Replacing 3 inch lens on my dash..

[tearza]

I need to replace the lens on my dash. How do you pop off the covers without damaging them..

[Ray,IN]

All the gauges I've ever seen are clamped to the back side of the dash, when the holding clamp is removed the entire gauge pulls out towards driver.

[Dav L]

What Ray suggests is very likely how to remove the gauge assembly. The next task will be how to remove the lens to clean. Most gauges I have worked on don't make that easy. Usually the bezel is aluminum and crimped around the housing sandwiching the lens. Getting that crimp relieved typically damages the bezel cosmetically.

If your question is how to remove the gauge, then you might want to be prepared to replace the entire gauge assembly as to DIY just the lens might require more experience / tools to do well.

And, to "replace" the lens...I would be surprised if you could find a new lens independent of the gauge. Do that research before removing the gauge assembly.

Before doing any of that, I would try polishing the lens in place to see if it's plastic and UV light has yellowed the lens. Any auto parts store or walmart sells kits for headlight polishing that might work on the gauge. If the lens is cloudy from the inside....wonder how that happened....

[marjoa]

Here's 3 suggestions:

1) I have seen some lenses on a gauge cluster that come off by unscrewing that outside black ring in your picture.

2) If that doesn't work, what you could do is:
• take a rag and place it on the plastic dash area
• then on top of the rag place a thin piece of wood...like a small section from a shim pack you buy at Home Depot. Just a thin, small piece of wood that you can pry against
NOTE: the rag and wood is protect the dash
• then take a small flat screwdriver, place it on the wood and get up under that black ring and GENTLY pry, twist and wiggle under that black ring and see if looks like it will come off that way. If so, then do that GENTLE procedure all the way around the ring until it pops off

3) If all of these fail, that gauge is closest to the drivers window and I'll bet sun peeking in thru that window hits the gauge and has turned it yellow and cloudy. If the two above ideas don't work out, try using some toothpaste and a very soft cotton cloth and with your fingers and cloth using a swirling motion, try to polish it in place to try to bring back some clarity.

Both of our headlight lenses get cloudy and about every 2 years or so, I take my electric polisher that I use to wax our coach and I put some of my MH polish on the foam pad and work each lens for about a minute. It brings the clarity right back. I wax them good after that.

Good luck.