Gauge Cluster Removal...Help please!

Hey guys, i’m trying to change my gauge cluster bulbs and i followed the instructions:

"It’s not hard its time consuming.

You have to:

  • remove the cover under the steering column (6 Bolts)
  • drop the steering column (4 Nuts)
  • remove the bezel around the cluster (2 screws)
  • remove the cluster from the dash (3 screws)
  • remove the bulb from the cluster (twist & pull)"

I managed to kinda remove the bezel around the cluster but i can’t drop the steering column… i removed the 4 nuts but nothing seems to be happening… can someone help me through this? msn is marktay87@hotmail.com Thanks!

dont drop the columb, to take off the plastic to get to the cluster u gotta spin it around the steering column and bend it in this special way to make it fit around the steering wheel adjusting lever, u sorta keep rotating it around one thing after another to get it off, its hard but u can do it, DONT RUSH, or u’ll break it… dont rush when u put it back on either.

It’s way easier to just drop the column. It’s two bolts… but the column is still spring loaded to stay up… you have to pull it down yourself and keep it down (having a helper here really speeds things up).

Anyone wanna have a dash light swap meet in the spring? It was suggested before, not really sure what happened to it, but I’m not up for anything in this weather. I’ll definitely be busting mine open to fix my odometer, so I’ll just swap the lights too.
Are you just keeping them stock, or changing colour?
I’m just asking cause I need help deciding. I’m considering several options, bright white, red, or dark blue, maybe dark green, depending on the deck I get. I want to have everything colour match, and look as un-ricey as possible. I saw pics posted here of bright white, as well as a red and blue mix. Didn’t care for the red and blue, but the bright white looked sweet.

hey man, yeah we should do something like that, and as for me, i’m keeping it simple, i’m putting in the B1 Hybrid Ultra White bulbs :slight_smile: yeah i saw that pic too, that’s why I got those :smiley: blue seems not bad though, but reminds me too much of a VW, red reminds me of acura… bright white seems more like a mercedes :slight_smile:

Post pics when it’s done, some close ups, and ones from further back that show u most of the dash. Obviously at night :stuck_out_tongue: Very interested in how it’ll look all done.

its not that cold out, i’ve been skidooing in -20 weather, and the swap would take a half hour MAX each car.

the bright whites are the best, i have blue and red roght now, its matches my deck!

if u drop the steering column its alot easier, but u don’t have to. just take your time to get the trim out.

btw, when u get the cluster out, u will see 3 dark-orange/ brownish round tabs, evenly spaced. turn them i believe its counter clockwise, 1/4 turn. the bulbs will drop out and are attached to the tabs. there are 3 clips on the s14 cluster, i believe the middle clip releases on the top (have a flashlight and double check).
its been a while since i did it, but u should be able to figure it out. try first and if u can’t get it i can help you guys.

I managed to catch the mother of all colds that prevented me from even being able to climb out of my bed for an entire day, so I’m gonna say NO to any outdoor swaps until spring. But I need to track down a fix for the odometer by spring too, since I need to fix that on it as well. Since I only got flaming here, I think I’ll try zilvia and freshalloy :wink:

Listen to Gandalf about the 3 orange tabs behind the cluster, then read this, and all of your problems should be over!

http://www.lsauto.com/install.asp

P.S. I am in contact with Kevin/LSAuto about getting high-speed KPH speedos. Will let y’all know if anything interesting comes up, other than the fact that the Nismo 260 KPH speedo can be had for a mere $400 U.S.! :wink:

hey guys, thanks for all your help! i managed to get it done with phil’s help, i have a picture but it is really really bad… looks dim and a little blui’ish which is nothing like how it looks like in person. you have to see the ultra white in person, looks really good! In person it’s like pure bright white, really nice :slight_smile:

http://home.cogeco.ca/~dirdhou53/DSC00915.JPG

http://home.cogeco.ca/~dirdhou53/gauge2.JPG

It still looks a lot better than stock. I’m definitely doing the bright white too, it’s f*ing gorgeous. Thx for putting up pics. How long did the swap take? Was it a pain to do?

hey thanks man, but honestly, if you think that it looks better than stock in those pics… man… then you will definitely like it in person, it’s sooo good, it’s like those mercedes ultra white gauges, has a really nice clean look. hmmm, I think it took almost 2 hours to get everything off and back on, we had some trouble with removing the dash bezel, and once you get it out, there’s just 3 bulbs you pull out and change. but yeah, it’s a pain in the ass to do it, so I would recommend that you buy good quality bulbs like the B1 Hybrid Ultra White so that the chances are those bulbs blowing out is close to none. And yeah I think that you will need 2 people for this, it helps a lot. Hey, I forgot who posted this site, but its pretty much what I did… too bad i did not get to see all this before i did my gauge cluster…

http://www.lsauto.com/install.asp

It’s pretty much the exact same thing that I did, except once I got the gauge cluster out, I did not have to disconnect the wires, I just twisted and pulled off the bulbs and replaced them :slight_smile: Well msg me if you need anything.