Re: Speedometer not working needle is stuck Glass broke also

Posted by HH56 On 2020/12/18 23:56:32
The 55-6 instruments and clusters are identical except for the faces which changed with styling. The senior cars with 4 gauges have 3 more wires you need to remove instead of just pulling out the 2 light sockets on the Clippers. Ammeter has 2 extra wires and the oil gauge has one for the 3rd. The 4th wire for the oil gauge is actually a jumper wire from the instrument voltage regulator which also is connected to the temp and fuel gauges and does not need to be disconnected when removing the entire cluster. As to whether the steering column brace needs to come out -- it would give more room but it is also a pain to remove so I would do it only if you absolutely can't work around it.

Start by removing the speedo trip reset knob and cable from the dash bottom edge. The knob is held to the shaft by a small screw and comes off then the nut holding the cable to the dash edge can be removed and cable pulled out of the hole.

You will need to remove all the lamp sockets from their holes in the cluster. I would label 3 of the lights in some way so you can easily get them back in their respective spots. Those at the top of the cluster are the turn signals for the first two while the high beam indicator in the middle hole in the speedo is the other. The rest are just general illumination bulbs and it doesn't cause any problems if those get in a different hole. Just be careful when pulling the sockets out of their holes to try and pull them straight out. Sometimes they are tight and if they suddenly come free and are at an angle the glass on the bulb can catch the edge of the hole and break. A small thin blade screwdriver can sometimes help ease them out.

After the lights are out, before removing the nuts holding the cluster to the dash it is a matter of removing wires from the voltage regulator and gauges and freeing up the loom from the clip at the back of the speedo. Here are the 56 color wires to remove:
Instrument voltage regulator -- pink wire
Temp gauge -- dark green wire
Fuel gauge -- orange wire
Oil gauge -- dark blue wire
Ammeter has two red wires so mark those to get them back on the correct terminals. The ammeter will still work if they are reversed but will read backwards and you would need to go back under to change them.

I think that is all but if something was forgotten you should be able to see if anything else is obvious. I don't have a good photo but unless someone else has one to post here is one from the AC install manual which gives a fairly decent view of the cluster in the dash.

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