remove and re-install instrument cluster

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05-18-2009, 12:47 AM

svdrh

Junior Member

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Join Date: Sep 2008

Posts: 2

remove and re-install instrument cluster

I got a 2008 GS350 is anyboby to help me to remove and re-install instrument cluster, THANKS !

05-25-2009, 09:55 PM

willsr

Junior Member

Join Date: May 2009

Posts: 3

Instrument Cluster Removal

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Instrument Cluster Wiring

Following is a diagram of the back side of the instrument cluster that Dave drew the first time he removed the cluster.

Backside of the Instrument Cluster Showing Wiring Configuration

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Instrument Cluster Lights

Someone wrote to say -- I have a 1972 standard Beetle. One of the bulbs in the instrument cluster by the speedometer is 'out.' The place I have taken my Bug (run by a German mechanic who is very knowledgeable about Bugs) says he can't get a new bulb to work in the socket where the extinguished bulb is. My question: is there a brighter type of bulb that I could use in place of the working bulb that would give me more light at night?
Dave responded -- First, regarding replacement of the instrument cluster bulbs: These little 1.2-amp bulbs are readily available (for example, from Aircooled.Net). I replaced all six of them in my '73 instrument cluster, which I don't think is any different from the '72 instrument cluster.
Check out our Instrument Cluster Wiring procedure. There is a diagram there of the rear of the cluster, showing the location of the six little lights at #2, #3, #6, #9, #10 and #12.
You can easily do this job yourself; instructions are given earlier in the procedure. The hardest part is getting the speedometer cable removed and replaced. Be sure to follow the instructions carefully regarding the wiring -- label each wire per the diagram so you get them all back in exactly the right place. Other than that replacing the bulbs is way easy.
Regarding brighter bulbs, Dave wrote -- I don’t know of any brighter lights. I only see the 1.2W “wheat-style” bulbs available commercially, at about two bucks apiece. Personally, given the rheostat in the dash, I have found the standard bulbs plenty bright enough at night.
The question continued -- I find that the sole working bulb sometimes goes out, but if I tap the glass it comes back on. The rheostat sometimes works, sometimes doesn't (in that when I turn it brighter, it brightens sometimes, and the bulb goes out sometimes). Does this indicate a different problem?
Dave responded -- I would strongly suspect that problem is due to a loose or otherwise faulty connection. I would recommend taking the instrument cluster out (carefully marking the wires, of course, or you'll have a most interesting time rewiring the baby) and laying it on your workbench (or your wife's kitchen table :-) where you can ponder over it. Test the instrument cluster bulbs as follows (you don't want to go to all the trouble of reinstalling the instrument cluster (reattaching the speedometer cable is VERY difficult) only to find later on that one of the bulbs wasn't functioning).
This is how I did it -

When you put it back together, make sure the bulbs are firmly seated in their sockets and the wiring connections are solid.
I don't know exactly what causes the problem with the rheostat, but mine is the same way. It may just be the nature of the beast.
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Speedometer Cable Removal

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Speedometer Cable Installation

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Instrument Cluster Installation

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