Noticed today that the back light on the gear number panel where it tells you what gear your in stays a dull flickering even with the key out..? Could this be the backlight on its last legs? Are the instrument panels hard to change? Thanks.

Seems you are not alone on that problem with the dash looks like you are going to have to take dash out and have repair done, recent thread on same issue with link to it below...any problems on removal of dash there is a guide in the stilo guides section look for the guide there on changing clock dials and has information on dash removal.

https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo/417393-fiat-stilo-dynamic-1-6-2002-problem.html