Speedometer Removal

Hey, I'm trying to remove the speedometer in order to change some bulbs. I was wondering what kind and size of tool to use to disconnect the little white cord. Also, how do you change the bulbs in the switches?

What year Taurus are you working on, and which little white cord? Are you referring to the speedometer cable, and how to remove it from the speedometer housing, or a white cord for the gear position indicator, or something different?

-Rod

It's a 96 Taurus G. I'm not positive if it is for the gear position indicator, but it is connected to the speedometer housing itself. In any case, there is very little room to maneuver, and I wonder what to use to disconnect it w/o inadvertently snapping it. The screw itself is very small, 1/4'' or less, and there was not enough room to use the ratchet and extension I had.

I'm going to assume that you have the column shifter since that's the only one that makes a bit of sense to your description. Pasted below are the steps from the service manual.

1. Disconnect battery ground cable.

2. Remove two retaining screws from instrument panel steering column cover (04459) and remove instrument panel steering column cover from instrument panel.

3. Remove integrated control panel from instrument panel. Refer to «Section 15-01».

4. Remove four retaining screws and instrument panel finish panel from instrument panel.

5. Tilt steering wheel to lowest position to make clearance to remove instrument panel finish panel.

6. Remove four retaining screws and instrument panel finish panel from instrument panel.

7. Detach transmission range indicator cable loop from transmission column shift selector tube (7212).

8. Remove four retaining screws from instrument cluster.

9. Pull top of instrument cluster toward steering wheel.

10. Reach behind instrument cluster and disconnect two electrical connectors from instrument cluster.

11. Remove instrument cluster from instrument panel.

To add to Rod's post. The little white string just unhooks from a little fiece of metal in the dash. Unscrew the thumbwheel and the whole thing will come out. That is the adjustment cable for the gear indicator.

Yes, but I was wondering what sort of tool to use to unscrew the thumbwheel itself. I apologize if I was being unclear.

Unhook the cable, loosen the thumbwheel and the cable will slide out of the thumbwheel after the wheel is off the threads.

Typically, an opposable thumb (on your hand) is the only tool that should be needed to loosen a thumbwheel. :)

-Rod

Thus, the term thumbwheel... I honestly thought of that, but I doubted it was that simple. Thanks!