This is starting to get annoying to me because I think it's getting worse, but I have no idea where or what it is coming from. There is something building up behind the cover, not on the outside, if you see the pics below around the odometer and fuel gauge. Can someone tell me what this is and why it's happening? Is the cover easy to remove to clean? Thanks.

 

Did you buy this car used? If you bought it used maybe the previous owner took out the cluster for some reason and that is why there are some spots like the ones in the pictures. You should be able to remove the screws from black plastic outer piece and pull that piece out to get to the cluster itself. You should be able to remove a few more screws and the cluster should come out pretty easily.

 

There are two screws just under the gauge "hood" so to speak. Remove them with a phillips screwdriver (use a stubby one), and then pull the trim right out of there. You'll want to lower the steering column, btw. After that, you'll see the cluster is a singe unit held in by three phillips screws --- remove the screws and you'll start to see how it'll come out. To aid in removal, pull the small ACD control panel on the left out of it's clips (use some force --- comes straight out). Once you've got a window to pull the cluster out, you'll have to disconnect it from the wiring harness by unclipping the harnesses on both rear sides. You'll have to use some finesse, but they'll come out. Then you're home free. Once you've got the cluster free of the console, and in your hands, you'll see that the plastic cover is only hold on with pressure clasps at the edges. You'll have no problem getting it removed and cleaning it.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the quick response. It's really helpful. Just curious if this is a common occurence when the cover's been removed? I did buy it used, but it was completely stock when I bought it with 12k miles.