Does anyone have experience with removing the accessory switch covers / blanks in the console ?
These would be the unused switch locations to the left of the cubby hole at the bottom of the console (below CD player) in an LE trim.
I want to know if they pull straight out, without removing console cover, or if the are flanged from behind making it impossible to pull straight out.
'If' I can remove them then I can fabricate an insert, using these openings, to support a phone holder. Thanks.

IIRC there are pawls on the back like most other Nissans, but the lower dash is very easy to take loose. Remove the left kick panel (1 screw), then there's a screw on either side at the bottom of the lower dash panel. Once those are removed, the whole panel just pops loose. Then you can relieve the plastic pawls on the switch blanks and pop them out the front.

Not sure how to post images here yet, so I'll attempt a Imgur link below. These are the blank locations I'm referring to.

https://imgur.com/a/vQBvBHo

.... oh, I think I see what you mean now.... The ol' Reach Around. So take off the cover below the steering wheel and reach around to pop out the blanks (?)

fixer wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2023 6:08 pm

.... oh, I think I see what you mean now.... The ol' Reach Around. So take off the cover below the steering wheel and reach around to pop out the blanks (?)

No, I thought you meant the switch bank to the left of the wheel. But what you said may be the best way to try to reach those. Unless you replaced it at some point, I almost guarantee that faux woodgrain will be so brittle it will break when you breathe on it. We make customers sign a waiver before we'll even touch one. So you might not want to mess with disassembling the centerstack.

..."so brittle it will break when you breathe on it."

Like a potato chip. I found out the hard way because of wanting to repair the clock.
I foolishly watched a few videos all showing how to remove the cover by prying from the sides. In 'cautious' haste (many things to fix / limited time) I gently attempted it. The 1000 yard stare and shock looking at the first crack made me want to give up because the snap was so clean pressing it back together made the break disappear. So I used some cyanoacrylate and called it a day. After thinking about it I realized that nobody online knew what they were talking about and that the proper way to remove these was actually simple, effective and didn't involve prying or possibly denting the dash.
After taking it out, I tried repairing the clock, but the clock only lasted for a day and was intermittent. Got super lucky and found another vent-clock assembly in black at a junk yard while looking for other path-parts and bargained for $25. ( It was laying face down under the adjacent vehicle on oily / muddy / rough asphalt and I missed it on previous visits. Only reason I noticed it was because I went to look under the junked Pathfinder and happened to glance to the side at it. Who knows how much rain had fallen on it, picked it up and the face / bezel was at 95%. Couldn't believe it, nor why someone discarded it).
Was going to swap the clock but liked the look of the black matching the speedo black bezel combo better and remembered one video saying the black was stronger plastic so I kept it. Used Meguiar's car polish on the disassembled clear plastic clock window and brought the window back to showroom, found obvious cold solder joints, and when I hooked it all back up the LED's were robust and bright and it has been keeping perfect time etc. (circuit board was pretty much pristine inside).
I compressed / weakened the assembly metal 'prongs', lightly sanded the inside dash receiving plastic edges, lube it all up and popped it back in. Doing this 'should' make it much, much easier to remove now 'if' I get the courage again or 'have to'.
Unless it's already been posted here, I ain't giving up the safe removal method out of pure spite / anger that these knuckleheads actually posted videos or even thought for a moment that prying was a good idea. I might be guilty of being so gullible or not doing enough research perhaps, but I'm still pissed. Or maybe they're the same people selling intact assemblies on eBay and are creating demand by demonstrating the worst method possible(?).

https://imgur.com/Iu1AU01

https://imgur.com/MNVzzBR

The FSM will tell you to pry it out with a "suitable tool" lol. The problem is (especially when they've never been removed prior), often they're so brittle that even the most cautious methods won't get it off in one piece. You're right of course that some minor modifications plus a little lubrication will make subsequent removals much easier. However, they're so frequently broken that there are actually people "plastic printing" replacements for them these days. Whatever plastic Nissan chose to construct those things, it was a dumb choice.

Ah, 'printing'. Must have to fume the heck out of it to get a decent finish. I'm gonna google for photos out of curiosity.

I've recently started to think about replacing stereo / cd just for a horizontal phone holder or extra cubby hole (wireless ear buds get it done for me) and wondered if same cautions / issues are waiting for me on the lower main bezel ? I'll have to visit junk yard sometime and experiment.

...maybe I should make and sell a removal tool for the upper.

It's the particular plastic they used for that faux woodgrain, anything made of it will have the same embrittlement issue.

Update for anyone reading this in the future...

Using a small plastic electronics spudger pry tool (aka 'lift tool') to reach into & behind the top edge of accessory blank covers you gently pry and they easily pop out without damage. Rest assured that, for whatever reason you may want to remove these, it is not enough force or pressure to crack bezel. I've snapped them back in and popped them out a few times already. ( 2001.0 Path LE 2wd )

https://imgur.com/a/8aX3w5g

Good to hear. Most of Nissan's blanks and switches are more stubborn than that, prying usually just breaks the pawls. Nice to hear you don't need to break anything on the old Pathies.

For sure.
Just so people know... the black plastic insert that comprises the cubby hole / accessory switch frame (LE console) seems to be separate from the insanely fragile Faux Burled Wood plastic that surrounds it. You can feel the difference in plastics when tapping between the two. This is why you can pop out the switch blanks, in this particular area, with confidence. That and that they don't require much effort to release in the first place.