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The max ac button is malfuntioning , do i need to replace the who ac head unit to correct this or is there something else i can do? this was caught by a shop that is charging an arm and a leg. Is this something that can be done by the normal joe?

Last night I installed a new aftermarket head unit in my 2011 Fusion SEL. I thought I might as well take pictures of the process and post them here. Hopefully it helps somebody else out who needs to do something similar. 1. Open the door to the storage box at the top of the console. Remove the rubber mat that's in there, it's secured to the front of the box opening (nearest you) just mess with it and it will make sense. 2. Remove the two bolts that hold it in place. 3. Then Slide the box towards you, the vents sometimes come with the box and sometimes stack back connected to the venting. If you need to adjust or fix the fins now would be a good time. You can unhook the Hazards button and Passenger airbag light at this time but I chose to just keep it connected as I can access the face panel screws with this piece loose. Not pictured: Many Fusions have a plastic strap connected to the bottom of the box which goes down above the gas pedal and is bolted down. I removed this from the previous time I disassembled the dash. To get to the other end of it you need to remove the panel below the steering wheel to give you some slack to get the box out and be able to access the bolts on the console. 4. Next we need to remove the center console piece with the cup holders and cut out for the shifter. To do this, pull the parking brake and then open the arm rest. Use a flat head screw driver to pry it upwards. I always wrap the tip of the screw driver with a couple pieces of electrical tape to give it some padding and avoid scratches or cracks from sharp edges. Keep carefully pulling up from back to the front and it should also pop the chrome ring from around the shifter out of place. If your car has the lighting kit, disconnect the wiring from underneath the cup holders. At this point I took these pieces in the house and scrubbed them up good in the kitchen sink with a mild detergent. I bought the car pre-owned and there were some smudges I wanted to get off. 5. Once that has been removed and put aside in a safe location it's time to remove the coin tray at the front of the console. Just wiggle it and pull up and towards you and it should come out without much effort as there are no screws holding it into place. Once you have the coin tray loose, disconnect the power cable for the aux power jack and set it aside. (Note this pic is actually from after the install, I didn't take one of this part before but wanted to show what it looks like). 6. This is what it looks like with the coin tray removed. 7. Back up at the top of the console, remove the two bolts that hold the face panel (I don't know a better name to call it) in place. The bolts were hidden behind the lip of the top console storage box. Pull the face panel towards you from the top to bottom. There are 6 clips (3 on each side) that will pop loose. Be careful as the stereo, HVAC and other button controller boxes are actually attached to the back of the face panel and not to the inside of the dash like every other car I've ripped apart a month after buying it. You will need to remove 4 wiring harnesses (maybe more or less if the car has different options) from the back of several control units on the back of the face panel. They're pretty easy, press the tab and pull away, you could mark them if you like but the only two that look the same are color coded so I didn't bother. The CD player unit will remain bolted into the dash. 8. Next remove the 4 bolts that hold the CD player unit in place and remove it by pulling it out towards you. Unhook the wiring harness and remove it from the car. 9. Here's what the open dash cavity looks like with the face panel and CD player removed. Here you'll see multiple wiring harnesses from the vehicle as well as my RCA cables and amplifier remote turn on wire that I ran previously. These can be run down the drivers side of the car underneath the plastic trim panels in the door openings. 10. Remove The HVAC and other control boxes from the stock face panel (left) and re-install them on your aftermarket face panel (right). I left the factory stereo controller box attached for now and will probably just store it until many years from now when I'm ready to sell the car and want to put it back to stock. Anyway, the controller boxes were attached with star-screws, but a small flat head screw driver worked fine for me as I was too lazy to go grab the star drivers. The bottom control box with traction control and lighting buttons just popped out with some tabs and had no screws. To Be Continued...