I've inherited a 1988 CS Camry, that otherwise is doing pretty well.

All the dash needles have curled out due to heat. Apparently this was a common issue due to the kind of plastic they used. You can still purchase a replacement needle kit, but the labor on replacing them is a bit much. How easy do you think it would be to swap them over? Are there any step by step instructions out there? In addition the speedo needle is now starting from well below zero, due to my clumsy attempt to bend the needle back to flat using a paperclip through the trip counter hole! Will this be easy enough to reset to zero when replacing the needle?

Thanks so much for your help!

 

Have you tried pricing repair costs at a speedo repair shop?

If you have the new needles you can determine how they are attached, most likely pressed on.

Taking out the console should be OK if you have the info. Appears to be held on by 5 screws at the top then pulls out. May need to remove the steering column covers.

A Haynes Haynes repair manual (under $20) has the info or check your local library that may have service manuals.

Most likely the display then needs to be removed from the back of the housing to access the meter face.

 

No I haven't tried a speedo shop, I just spoke to my mechanic who is an old-fashioned place that specialises in camrys.

The haynes manual is a good idea thanks.

Do I understand you correctly that you think I might have to access the back of the instrument panel? Or just push them on from the front?

 

If you remove all the screws in the front, the complete console should come out from the front.

The issue is the needles are behind a plastic face piece. Thus would assume there are screws on the back of the console that once removed allow either the dash instruments as a whole unit or individual sections to be removed from the back.

The complete console comes out from the front the dash. Assume the instruments would then come out the back of the console.

This should not a problem as you would have the complete console removed from the dash to easily work on or even take to a speedo shop.

 

Cool. Thanks for your help.

 

In case anyone else is looking for instructions on this, it was pretty easy.
You have to remove the casing around the steering wheel, and drop it to it's lowest level. Then there are about five screws under the shade lip of the console, three in front of the speed etc, one under the rear demister button, one under the hazards button. The you can pretty easily pull that whole surround out. Once you've done that, there are only five screws holding the "glass" perspex in front of the instruments. Undo these and you can easily pull the needles off, use a hairdryer to slowly (otherwise they will snap) bend them back (or replace them). The only problem then is putting them back on accurately!

 

Thanks for posting back on your results.