Insturment Panel Light

[seannydeez]

Has anyone had the pleasure of having one of the instrument panel lights go out? The right side of my instrument panel went dark. I checked every site I could think of as well as going to Autozone and Advance Auto and no one can tell me the bulb #. I called my dealer and they gave me some weird number and said they would need to order it. My guess is it's like a T4 or something. That really isn't the issue. My bigger issue is how do I go about replacing it? Has anyone torn apart their dash yet? All I've ever done is remove the radio and center console to install an ipod.

 

[1st explorer]

the bulbs are 194's had mine apart last week and replaced all gauge lights,for around 10.00's.got my information off the web.i.e 2000 ford explorer dash bulb replacement,found directions after about 10 mins.it,s pretty easy.remove the trim panel underneith the steering wheel , 4 bolts.gently pull cover off.remone trim panel around radio,2 bolts.remove trim panel around gauge cluster,3 bolts.remove the 4 BLACK BOLTS that hold the cluster in.pull out cluster,do not remove the cable for the shifter!lean cluster foeward and remove the 4 bulbs.

 

[seannydeez]

Thanks for the info. I think doing it on the 06 should be similar I hope.

 

[waskly]

06 - 10 ex's dash are a joke to remove, very simple.

harder on the 02 and a pita on gen 2.

 

[Schobanger]

06 - 10 ex's dash are a joke to remove, very simple.

harder on the 02 and a pita on gen 2.

changed mine from factory green over to blue #194 bulbs. looks very good, and wasn't very hard. make sure to chock (chalk?) truck b4 hand, and move shifter into 1 or lowest gear. i have a 97 and it wasn't a pita, just took about 30 mins. pretty easy to do.

 

[Lukas2009]

Do the #194 bulbs all have the same Watt power?

 

[TourGuide]

Just be aware that some trucks, mine included, come with bulbs that have the base and bulb fused. This is where the weird part number comes from (Ford proprietary), it is the base/bulb combo part. If you want to use 194 bulbs, you need to buy the base parts that the 194s will work with. My truck came with all base/bulb combo parts installed.

 

[waskly]

Just be aware that some trucks, mine included, come with bulbs that have the base and bulb fused. This is where the weird part number comes from (Ford proprietary), it is the base/bulb combo part. If you want to use 194 bulbs, you need to buy the base parts that the 194s will work with. My truck came with all base/bulb combo parts installed.

its a socket, the bulb comes out. they are sold as bulbs and bulb and socket combo.

 

[Steeda04SVT]

Good info, need to do this on mine.

 

[Divemaster191307]

I want to do that on mine too. Anybody have a pic of the actual bulb? I'd like to get LEDs (Orange, BMW style, I think they're really easy on the eyes at night), but "194" just indicates the base type, not the overall shape of the buld.

 

[Lukas2009]

In my opinion the bulb doesn‘t come out and has to be replaced as a unit with the base.
Changing instrument color is not easy because the green color doesn't come from the bulbs. There is a green plastic at the rear of the instruments

 

[Divemaster191307]

Thanks for the pics Lukas, that helps a lot! It looks like the bulbs are actually soldered onto the base. So that begs 2 more questions:
1. Does anybody have the part # for the socket?
2. How many bulbs/sockets need to be replaced?

As you might have guessed, I'd like to do this without having to take my dash apart twice!

 

[nleipziger]

Ford part number is 6L2Z-13466-A and there are 7 lamps. However not all light the instruments. 1 is used for left turn signal, 1 for right turn signal, 1 for the cruise control icon. 4 are used for backlighting for the dash. Paid about $5.50 at me dealer. Some misinformation here as the lamp IS soldered to the base. 30 minutes from start to finish to replace all lamps.

 

[Lukas2009]

7 Lamps is right!
In my opinion their type is "B8.4D".
And here is a link to LED replacement lamps:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-...ction=DispPage&Page2Disp=/specs/B8.htm#photos

 

[Divemaster191307]

As always, you guys are a wealth of information, thanks!

Has anyone taken the instrument cluster assembly apart to see if that "green film" can be either removed or modded? I've had a custom cluster cover made before for my Kawasaki Vulcan, so I'm thinking may the same process could be applied here

 

[00Sport40]

Do the bulbs twist to come out,or do you just pry them out? I didn't want to force anything without knowing. Thanks in advance.

 

[Lukas2009]

Twist them to come out. Like a screw!

 

[pjw73nh]

I have a post that is very similar over here:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=384247

I think my Instrument cluster is a little different from than the one in this thread. I have a 2008 LTD. It has the larger of the two information screens in it.

As the post mentions, I read the manual last night and it says that there is some downloading and uploading that has to be done before removing the panel.

Anyone ever heard of this, or know factually if it has to be doen?

Sheesh !!!!! All I want to do is change a light bulb.

Thanks.

 

[Lukas2009]

I own a 2007 Eddie Bauer which also has the four lines display.
Have changed the cluster for several times with no problems at all.
Downloading information from the instrument cluster is only necessary when replacing it with a new one that has to be programmed with the information of your car.
Because of that you are not able to replace an instrument cluster with one from the junkyard without reprogramming it.

And that's what the manual says:

 

[asull85]

I just replaced all 7 bulbs with LED's. The direction arrows and cruise light come on with no problem. The two for the tachometer light up when pressure is applied to them so I taped a couple dimes behind them and that seems to work. But I can't seem to get the two from the speedometer to light up. I've tried reversing them and that didn't work. The incandescent bulbs work fine so I put them back in for now. Would adding some solder to the contacts help?