Originally Posted by klamathpro
This is an FYI for anyone needing to service their own speedo cluster. You do NOT need to remove the steering wheel at all. You only need to remove the bottom half of the driver side dash (fuse cover also) and then remove the mid-section dash which includes the cluster garnish. This part is tricky but once you have unbolted the bottom dash and lower screws and tabs to mid section, you need to carefully pull down the top part of the cluster garnish to release the tabs that go behind a lip under the upper dash assembly. Having the steering wheel telescope positioned closest to the driver is a must. I just did this whole process myself in less than 2 hours and it wasn't hard. This can be done in less than half an hour if you have the manual, I just didn't know where all the tabs and screws were. There are about a dozen screws to remove in the whole process and that's about it.
Replying on this mainly so I can find it later. I would like to remove the cluster without removing the steering wheel.
The factory service manual provides a map of the lamps and explains how to remove and replace them. This leads me to believe that the dealer is unaware of how the instrument cluster illumination bulbs work, or has found a way to charge a considerable amount of money for parts and labor for the replacement of a slightly difficult to access bulb. Either way it's pretty sad.
Here's the info showing the position of the various lamps and an explanation of how to remove and replace them. The bulbs in question are numbered 3, 4, 12, 13,14,15 and 23, 24, 25. It appears that one might be an IC (24) which may mean it's not replaceable (and probably won't burn out very quickly).
Reading is a wonderful gift.