84 TBird - How To Remove Instrument Cluster??? February 20, 2016, 07:11:23 PM I'm trying to remove the buttstuffog instrument cluster on a 1984 TBird to replace some cluster lamps. I have the shop manual and it said to remove six screws around the cluster to remover it. When I removed the dash trim to get to the instrument cluster there were only four screw holes for mounting the instrument cluster. Two of the mounting screws were still present at the top of the cluster, but the lower screws were missing. The car has been in the family since new, so I know this is the first time the instrument cluster has been accessed. I removed the two screws at the top, but only the left side of the cluster would move. The right side where the speedometer is located is stuck. The shop manual said to simply remove the screws and pull out the cluster and then disconnect the speedometer cable. I looked under the dash and it looks like it would be extremely difficult to remove the speedometer cable when the instrument cluster is in its installed position. Any clues on what I might be doing wrong??? Thanks! Quote Selected
84 TBird - How To Remove Instrument Cluster??? Reply #1 – February 20, 2016, 07:50:19 PM First of all welcome to the board. If you are sure that all the screws are out it is most likely that the speedo cable itself is stuck in place. I think it is possible to reach up behind the dash and squeeze the end of the cable to release it from the cluster. Or grab the cable under the dash and feed it out, would be safer than pulling to hard on the cluster. Quote Selected
84 TBird - How To Remove Instrument Cluster??? Reply #2 – February 20, 2016, 08:05:08 PM Thanks!... I'll try to take off the speedometer cable from under the dash. Just wanted to get some ideas from the forum, because the "official" shop manual is not making sense to me... Quote Selected
84 TBird - How To Remove Instrument Cluster??? Reply #3 – March 12, 2016, 09:55:46 PM I discovered the speedometer cable was preventing the cluster from being removed. There wasn't enough slack in the speedometer cable in order the pull the instrument cluster forward. There was a "hook" bracket in the engine compartment right below the brake master cylinder that routed the speedometer cable to the transmission. I removed the hook bracket and this gave more slack to the speedometer cable. I was able to push the cable into the firewall. This enabled me to pull out the instrument cluster just enough so I could disconnect the speedometer cable. Once the speedometer cable was removed, I had enough room to access all the instrument cluster lamps. Since I had full access to all the lamps, I didn't have to disconnect the wiring harness from the instrument cluster, which looked difficult to remove...I looked at a variety of different shop manuals for the car, and plenty of info online, and none of them mentioned anything about the speedometer cable brackets... Thanks! Quote Selected
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