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81 gauge cluster

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cmegga

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I need some help on how to remove the upper councel gauge cluster on an 81. I have a new len I would like to put in, I just cant get the bezel out. I have all the screws out and the lower cousel removed, the upper portion only comes forward about a 1/2 inch. It feel slike something is holding it from behind, I asume its the wires for the gauges. But I dont have any room to get in there and un hook then if that is the case.

Where amI getting stuck, Or am I just going about this wrong??

Any help would be apreachiated
 
re:

I think I know whats wrong, did you remove the light from the top of the center bezel? if not it wont come out because it makes it too tall, you just need to loosen the front nut, and it should turn to the left or right enough for you to remove the bezel. if this isn't the problem, then it could be that you forgot to dissconnect the bracket supporting the radio, it connects on the passenger side. Good luck!

-Chris
 
Center cluster removal

Tyla,I believe you are right on with your advice.I was looking through the procedure in my 81 shop manual and it mentions to remove the electrical connector from the rear of the cluster. For some reason it also states to remove the rear defog switch.I have had this apart several times myself but can't recall why this would be necessary.
 
I need some help on how to remove the upper councel gauge cluster on an 81. I have a new len I would like to put in, I just cant get the bezel out. I have all the screws out and the lower cousel removed, the upper portion only comes forward about a 1/2 inch. It feel slike something is holding it from behind, I asume its the wires for the gauges. But I dont have any room to get in there and un hook then if that is the case.

Where amI getting stuck, Or am I just going about this wrong??

Any help would be apreachiated

Hi,
the following is a response to another question of the same problem that I also just fixed. Hope it helps.
ladams
How I did it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by agildawg
I would love to hear how you went about doing this, and what you ran into because I have this same repair coming up in the very near future. I plan to replace all of the bulbs with new ones when I go into it to avoid having to do it again for a while. Good luck with the repair.

Dawg


I removed all the screws from the front face of the cluster (I think there are 3 on top, 2 on sides), then you have to remove the lower steering column cover (2 screws) but be careful because the headlight vacuum valve is attached. You can just let it hang there. Now the part where you need yoga.lol. There are 2 screws on the bottom of the cluster to remove, as well as the speedo cable. It is pretty simple to release, it's just hard to reach. There is just a little metal clip on it that has to be depressed and then the whole cluster pops out.
Hope I helped.
ladams
 
Are you talking about the Speedometer/Tachometer gauges? If so, ladams directions are spot-on. I followed them and was able to successfully get the gauge cluster out. Mine did take some finagleing to get it worked out of the dash and past the steering column, but it did come out.

If you are talking about the center cluster guages, you may need to remove the glove box, and go in from the side to unhook the wires. There is the big plug that goes into the circuit board that controls all of the gauges/lights, and then there is the light at the top of the bezel that lights up the Heat/AC control. I believe there was also 1 other wire hookup in there. Hope that helps. Just did that one also.... I did not have to unhook my rear-defog to get the center cluster out....

Dawg
 

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