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I’m trying to remove the instrument cluster from a 84 T-bird 5.0 AT to replace some cluster lamps. I have the shop manual and it said to simply remove the trim pieces and remove the screws that hold in the instrument cluster. When I tried to pull out the instrument cluster, the left side of the instrument cluster moved a little, but the right side of the cluster was stuck. I was looking at disconnecting the speedometer cable from under the dash, but it looks like it can’t be reached with all the brackets and harnesses in the way…
Would the speedometer cable have to be disconnected from the transmission first? And then the cluster could be pulled out from the dash and the speedometer cable would be accessible… The shop manual was giving conflicting information, so I’m not sure how to continue. Does anyone have experience removing instrument clusters from mid-80s Fords??? Thanks!
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Thanks CM… I previously looked at those instructions from the AutoZone Web site. But, they don’t seem to make sense to what I’m seeing on my car. Actually, the instruction for the 1983 instrument cluster seem closer to what is on my 1984 model.
The issue: I think the speedometer cable is holding back the instrument cluster from being removed. At this point there is no way to access the speedometer cable to disconnect it. I guess all the brackets and cables could be removed from under the dash in order to access the speedometer cable, but this would be a huge effort to do this. And the instructions I’ve seen said nothing about removing parts from under the dash. That’s why I was thinking if I disconnected the speedometer cable from the transmission, I might be able to pull out the instrument cluster just enough to disconnect the speedometer cable from the instrument cluster… Hmmm, I never knew that replacing a burned out bulb in the instrument cluster could be this complicated… The research continues…
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!
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