I got that far, but never figured out how to remove the next part. To fix my cluster, every could years when it starts failing, I put a soldering iron on each of the 3 pins until they move, then push them back into position refund they're still hot. It seems to help keep the internal points connected, and saved me a bit of money. However, if you could just finish opening it, you could solder it good once and for all.

 

Maybe those 3 nuts securing the upper right connector are actually retaining the whole PCB assy in the housing?

 

I already fell for that once... removed the 2 from the central connector to discover the bolts on the other side aren't held in place with anything. They fell inside. I managed to shake them out, but there's no way to reattach them.
I believe it's the needles themselves holding the thing in place.

 

I took a thin blade and cut the rubber seal holding the clear front on, then removed needles by pulling them off. There are threads on here, even including options to change the colors. Now that I have a radio with blue illumination, I wish I had changed dash illumination.

 

So you pulled the needles straight off, or did you unthread Them by twisting?

 

Face side

 

I did this to mine. I laid the gage cluster face down and gently pulled straight up on the PCB. The needles are the only thing holding it in place. I resoldered all of the connector solders. When I was finished I gently lowered the PCB back and pushed the stepper motors back into the needles and screwed the PCB back down. It has been perfect for over 2 years now.

I was careful not to bump the housing while it was apart so the the needles would stay in place and this worked fine. I did not have to cut off the clear front or mess with re applying RTV to seal it.

Ill see if I can find pictures and add those.

 

This was a topic of discussion back in 2015. Here's a link to the thread: Instrument Cluster Repair

My 2005 Elise has the same issue. But not being mechanically confident, I'm seriously considering going with the AiM MX2E unit.

 

Update: I managed to get it apart without breaking it.
The tach needle came out easily, but I just could not get the speedometer needle to let go. So I flipped it back over and pulled straight up on the PCB holding onto the offending 12-pin connector. That worked, and the needle came free. Didn't see any visual issues with the solder joints, but I re-soldered the 3 pins anyway. Reassembled, and so far, it's working.

 

Just wanted to add to this discussion with a 2023 update. In addition to the do it yourself options above, I was able to find (and now highly recommend) Atlanta Speedometer for this repair. For just a couple of hundred dollars and a 2 day turnaround, Atlanta fully repaired and warrantied my speedometer for 5 years. Removal took me less than an hour, I shipped it off, and had it back a couple of days later working perfectly. Link below, hope the update helps someone!

Lotus 04-07 Elise Instrument Cluster Complete Rebuild

 

Friday when I spoke with them I was told 5yr warranty

 

Friday when I spoke with them I was told 5yr warranty. Updated the post.

Just checked their website, you are correct, just updated my post above: Electronic Insturment Cluster Repair | Atlanta Speedometer > Warranty