Well you might be wondering what I mean by the "blind"? Not sure what it's called but it's a rubber mat-like device that stops dross from falling into the auto selector. It fits around the shaft for the selector knob and moves backwards and forwards as you move the selector knob. One of the things I found when I was fixing up the two C3's (and indeed the wrecked C3) was that the blind in all the selectors had disintegrated. Now it's not a big deal but its possible for something to fall down into the selector and potentially jam it. That's why the blind is in there in the first place.
I just happened to be trawling through AliExpress...and came across the blinds for sale! So I bought some to see what the quality was like.
At best, I could say the blinds were acceptable. Not as flexible as the originals but I guess they will do the job. At this point I will mention that I don't know if the blinds are available from PSA. I didn't try to find out. There are a few sellers on AliExpress...don't pay more than a couple of pound. I got ripped off, LOL!
Old split blind.
The blinds are made up of segments that allow it to bend down into the selector mechanism. The blinds split along the segment lines and tend to expose the innards of the selector mechanism.
Right! On with replacing them.
Remove the selector knob by just pulling it up.
Remove the black bezel surrounding the selector panel.
Remove the upper center console from the lower console. You wont be able to remove it altogether because the switches and sockets are attached to the wiring loom, but that's OK we only need to lift it up.
On each side of the silver selector panel there are retaining tabs. Unlock one side, lift it up onto the tabs, then do the other side.
Lift the panel up as vertically and as carefully as possible!! There are two buttons under it that may fall out and into the mechanism. If you are careful the buttons will remain on the white switch actuators. If they fall into the mechanism you will need to fish them out! I used "blue-tac", a chewing-gum like substance that's used to put posters on the wall. I just stuck a small blob on a long screw driver and fished one out.
Slide the center oval hole of the blind over the selector shaft with the corrugated side down and the smooth side up. feed one end of the blind into the guides on one side. Then feed the other end of the blind into the other set of guides.
Lightly put a bit of masking tape over the holes for the selector buttons on the top of the selector panel.
Noting the location of the tabs install the buttons into the panel and onto the masking tape.
Now clip the panel back onto the selector mechanism and then carefully remove the masking tape. Check that the selector buttons are free and click when you press them.
Now install every thing back where it was in reverse order. Everything just clips back together.
Not really an exciting repair but at least a practical one.
