Hello people, I have a question.

I ran a search and I think I know the answer but I need verification.

Can I simply pull out the instrument panel, leave it on the steering column, change the light bulbs and then slide it back in?

I don't want to risk removing the entire panel if it is not necessary.

Coming home last night, one of the bulbs went out.

Thanks,


Blair

__________________
Blair
1983 300D-T
Black

Is it best to go up underneath to disconnect the speedo cable and can I do that by hand? Or will I need a wrench?

I want to do it as simply as possible without the possibility of breaking something.

Blair

__________________
Blair
1983 300D-T
Black

What I did (with yours it shouldn't be much different) was take off the kick panel by the pedals. Pull out the air vent tube comming from the center console and fished it back as far as I could without disconnecting it from the vent itself. Then i reached up into the dash and pushed the cluster out. From there I realized the wouldn't come out any further so I had to feel around in there and guesstimate where the speedo cable w/ hand-eye coordination. It's just able to be unthreaded with your fingers. That gave me enough slack to replace the illumination lights. I recommend doing both so you don't have to go back in there in the near future. Putting it back is the reverse. The hardest part was getting the damn air vent back on to the console side!! Took me probably 10 minutes of fighting it. My car (don't know if yours has this) has this metal pipe going through there that has engine coolant going through it and I kept burning myself on it. So I had to avoid that pipe and get the vent hoze back on. Even if that pipe were cold it still would be a struggle. The hot pipe just added another fun obstical!
Good luck.

__________________
1984 190D 2.2 Auto 220k
2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport 70K
2004 Lexus RX-330 ??K
2005 Chrylser Crossfire LTD 6K

Play guitar? Go to www.cyberfret.com for free online lessons!