SO I went and took off the cupholder yesterday and upon doing so the lower speed clip fell down into either the head unit or the downtube itself. Instead of taking everything apart to try and find it I decided that the top screw was enough to hold the downtube in place and I placed a 1/4" hole plug in the bottom screw hole. Everything looks fine and the downtube is tight as can be, but it's just annoying knowing that little piece of plastic (speed clip) is lurking in there, and that I am missing the bottom screw. Am I crazy? should I let it go? :impatient

 

Should I move this to the OCD forum

 

Speed Clip? Huh? My cup holder has no speed clip. It is simply held on by two torx screws and a bit of tape.

 

It's what the screws actually screw into. If you take the screws out and pull the tube towards you, you will see two blue plastic clips that the screws screw into (commonly reffered to as speed clips). One of mine fell and thus left no way to re-attach the screw.

 

Those two screws are the only things holding the downtube in place. Since you are already half way there, why don't you just pull the tube, retrieve the clip, and put it all back together.

You could probably do this in the time it takes to post about it again. . .

edit: oops. . forgot there was another step. But it is incredibly easy to do.

Here are some good instructions

 

Thanks for the link! I think there would be another step involved,with the '05 - '06 revisions to the console, you need to remove the consiole and take them out the bottom (they have a lip on them that precludes them being pulled up.

 

Unfortunately he has an '06. After January '05 the tubes are flared at the bottom and only removeable if you pull the lower front console.Promking - have you tried one of the flexible shaft part retrievers? They are pretty cheap at most car parts stores.
Edit: oops, you already posted before I finished typing my entry. The retriever should work for you though - speaking from personal experience.

 

Fuego, I was going to do the duct tape at the end of a wire hanger first if that doesn't work i'll try a flexible retreiver. Even if I get the part out it will be difficult putting the clip back in place with out removing the tubes. Thanks all for responding to this crazy topic, what can I say I have the sickness.

 

If you want info on getting the tubes out for 05-06 models, let me know. Honestly, it is a pretty simple task . That sort of thing would drive me nuts as well.

 

I do! I thought I was doing something wrong when I tried pulling mine out the other day... I was ALMOST tempted to force it, as it almost felt like it was just stuck... glad I didn't.

 

Please share.

 

I don't know if it will help, but with the 06's you can remove the Head Unit, Climate Controls and Switch Bank without removing the down tubes (just remove the down tube screws and pull the tubes down and then to the side. This may give you acess to where the speed clip fell as well as access to replacing it.

Phil