This is probably nothing but my speedometer is out on my 1987 Jeep XJ, so until I actually get around to fixing it, I've been using Waze on my phone to track my speed. For convenience, I sit the phone where my speedometer is.

I noticed other day when I picked my phone up that it was HOT. I put my hand to the glass (plastic??) cover over the instrument cluster, even where the phone was not sitting (eliminating the idea that the phone was what was heating it) and noticed the whole cover was extremely hot.

I had my dash lights on for the 20 minute ride home, so of course I know that's what's heating it. But I just wanted to know if this was normal or if it was hazardous? Should I have it looked at?

It's normal for the incandescent backlighting to make the cluster hot. As long as it's not too hot to hold your hand there, I wouldn't raise an eyebrow at it. If you smell any burning smell or electrical odor, you'll definitely want to check things out though.

Thanks!