ok fellas, youve helped me out many times....1/2 my instrument cluster works....rpm side is lite....mph side is not....are there bulbs to replace in there?...do I have to take the whole dashboard off to access the lights? I cant see my MPH,fuel, and temp gauges at night thank you in advance
I am assuming there are bulbs back there, my temp gauge is now unreadable at night, does anyone have some details about how to go about getting at these
I believe theres 2 or 3 philips screws on the top of the cluster, then got to take off the bottom panel, (hex/torx head) and that will gain access to the cluster hold down screws and the rest should be self explanatory, i actually am going to do this today or maybe tomorrow too
let me know what its all about BLACK STANG ....I would just like an idea of what im getting into before i do it.....are there actual bulbs you can can change...or is it all solid state stuff behind there>????
it's not hard, once you get the cluster bezel off, you'll see the screws you need to remove to pull the instrument cluster itself. there are little wedge bulbs (bulb 168 or 194) that press into a little black sockets and twist into the back of the cluster. there's like 6-8 total. you'll see them when you get it pulled.
I'll try and take pics of what I'm taking off to get to everything and what to do.....and the reason I'm doing it is I'm going to try changin the bulbs in the dash to a blue or white led to see how it would look, I like to try different things and getting tired of the yellow green and red colors....plus my lens is all scratched up...want to polish er up
Not exactly step by step but it will give you an idea....here's some random shots
the bottom of the bottom panel on one side, theres 2 sides, just take off the ones that hold the panel on
In the next pic you can see a hole where theres a philips head screw that holds a section apart, there's 3 screws and you need a long screwdriver to get to them. There's also a collar between the steering wheel and the plastic piece thats held in by 3 screws, it just pops out on the left side of the wheel and then you can open it up and get it out.
In the next pic you can see where the 2 philips screws screw in and hold down the top of the dash panel....and that copper insert is where the screw is that holds in the cluster, theres 4 of them, one on each side
There are 2 connectors that are plugged to the back and the speedometer cable, just press the one section of the cable and it will pop off, sometimes its a pain to get it to slide back on, and I found it easier to hook the wiring harnesses back in then do the speedo cable.
Once it's out you don't need to take off the lens but I did so I could have it off and polish some scratches and damage from dash cleaner on the lens.....and yeah that's 245,000 miles
you can see the 2 wire harnesses and speedo cable in the next pic....
This is the back of the cluster, all the black turny things are what hold in the bulbs, just turn it counter clockwise and pull and theyll come out and then pull the bulb out of the black holder.
Here's a stock dash bulb lit, the next one is a clear white led, and the next is a blue led, I put some in behind the cluster to see how it would look at night. It looks pretty sick with a blue needle but I need more to get more of it lit up in the back.
Hope this helped
I just remembered this might not be for everyone, It's probably different in the different years or if you have airbags too.
thats more info then I expected....thank you very much, black stang...but how do the swithes come out?, ...by the way, I got 235,000 miles on the clock...it has its creaks, and noises....never had the intake off. but it gets me 19 MPG. to and from work....I do notice my oil gauge getting low as I sit at an idle, start to drive and it goes up...I suppose the rings are wearing. but It its a good car. I'll let you know if it gets my to vegas next month..I plan on moving just before thanksgiving.
DONE........everything works the way it should....i did see a wire that had the insulation melted off, I just taped it for now, till i fix it at a later date....THANK YOU VERY MUCH BLACK STANG.
You're very welcome 925, and for those lights they would be plenty. Those tiny single led's I got light up the tach and mph needles a sick looking blue, but I only used 2 since thats all I had so the rest of the backlit is pretty dim but if all was done it should look pretty nice, especially with the ones you listed, should be veryyy bright with them. Deff post pics if you do this. I'm thinking about changing my map light, dome light, turn signals, low fuel warning light and stuff all to led's, it's something different and makes a big difference. but we'll see about them, I got to get some real bright ones for the little running lights in my projector headlights, should looks pretty nasty esp. with just them on, like some Lexus's have