So I had my mechanic do a check up on my 93 240, and my compensation board is bad, my temp guage is always doing random stuff and not telling me the truth. The shopcharges forrepairing or replacing the comp board 95 to 195 dollars, and I know i can do it myself; theres just been one problem. I need to get the dash cluster out. Theres four screws, two on each side, and the two on the right are super easy to get out, but i cant get the cover on the left out to unscrew them (without breaking the switch for the headlights and dash lights). Is there a way these can come out or do i have to approach this situation in a different way?

 

These switchesare easy to remove. Pull the **** off and loosen the nut behind it. The switch then goes out backwards.

 

Here's a few pics that might help.

 

Another alternative is to remove the temp compensation board and replace it with a wire. The instructions are on the IPD web site ( they sell the jumper for $16 I think ).
http://www.ipdusa.com/pdf/PI-297TempBypassKit.pdf
You can do the same thing with a wire and some solder.
The benefit: You see the real temperature of your engine. The purpose of the temp comp board is to turn the analog gauge into a 3-state gauge ( cold, normal, hot ). Apparantly years ago the Volvo engineers heard that the American drivers didn't like the variability they would see with the gauge showing the actual engine temperature and added the temp comp board. It reads the temperature sensor and outputs 3 discrete levels, so the the gauge you see really isn't showing the actual temperature anymore. Effectively the board turns an analog gauge into a three-state idiot light. When it works okay things are fine, but when poor connections develop over time, the temp gauge behavior can be very erratic. A few years ago I replaced the thermostat because my gauge only ever rose to the 7 o'clock position. Turns out the actual temperature was okay, it was just the temp comp board.