Removing dash cluster 1994 Camry

Not worth the effort. Isn't it fairly clear when the car is in "Drive"?

(two screws above the speedometer cluster, remove radio surround to access remaining screws)

Yeah, it's just that everything on the car is perfect, just that.

The dash has a woodgrain kit that covers the radio surround. So I imagine, I'll have to risk breaking the dash woodgrain kit if I want to remove it.

It's still perfect. They all do that.

The wood grain is just applied over existing dash pieces with adhesive. You don't need to break it to remove. Be careful about chipping the edges though. Personally I fail to understand the logic of a dash light that tells you you're in Drive. You can just look down at the shift lever. But how could you not know you're in Drive? If you're in any other gear, _those_ dash lights will come on, because they're not burned out. I could see little LED dots for the actual gear in Drive, like 1st, 2nd,

3rd, OD, and OD lockup, being more helpful. Even then, I don't really need a dash display. If something functional or even decorative breaks, I fix it. But that insipid "D" lamp is in neither category. Feel free to tear apart the dash if you wish. That way you'll have done it once, and will be easier next time the light burns out.

This behavior is by design. The purpose of the gear selector instrument panel lights is to train people where the gear selector is lined up in the shifter assembly. After a certain amount of time of using a particular gear, the indicator light shuts off for good. Toyota figures you have learned by now where that gear is and do not need to be shown with an annoying light constantly. The reason all the lights are not out permanently is because you have not yet used them to the extent you used the D light. Toyota doesn't believe you have been trained long enough on the position of those other ones.