Odometer is not working and I want to pull it out for repair. Any suggestions on removing the dash and getting the odometer out? I've read the repair manual and it looks like they recommend removing more of the dash than may be required but I wanted to check with the forum first.

 

It's a PAIN IN THE BUTT. Drop the column. Remove the A-pillar trim, pull the top screws from the knee pad, and lift dash pad out and up, removing it. Unscrew the panel on both sides. Disconnect the light harness, pigtails, and speedo cable. Disconnect the headlight switch wiring and vacuum tubing. Then, lift the knee pad out, and you can take the gauges out from there.

 

Geeez, maybe I'll just guess how far I've gone.................

 

with Durango_boy... no doubt about it, it is a pain-in-the-butt...

I've done this a half dozen times or more and so far I've not had to remove the dash pad. (It would however make getting to the back of the cluster a lot easier, but I've found it unnecessary so far.) As Durango_boy said lower the column and then carefully remove the harness from the back of the cluster. Most of the lights are for illumination, so I just note the location of the non-illumination sockets as you remove them. Once you get them back in, the remainder just seem to find their way to the correct hole in the cluster.

For me the biggest challenge is uncoupling the speedometer (and tach in the mechanical tach-drive Corvettes). Once all of that is unhooked and all of the cluster screws have been removed, you can lift up gently on the dash and maneuver the cluster out. I like to remove the headlight switch from the cluster beforehand to avoid messing up the two vacuum lines that control the headlights. If you get them reversed, you'll be removing the cluster again.

I would personally recommend getting a new speedometer head before you start. Fixing the old one is gonna take time and may have to be sent out. New ones are not that expensive and reinstalling everything (unless you've done it a half dozen times) is so much easier if you do it right after you've disassembled everything. You can get the old one repaired and either use it as a spare or sell it.

One other trick to installing these (and removing them) involves the trip-ometer reset cable. This thing loops around a piece of the dash bracing. Everything usually comes out okay, but often folks think it's easiest to reinstall the cable before inserting the cluster back into the dash. This will usually put a good kink in the cable as it wedges against the aforementioned brace and make resetting the trip-ometer difficult at best. In the worst case it will damage the speedometer head.

I like to install the end into the speedometer head and let it dangle as I insert the cluster. Once the cluster is seated I fish the cable around the brace and down to the attachment point on the lower edge of the cluster. You can do the opposite, but inserting the lose end into the speedometer head after installing the dash is a bear.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out... GUSTO

 

Ok Gusto, I've printed out your instructions and gonna give it a shot. Thanks