Just replaced the bulbs in my instrument cluster. They weren't burned out, but 13 years had made the filaments pretty feeble. I was amazed at how much better it looks with just $5 worth of bulbs.

Cluster wiring is quite interesting. It has this flexible circuit board that wraps around the contours of the plastic housing in back of the dials. Where the wiring-harness plugs attach, the circuit "film" simply folds over a plastic tab, and the plugs clip on over that. The plugs themselves are kinda neat, in that they each have two little latch levers that cinch the plug down as you squeeze them.

Too much fun! I love taking my car apart (even better when I can put it back together!).

 

Doug,

Was it an involved job?

Mike

 

Hi Mike,
Pretty easy, esp. if you have a non-airbag wheel. First set wheel to straight-ahead position. Take off center pad and then 24-mm nut. Wheel should then come right off.

Assuming you have a 1985.5 or later, you then take off the plastic air vent/instrument shroud (8 screws; 3 are in the vent grid, 2 come in from the bottom on either side of he steering column).

With this removed, you'll now see the bare instrument cluster, held in with 4 screws. Remove these, and the cluster will come right out. Unplug the 3 connectors, and the cluster will be free from the car.

The instrument lights are in the three little white sockets. Simply grab them and rotate to remove. Bulbs then pull straight out from sockets.

Good luck!!

 

Doug,

Much thanks for detailing the repair. I'll have to add this to my list of must do's as my dash is terribly dim.

One more question if I may, where did you get your new bulbs (i.e. dealer, import auto store, etc...).

TIA,
Mike

 

Hi Mike,
Glad to help. As for bulbs, any big parts chain will carry them. Mine were Sylvania bulbs from Pep Boys (can't remember the part #). Just take the old bulbs with you to the parts store...the socket end is quite distinctive, and you'll be able to match them up, no problem.

 

Or.... you can wait for the LED reflectors I am making to be finished. Should not be too much longer.



Here is the thread that has all the info.

<a href="http://forums.rennlist.com/forums/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=15&t=009376" target="_blank">Gauge Lighting Update</a>

 

MAKE sure you get the euro bulbs and get the exact bulb number. The instrument bulbs for US cars look the same but are different wattage I believe.

 

Is it the different US bulb wattage that has 'brightened' the dash lighting?

 

Hey Perry 951,

Your LED mod does look like it provides daylight in a can. I was pretty pleased with just doing the bulbs. I doubt that I have "like new" intensity, but it's a dramatic difference from before. When I drove the car on the first evening after I bought it (about a year ago), I was into the medium-dark stages of dusk before I could see the instrumentation at all!

Your setup looks great...I hope you sell a bunch of 'em.

--Doug

 

perry- i want you to hook me up with the LEDs on my climate control, are you making anything for that?

 

Yeah, if you go with replacing the incandescent bulbs make sure they are only 2.5 to 3 watts each. The higher watt ones get too hot and will melt the plastic back there. They shouldn't be hard to find in a good local lighting shop but I know some auto places only carry the 5 watt bulbs which are too hot.

 

Doug, I've been thinking about a dash bulb replacement and just curious now whether you did in fact replace yours with the 2.5-3.0 watt bulbs. Can you confirm?

Can someone comment on how easy or difficult it is to remove the instrument cluster without first removing the steering wheel? I have the airbag wheel and not sure I want to mess with it if not necessary.

Thanks
Ron

 

With the non-airbag wheel, there is no need to remove the wheel, the cluster slides right out from behind it. I don't know if the airbag wheel is the same.

 

It slides out with the airbag wheel as well. Just takes some wiggling.

 

Thanks guys.

Ron