How do you repair the speedometer illumination on a 1996 Honda Passport?

Answer 1

I have recently done this. You have to remove all of the facing from the dashboard that goes from the left of the vehicle over by the cruise control button to the middle covering the radio. this all snaps off but be careful not to break it as it is pretty brittle. then unplug all of the buttons on the left and right of the instrument panel (hazard, cruise control, rear wipers, etc.). adjust the steering column as low as it will go and remove the dashboard facing. You should now see 4 screws holding the instrument cluster in place. Remove those screws and the cluster should come free. then gently pull it out to gain access to the plugs behind the cluster. pull all the plugs. One plug should be yellow and has a red clip that you must remove before the clip will come free. after you have the cluster free, in the back, you will see all the plugs where the bulbs go. twist them counter clockwise and they will release. replace them with the correct size bulb USING BULB GREASE. This will insure a better connectivity with less resistance making these hard-to-reach little buggers burning longer. This also protects against corrosion and moisture. Replace everything the way it came out and it should light up like the day you bought it. let me know if this helps.

I have the same issue with my 96 passport. It seems that this is a common thing. I haven't replaced the bulbs yet but plan on doing this soon. From the research I've done by studying the manual, you must first DISARM THE AIR BAG SYSTEM. Do this by pulling the two fuses from the drivers side fuse box. Then you must disconnect the yellow wire under the steering column going to the air bag. After you've made sure your not going to accidentally set off a small explosion with the air bag, you can then take out the dash by dismantling the steering column cover and dash gauge cover. After that, I believe it's a matter of gaining access to the back of the gauge cluster so you can find out what kind of bulbs it takes and if that's even the problem. I believe it uses the Sylvania 74 type. I'll write back to confirm or correct after I get around to doing this. Anyone else have any info?