Toyota Repair: 1995 Lexus ES300 instrument panel, 1995 lexus es300, crash sensor

Question
Everything works on my ES300 instr. panel except the needles(all 4 gauges) don,t "light up". I've checked all the bulbs on rear of unit and replaced any burnt out ones. Dealer said it is a failure of "combination meter computer". Very expensive replacement;any ideas? Also my airbag crash sensor module(under console armrest/storage box) is faulty. I bought a used one from a 1994 ES300,looked exact except the big yellow harness/plug is a little different. Can I go back to salvage vehicle and cut the plug off & splice all the wires on my 1995(14 wires) or am I getting into something I don't want to.    Thank you.    Chris B.

Answer
You need to make sure the part numbers on the airbag sensors are the same, I would not recommend splicing wires together if the connectors are different. In most cases of an instrument cluster problem the whole unit has to be replaced so the dealer is probably correct,