Removing Instrument Cluster.

[Winfield1990]

1993 ford festiva 5 speed GL.

I am in the process of trying to fix a few things , The haynes manual says to remove the 4 retaining screws that hold the cluster in , tilt the steering wheel down as far as it goes and pull the cluster out , then disconnect the speedo and whatever else.

my car does not have a tilt steering wheel , and after removing the four retaining screws the cluster does not come out , I do not want to rip wiring and damage the speedo cable forcing it out... The manual appears to be wrong and looks like I may have to remove a ton of stuff to get access to disconnect whatever is holding it from coming out.

I am still not 100% certain it isnt my rheostat switch but I have -12 volts in both of the wires that are side by side in the plug. I am kind of unsure exactly how to test the rheostat switch and bypass the rheostat to check to see if it really is the bulbs. I have used the multimeter on ohms and probed every combination on the switch while adjusting the dial and doesnt seem to do anything how can I bypass to see if the bulbs work?

I decided to try jumping the plug in all combinations , which there are only 3 total , 1 of which blows the tail fuse. The other two have no effect on the bulbs that I can tell.

[navdoc101]

Unhook the speedo cable from the transmission & the cluster will pull out enough for you to get your hand behind it .

[1chrisapple]

disconnect speedo cable from trans.pullthe cluster through the dash opening.reach in behind the cluster from the left side and disconnect everything including the speedo cable and then cluster will come out.takes a little wiggling but it will.

[Winfield1990]

thank you , I thought about doing that but figured it would be pointless like there was a clip holding the speedo cable somewhere under the dash so it still wouldnt allow me to pull it out...

Thank you im going back out now to check it out.

[scitzz]

While you are working on it, practice reaching under the dash and up in there to the speedo cable. Even my ham fists fit, and you can squeeze the speedo connector, and pop it out. Installation is even easier, push it on.

Running around outside the asylum again with my tappy talky appy

[Winfield1990]

getting to the two electrical connectors and the speedo was pretty easy from reaching around the left side. All 4 of the tiny bullbs , and the 1 big bulb were all blown , so hopefully my rheostat is working right. Also that its not going to be too much of a pain cleaning my dome light connections , I soaked my dome light holder in salt and vinegar and got the resistance sorted out , hopefully the connector wont be too bad if its going to give me a problem.