1998 Ford Taurus lighter disconnected from mount?

Question

I have a 1998 Ford Taurus and the casing that the lighter goes into has disconnected to the mounting inside the drop-down lighter/ashtray piece. At the back of the metal casing the lighter fits into has come unscrewed from the female end, which is on a cord(not a fixed piece) in the back and I can't get it lined up so I can screw it back in.

Is there a way to take off the lighter/ashtray drop down piece without having to remove the whole console? What's the best way to connect the lighter casing's male screw end into the female end inside the drop down piece?

Here's a picture of the area: http://webpages.charter.net/w4jbb/106-0651_IMG.JPG

At the bottom of the picture you can see how the lighter and ashtray are in a little pop-down thing-a-ma-bob. I've removed all of the console around the shifter and ashtray and have re-attached the connector to the lighter, but I can't get the metal casing around it so it won't move. When put eveything back, the lighter casing still comes out when I try to pull out the lighter. Is there something else I should be doing?

Answer 1

If I am thinking right, this is a bracket that you really need to remove the console to get at. the hanger has to be tightened and unless you have a trained mouse, you need to remove the console which is more time consuming than hard. pull off the shift Knob (if on the console) then four bolts remove each front seat. then it is a no brainer just pull the kick covers and some misc screws and it comes out usually I can pull one in 45 minutes. so for someone new an hour should do it,Then reassembly is a lot faster since you leaned what goes first.

Answer 2

That may be one of those jobs so frustrating to do that it's worth it to take it in and say "Here, fix this" and pay someone else to do it.