Ho do i get those clips back in?

[Jehu]

I took my DME out and can not for the life of me slip those brass clips back in to snuggle the box in place. I oiled them and used all the forces in any direction i could muster though i have a seriously F'ed up lower back so i was basically crippled. Is there a tool or a trick and more importantly is there any risk driving with those not all the way in? I jammed them in as much as i could but they're not really in if you know what i mean. I need to drive the car tomorrow should i be worried or try and jam something else in the space available to secure it?

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/4555/dme007zg9.th.jpg (http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dme007zg9.jpg)

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/8445/dme008bx7.th.jpg (http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dme008bx7.jpg)

[Dave M]

Shouldn't take much force to press them in. I just had my DME out yesterday and made a mental note of how 'clever' the little clips were. Untill you get it figured out, no worries about driving it without the clips in. Might want to stuff a sock in there in the mean time so it doesn't get bounced around too much. Sorry I can't provide any more insight, except of course, make sure they're being installed the right way round :D Come to think of it, another time I removed them, I had trouble pulling one out and had to bend it a bit to get it back in. Don't remember the details, but it had to be slightly bent to work.

Dave

[txp135]

Don't bend them. When you take them out, did you have to use needle nose pliers? When you put them back in, use needle nose pliers. Grip the clip from the sides with pliers, use both hands to grip the pliers, position the clip and then stiffen your arms/upper body and use your weight to push it down. It should snap right in. The long side of the clip is against the DME, the short side goes in the hole. Once you get the feel for it, shouldn't take more than a minute for both of them to go in.

[Jehu]

I used sloted pliers to pull them up. i have a pair of Viper grips , vice grips on steroids which can clamp the clip from the sides but it was like the metal on metal friction was not to be overcome however hard i pushed. I'm about 6 ' 250ish and though reluctant to use all my weight so as not to smash the harness plug plastic clip parts it was just not going in.I though it may have been catching on that little notch cut out in the thin edge of the DME but tried pushing horizontally with a scredriver while pushing down on the clip and still no love. As long as i can drive it without them and can just shim it with some stiff materal of somekind to defeat any jostling i won't worry. Thanks

[ThoreauHD]

I used a hammer myself. Maybe not the smartest thing, but it worked.

[KenB]

Hope this makes sense...


If you don't have the DME in the slot properly, the clips won't go in all the way.

I did this the first time too. The DME kind of hangs in place on a ridge that fits into the 2 little horizontal slots in the rails of the DME.

It took awhile to figure it out but if you study it long enough, it will come to you. Once you have it in the proper place the clips should go in with a little force.

[txp135]

Hammer doesn't work very well and will bounce off. I know it's hard to push these in and it took me awhile the first time. Actually, the first time around it took me a whole 5 hours to remove and install DME. Trust me, grip the clip from the sides with needle nose pliers, put your weight on it and then use your upper body weight to drive it down (give it a quick jolt). Someone might have a better idea, but this will work if you didn't bend those clips too badly.

[Russell]

That sounds about right. It is a "DUH" once it comes to you. Hard to offer more advice as it has been a long time. Just make sure the DME is in the correct place. It seemed that mine kept slipping in the slot too deep.