Instrument Cluster Mileage Not Showing

I have a 2002 Ford Explorer XLT 6 cylinder with 82,000 miles and the digital mileage indicator has stopped showing. For a while the indicator would turn on and off for no reason and finally just stopped showing. I brought it to my local ford service location and they recommended that I replace the entire instrument panel. However, I can't imagine that only part of the panel needs to be repaired. Everything else on the panel works just fine.