed my Ash Tray today and found that it would not close. I saw another thread and photos showing how to remove the Ash Tray and parts that had broken from another user. However the photos they had uploaded wasn't clear so I decided to upload my photos which show clearly the problem/parts that may have broken.

- When the Ash Tray is open there is a metal screw that you can clearly see - unscrew this.

- Once unscrewed pull the Ash Tray forward

- Disconnect Lighter

- Pull the whole Ash Tray from its area

- There is an inverted T (very small plastic part) that follows a channel once closed. This was pushed back in mine so not enough plastic was in the channel so the Ash Tray would not close

- Other users found this small plastic part to be snapped OR the main Spring secure had snapped.

- Mine was fine but the plastic part needed pushing flush & the main plastic spring secure had a little crack on it. I used super glue to reinforce the parts once in the correct position.

- Note the main plastic spring arms are easy to secure from the rear of the ash tray

- I have uploaded Photos to my Album (my profile) it doesn't look like I can add photos on here so I have created a Facebook page the link is as follows:-

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152589021424948.1073741839.751584947&type=1&l=9410e6b27f

Im hoping you can access them as they will make the whole process easier to understand.

Many Thanks
Marv

 

[Pete236]

This happened to me just the other day, when my mate tried to close the tray up!
It's a clever little set up, though a bit too clever and I don't see how it could be cost effective!
Will be removing mine soon and mounting the lighter socket somehow, I've always got something plugged in and having the tray open takes up so much space in the console!

 

[Marv-95]

I know tell me about it - I would like a AUX Phone Connector so I can play music from my phone through the speakers. I couldn't believe how this poxy little piece of plastic which is only 3-5ml deep is the closing mechanism for the Ash Tray.

 

[endoftheworld]

Thank you Marv, now I know how the thing works.

I think I might be removing the ashtray from mine altogether as I only open it to plug in things so I'd be better off if it wasn't there.

 

[gbshahaq]

Plastic "T" had broken on mine. I thought about repairing it - but access is super fiddly and my patience is very low.
One call to a breaker - replacement found, cleaned up and inserted. Happy days.

 

[Marv-95]

Good Job - How much was the Ash Tray from the breakers (£20-25) ? It certainly is fiddly but I didn't want to be beaten by a very very small piece of plastic (T).

 

[gbshahaq]

I sourced that and a horn for 30 delivered, so I thought that was a fair price. I'd seen a couple of ashtrays on eBay for over 20...

Sad that there's so many of these breaking right now, considering they're not that old - but good for the rest of us who keep them running!

 

[Marv-95]

True True!!

 

[Jblaze]

Hi guys,
I had the same issue before few years. The T shaped pin had moved back and the ashtray didn't close. So I've pushed it back in place, used some superglue to strengthen the cracked plastic around the pin and it worked fine till last month.
I repeated the same procedure as above but this time the pin was missing so I used a small screw instead. The issue I'm facing is that once the ashtray closes it doesn't open again. So I have to push the V shaped spring on the back a little to the left to open the ashtray. See the image below for better understanding.

Has anyone experienced the same issue?

My concern is that if I fit it back into the car I won't be able to open the ashtray once I close it.

PS since the original pin was missing I didn't know how long the pin should be so I set it about 3mm (1/8") of the pin to be inside the channel.

 

[Marv-95]

JBlaze can you open my Facebook images?? Have you tried a smaller screw?? May be its the thickness/girth of the screw that is the problem. The plastic T was only a couple of mm thick and about 3-5mm long. What about a beaded pin?? Would that work rather than a pin?? You could cut the pin down to the desired length and it is small. You could even sand down the bead end so that it's flat and in T (before you cut the needle down).

Cheers
Marv

 

[Jblaze]

Marv-95 thanks for the quick reply. Yes, I can open them now(yesterday the link wasn't working).

The stupid thing is that I've already glued the screw and I'll have to break it to try with a different pin. I've used sand paper to reduce the diameter but nothing changed. I guess the only option is to use smaller pin.

At the moment it looks like this. Sorry for the bad image quality.