I want to clean out the dust and dirt inside my dash where the gauges are.. my question is how do you remove the clear plastic piece behind the dash itself? I removed the 3 bolts holding the dash part in place but you can't really move it past the steering wheel enough to get behind there with a wrench or whatever is used to get the plastic clear piece in front of the gauges removed. I've searched around but couldn't find anything about cleaning "near" the gauges.. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

I believe there are 7 screws that you need to take out to get the cluster out. There are the 3 in the dash, 2 in the radio bezel, and the 2 at the kicker panel below the steering wheel.

 

Yes...i've found dust getting in behind the clear gauge cover. A pain really...but a really no big deal sorta thing. IMO, it's best to remove the bezel, then the dash plastic around the cluster, then the cluster itsself.......far less of a chance of breaking your dash pieces this way.

Follow this link to a how-to replace your cluster bulbs...follow it and remove the 7 torx head screws to remove the plastic cover from the cluster....
https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ad.php?t=65263

This link will show you what screws to remove...
https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ad.php?t=74062

 

Yeah its getting dusty and dirty, not a big deal but at the same time i just want to clean it out..There's 2 more under neath the steering wheel? Oops i missed those.. yeah forgot to mention the 2 on the radio I got those aswell just missed the ones under the steering wheel. I'm going to go check that out real quick..

Thanks shane for those threads, i'm reading the first one right now, very helpfull now I know exactly what to do. Thanks!

 

yeah buddy! glad to help. Might as well change all those bulbs while your in there...you know a week after you put the dash back together that there'll be a bulb burnt out. lol.

 

I hope not how much do those cost a piece? Also where can you pick some up?

 

They are 194 bulbs...usually about $2 for two. There's 6 total. Can be purchased at any auto parts store.

 

Alright thought so, cool I'll pick some up.. thanks for the help man.

 

Hey shane do they sell other colors besides the stock green? i want some blue FTW!!!
sorry for the hijack. lol

 

Nah it's cool man, I think red would be sweet too..

 

Yes 194 colored bulbs are avaliable. BUT......The only way to change the color of your cluster, is to completely disassemble the cluster and sand away the green film which gives it it's color.....

search function is your friend....i'm blue led'd. John Grigg's cardomain is something you should look at.

you can use this link as a how-to color your gauges...(no, you don't need to do led's like mine)
https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ad.php?t=62796

 

I'm with what Shane said... I would spend the few cents more to get the "long life" bulbs also... I've personally never had one burn out in a vehicle I've replaced them with... which I had my last Ranger 6yrs and it was less than a year old when I bought it and it had 2 factory bulbs already burned out when I took her home. I picked my long-life bulbs up at Wal-Mart, don't really know if they are cheaper there or not, around $3.00 for a pack of two.

 

Hmm interesting. My ranger is 12 years old now and still has the original bulbs. I would love to change them to red, but thats a lot of work. Would be nice to clean up the dust behind the plastic. It has had over a decade to collect...

 

Done.

 

Wasn't that bad now was it?

 

i agree, if you don't then they will probally burn out

 

nah not at all guys, the worst part was getting the damn cluster back behind the steering wheel since mine does not move up or down. then i had to put the plastic cover back in over it without dropping the screws into the dash other than that it was very easy. and its clean now!