I've got all the screws out and the cluster is loose, but it only has an inch or so of play and does not seem to want to come forward out of the dash. I can't get my hands behind it to disconnect anything further. Any pointers to get this thing out? Factory service manual doesn't provide any assistance. Thanks in advance.

 

Disconnect the speedo cable from tranny

 

Yep, witch has to be done laying under the dash.

 

so if i am reading this right you can disconnect the speedo cable from the trans casing from inside the car?

 

No, you disconnect the speedometer cable from the back of the speedometer itself. Depress the tap and pull towards the firewall an inch or so. Once the connectors for the outward instruments are disconnected you will need to slide the cluster forward and tilt it downward and remove the two large round connectors. Be sure to remove the steering wheel before removing the cluster.

 

i would love to be able to disconnect it from the cluster but i cannot get my hands behind it to do so. is this something i can do laying on the floor looking up?

 

Once speedo cable is disconnect the tranny, that will give you enough slack to disconnect the cable and wire connectors from the back of cluster

 

my arm is long enough that i can reach up and disconnect the speedo cable just sitting in the drivers seat. you have to do it by feel this way, but use the force...

 

plan B is that sometimes you can get the cluster sideways enough to get your hand in there

 

If you remove the speedo cable from the tranny, push some slack up through the grommet in the firewall so you have some play. There are two rubber holding clips, one on the frame and the other on the steering box, that hold the cable and make sure to take it off of those. Then push some backwards into the cabin to have some slack in the cable at the cluster. The easiest way I've found to remove it is to push the left side backwards towards the firewall, while pulling the right side towards you and out of the dash. It's a complicated procedure, but much easier than trying to pull it out straight. Make sure to remove the gold clips that are for the surround first though, so you don't have to find that out in the middle of removing it.

 

ok, question before i tackle it. i laid on the floor of the car with the seat out and found what i presume is the cable running to the fire wall, black and about a half inch thick, very taut. Presently no slack in it and I can't see well enough up past the under side of the steering column to detach it there. can the connection for the speedo cable to trans be accessed from above or best from the underside with the car jacked up?

 

Dude, focus.

Push the gauge cluster back into place in the dash - this puts the speedo cable in an easy position to get your hand up under the dash just above the brake pedal right next to the firewall and you can easily unclip the speedo cable from the back of the gauge cluster. You may need to be on your back laying with your head near the pedals to see it clearly, but it's there.

You're making this much harder than it is by disconnecting it from the transmission underneath the car. It is literally a 30 second thing...

 

I wasn't able to get to it from underneath and didn't see this last post before getting out there. Disconnecting it from the transmission was, at least for me, the quickest part of the job so far. Car went up, cable came out, car went down. In any event, when putting it back in I'll take a look back underneath the dash to see if I can pop it back on that way.

Appreciate all the help/insight provided thus far. I've taken clusters out of a ton of different cars old and new and this was by far the most aggravating I've had. I'm going to be replacing every bulb on it since its out so I don't have to go back into it any time soon.

 

Glad you got it out - that's the important part. I knew you must have pulled the gauge cluster far enough out that you then couldn't reach the speedo cable. My speedo sometimes gets a 'grinding/clicking' noise on cold mornings due to the cable managing to work itself out of the back of the cluster, and I know right where to jam my hand up in there to grab it.

Changing bulbs is good advice, as it's a pain any way you slice it. Take care,

 

i know the main bulbs are 194 style, would you know what the smaller warning lamp bulbs are? thanks.

 

Does anyone have advice for getting the cluster back into place? I've got all the connectors on as well as the Speedo cable, but can't for the life of me figure out how to shove the cluster back down where it belongs.. the black plastic shroud in front of the cages seems to be holding me up, but I got it out with the shroud in place??

 

I had the same difficulty honestly. I felt like I was going to break something putting it back in. It's difficult to place in at an angle because the speedometer cable connection will rub the top of the dash/shroud. Best way I can describe it, I turned the right side of the cluster into the hole first then pulled it towards me while pushing the left side in. A little bit of Force is required.

 

I kinda lifted on the top part of the dash to get it in, also for future reference, if you go inside the engine bay, you should be able to pull on the speedo cable and create enough slack to where you can get the cluster out enough to disconnect it from the back of the cluster, instead of crawling under the car

 

i don't know if its any different between 12A and 13B cars, but even taking the cable off the clips in the engine bay did not create enough slack for me. unless i have an aftermarket cable, which i can't imagine i do nor imagine existing, there was no way i was getting any appreciable slack short of disconnecting it from the case. honestly, disconnecting and reconnecting from the transmission was for me the quickest part of the job. wrestling with the cluster in this car was abysmal. every other car i've owned has been a cake walk for the same task.

 

After much time and frustration, I too just did this procedure. I've removed gauge clusters from other vehicles but this one was a real pain and test of patience to the max...not for the faint of heart. How did they assemble this in the factory is beyond me! Just to get to my target, the oil pressure gauge (which I had forgotten was the objective by this time), was a major endurance run. The big question now is how will the re-installation go?