Gauge removal & installation on a Mitsubishi Galant VR4

These are the tools you will/may require for this project.

BEFORE YOU START!!! KNOW EXACTLY WHERE THE NEEDLES ARE! The speedo and tach will rest at or close to zero. The gas and temp will remain untouched.

1. Removing gauge cluster from dash:

Remove top two 2 screws. Tilt steering wheel down to get better view of things. Unscrew the trip odometer reset button by turning it counter-clockwise. Pull trim out from the top and then slide out the bottom. Next undo the two shiny screws on either side of the cluster.

There are also 2 more screws on the bottom of the cluster.

Once all 4 screws are out the cluster just "pulls" out towards you. The cluster uses a push-in type connection so don't worry about wires and such. You will have to turn the cluster downwards to get it past the steering wheel, but it does fit.

2. Removal of old faces and installing the new ones: <tach & speedo>

Once the pod is in your lap, take off the plastic cover by pushing all the tabs in. They surround the outside of the cluster and can be pushed in with one of the small screwdrivers. Note that there are 2 clips on the sides too.

Once you've completed the removal of the cover it should look like this.

Use a marker/pen to "mark" where the speedo needle rests. Mark it on the white plastic in between the faces. This is necessary, because there is no "0" on the speedo.

Now its time to remove the needles. You will notice now that you will NOT have to remove the Gas and Temp needles, as the faces are cut around those gauges. You remove the needles by gently prying upwards with 2 small flat head screwdrivers until the needle comes off (see below)

The next thing to do is remove the faces themselves. There are 8 screws in total on the faces. 4 are threaded, and 4 are self tapping. Please make a note of what goes where. The threaded ones go by the needles, the self tapping ones go on the gas and temp gauges. The faces are friction fitted into place with small plastic wedges that insert into the holes in the gauge faces. You will have to remove the small pin that sits above the temp gauge BEFORE you try to remove the faces though. It just pulls out towards you.

You will see on the bottom of the cluster there are 2 colored pieces of plastic that give the "idiot lights" colour. Use the exacto-knife to remove these by lifting up and pulling out. This will help the illumination of the idiot lights during the daytime.

Here is a close-up of the pieces I am referring too.

Now WASH YOUR HANDS!!! Then you can start handling the new faces

It is very important that the holes line up properly. Because these faces are hand cut there is a margin of error. If the screw holes don't line up, you will have to cut them out slightly with your exacto-knife. If you do not fix the alignment, the faces will be VERY bumpy and will not light up properly at night. Install the screws, and the needle above the temp gauge.

Now put the needles back on. Line up the speedo to the mark you made earlier.

Put the bezel back on (it just snaps back together). Now put it in the car and re-install the screws. This is what the finished product should look like.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS INFORMATION IS INTENDED TO ASSIST YOU IN THIS INSTALLATION. WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU HAVE A PROFESSIONAL PERFORM THE INSTALLATION. WE WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES THAT MAY BE CAUSED BY THIS INSTALLATION.

FOR THIS AND MANY MORE VFAQ™ VISIT VFAQ.com.

VFAQ.com is run by Tom Stangl who is a long time member of CLUB DSM and also runs the Bay Area chapter of CLUB DSM.