Gentlemen,
I recently discovered that the clear plastic covering the instrument cluster is cracking. Since I know how remove the cluster from the dash board, but have never disassembled it, I was wondering if that clear plastic piece is capable of being removed & replaced. After the cluster is out, and I remove the bolts retaining the instrument panel, does that clear plastic cover just side out of the fascia -or is there some Volvo voodoo involved? Thanks in advance, Jon

You really won't be able to fix it, and I've seen this happen on a bunch of 240s. The cracks usually start at bottom center. It's easy enough to find a decent cluster with a bad speedometer so that's what I'd plan to locate. Install your working speedo in the new cluster. CLean it thorougly while it's out, makes it look great. Soap and water will be fine. Uh, do this with the instruments out. (I found a dead moth in my high-beam light- explain THAT one!)

Good opportunity to install the tach you always wanted, too. They're on Ebay quite often.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '86 244DL- 215K, 87 244DL- 230K, 88 744GLE- 198K, 91 244 180K

You would be better off getting the whole black front piece with the clear plastic part. These pieces are held together with what I call "plastic rivets". Plastic pins from one piece go through a matching hole in the other piece and the plastic pin is melted locking it in the hole. These are difficult to get apart without destroying the parts, although it can be done. You can drill them out, and then glue the parts back together. But in this case its not worth the effort. Get another one from the junkyard.

Oops I was not thinking. The front black trim can be pulled off from the front releasing the clear part. But once you take it off it will not stay on. I think it is glued, or you break the plastic tabs off when remove it. You could glue it back together, but it would still be easier just to go to the junkyard.

I can give partial help. When you have the cluster out, lay it on its face and remove the 7 or 8 small screws, then lift out the guages and PC board from the plastic case of the cluster. At this point, I have gone on to fix the guages, not the clear plastic front panel. I have cleaned the clear panel as be I could without removing it. It seemed fastened in pretty solid and I didn't look to see if it could be removed. However, if you can't get the clear plastic panel out, you could go to a pick-and pull, and get a cluster there. Just reinstall your gages in the new cluster's case.

I doubt you can buy just the clear plastic panel anyway. If the panel does comes out, you could make one with plastic from a plastic supply store. I think I'd just try a salvage cluster.

If it's like the 740 ( probably close) the clear plastic covering comes off the cluster. You need to remove (I think) four screws to remove the cluster after you remove the trim. Pull it out and you'll need to unplug a bunch of connectors on the back to remove it from the car. On the bench, I believe (at least on the 740) there are about six-eight screws around the outside with at least two in the center. When they are all out, the clear plastic will separate easily from the cluster. If you meet resistance, you haven't removed all the screws. Hope that helps

bl