Cadillac Repair: Instrument Cluster Replacement, seville sls, sir system

Question
The fuel gage and temperature gauge quit working on our 2001 Seville SLS and was informed by mechanic that it needed a new instrument cluster for 800.00. I purchased a used cluster and was wondering if you have insight or directions on removing the original cluster and installing the replacement unit? We couldn't afford the 800.00 and the mechanic now wants 600.00 to install the unit we purchased. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time,

Mark Stevenson

Answer
Hi Mark,

     I looked up the procedure and it would be best to have the manual or directions in front of you.

     First off you need to disable the SIR/airbag system. Then remove the vents from the dash to access a screw behind each vent. Then the dash pad lifts off. 4 screws hold the speedometer head in place and after removing the wire connectors it can be removed from the car. Total time start to finish to do this should take aprox. 1 hour.

     I have no way of sending the info you need so you could see if your local Caddy dealer could set you up with the procedure and pictures. Otherwise the best solution would be to get a 1 year subscription from AllData and then you will have all the info you will need available from your computer that can be printed out and taken to the car. The main thing is to disable the SIR system or if the bags deploy/blow then you could really get hurt and will cause more damage to fix than it would have cost to have your mechanic do the work in the first place.

      Hopefully that will help get the job done. Bill