92 Ford Escort GT Instrument Panel

Hello, the instrument panel on my 92 Ford Escort GT will not light up. I made sure the dimmer switch was turned on, however there is no change. My turn signals, low fuel light, seatbelt light, and check engine light all work, however the fuel gauge, tach, and speedometer do not light up. I was wondering if it was a specific fuse that may be blown out.

Also, my rear defrost does not work, and I was wondering if it was a fuse causing the problem if it was the same one. Thanks.

This sound like the bulbs to me. They do burn out! I have a 93 and my have been burt out for some time. The time and effort you'll need to spend to fix this is crazy. Removal of the steering wheel and instrument panel as well as disconnecting all guages and speedo. Your better off spending it in front of the TV drinking beer and watching football! Good luck!

I've had my dash apart a couple times to replace lightbulbs, but I was able to do it without removing the steering wheel.

Here's what I do for my '92 GT with a manual transmission and tilt wheel.

Remove the speedometer cable from the transmission housing. It's held in by some type of clip. I don't use Ford's clip. I either lost it, broke it, or couldn't get it back on. So I just use a paperclip. When I need to remove the paperclip, I just cut it and use a new one for re-assembly.

Remove the dashboard trim. I am able to bend the plastic dashboard trim and remove it without taking the steering wheel off. I don't remember where all the screws are, but I know there are two vertical screws at the instrument cluster.

Remove the screws holding the instrument cluster to the car. Make sure you don't remove the screws holding the clear plastic cover to the instrument cluster housing.

Slowly pull the cluster out. There are wire harnesses clipped to the back and the speedometer cable. I unclip the wire harnesses but leave the speedometer cable alone at this end. You may need to push the cable through the firewall from under the car.

I've never had the cluster completely removed. I just provide myself with enough wiggle room to get my hands behind the cluster and replace the bulbs.

When it's time to re-attach the speedometer cable, I bend the paper clip into a really tall looking "U", pass the ends through the slots, holes, or whatever is there, and then I think I twist the paperclip ends around each other to hold it in place. If the ends are too long, you can clip some of them away. Make sure you leave enough to grab each side with a needle nose pliers for the next time you need to remove it.

My total time spent is about an hour. It's up to you whether you want to replace all the bulbs while you're in there or just the bulbs that are blown.