this god dam thing is pissing me off has anyone had as much trouble as i have? is it really this hard to come out or am i making it harder than it really is? is there a way around putting your hand behind the cluster and removing the wire harness? pleas someone give me some advise.

 

You should be able to reach from UNDER the wheel to get at those harnesses, it took me a million years to realize that, also a couple of good gashes later. It's predominately the speedo cable that's holding it back, unless the wiring harness is wrapped up like mine was too. Feel around and hopefully you should find it. You may need to flex in ways you didn't think possible

It may be hard to get the trim around the cluster out with the steering wheel in the way. I have a tilt steering wheel. Lowering it was still not enough. I had to loosen the four bolts that hold the wheel up to have it hang down a little lower. Be careful with that.

 

If it's anything like my escort, you should first unplug the speedo cable from the tranny, which will let you pull the cluster out a little ways, so the tops of the connectors are visible, then you can use a small screwdriver (or your finger if they're small enough) to press down on the tab on top of the connectors to release them.

--sarge

 

if you do a search, you'll find out that you're not the only one that has had a hard time taking the gauge cluster out. getting the gauge cluster out is a B*#CH!! i didn't have any problems with the wiring harnesses, but i had a hard time getting it around the damn steering wheel. like chastan mentioned, you can try and unplug everything by going under the dash.

 

i already unpluged everything and i got the plastic dash pice off that was not a problem but ill try to go under the wheel and see what i can come up with.

 

good luck and don't get by your gauge cluster. you show it who's boss!

 

Hey tito... I bet if you tried doing a search right now...you'd get 0wned.

 

charles i meant in general (like when the site is working), but yeah, the site is f**cked up right now. i've been gettin' owned everytime i try to post.

 

yeah... this is annoying though... I wish I had access to server or something to try and help.

 

server problems...will delete this when it's back on line....

 

i had no problem at all getting mine out when i painted the face. never unplugged it from the tranny. I just reached up from under the dash, there's plenty of room. When you feel the cables plastic connector, pinch it to release the cable from the cluster...and Voila! I actually had a bet with my partner at the time, he said it would take my hours to figure it out....i threw the cluster at him 10 mins later

tip: find a dark area to park the car, pull the cluster out as far as you can (don't force it) then prop it with something to hold it there. Then hang your shop light from the steering wheel (or tape a flashlight to it) then when you look from under the dash, you'll see the light shinning through and you'll know where to reach up to.

 

i wanted to paint the face of my gauge cluster, but i couldn't get the damn plastic shield off of it! at one point i almost had it off, but then it started to crack, so i left it alone.

 

right, it's VERY brittle and will crack easily. Took me 2 hrs and a shitload of patience (of which i usually don't have ) but i was determined to do it and do it right.