For anyone suffering from the broken lever that controls the windshield defrost I have good news...
You can remove the cluster and unclip the body harness behind it to gain access to the broken gear!
Once the main gear is uncliped you have enough room to slide it out and remove the broken lever.
To make it easier I set mine to front vents for positioning then popped it off. Turn the defrost gear clockwise all the way then slide new level in behind.
Thank you for this post. Because of you I deemed it at least possible to attempt. Plus your description was accurate. So to all I did "somewhat" fix this problem this way. First it is obviously not the optimal fix, and requires a certain amount of luck. So yes the cam is attached with a screw, which you must back out enough to allow the "C"ish retainer clip to come loose. Then you can see that the cam is held on by a snap retainer in the centre. Screwdriver applied to this and the cam will come loose. Here is where i believe luck comes in and some knowledge and skill. Small hands are a real help. My broken piece i believe got lost in the gearing somewhere. I dont know if it is interfereing, but if the broken top gear piece you can get that is great. Now the lever part is still in there and what you need to replace. You have to feel back in there and get a mental idea of where its coming out of, to put the new one back in. There is obviously a post that it has to come outboard from, and i believe the "snap" was relebvant here it seemed to snap loose. I also believe the tracker pin located in the inner race of the cam to keep in mind. So yes leave the cam in the IP vent position works good and disconnect the battery so it doesnt move (it will). Old part out, new part try to locate back where the old part came out. Then try to push the cam back in place feeling for everything going together nicely. I had to screw the cam on it wouldnt snap back in place for me. after screwing it was retained with the snap, so i unscrewed and properly positioned the "C"ish clip and screwed back in. I think a trick is to make sure the other lever doesn't come out of place. So mine mostly works, i get defrost and the modes seem to change pretty well. I think that lost piece may be somewhere or something isnt quite right, because i am not 100% sure it isnt straining or maybe it was just relocating. also my floor vent doesn't work normally i get mostly defrost. other than that not bad. ANyway I can see why a lot of people don't post their fix as it is a bit of a mind fluck. I see one post did IP removal but left steering column. I was hesitant about doing the steering i figured if i wasnt successful in this, i'd probably turn it over to dealership as i dont want to risk breaking air bags & the coil springs etc. Anyway its still a bit of a blurr dont hesistate to ask me i'll do my best to point you in the right direction from my experience.
