battery gauge bulb out

[truker]

Hey Guys! It's been a while; I need to replace a gauge bulb on my 98 Mounty. Being that it's in the lower right hand side of the cluster can I get to it if I pull the radio or do I need to take out the cluster THANX

 

[koda2000]

i could be wrong, but i don't think you can get at the back of the cluster unless you remove it, which is a pita, but as you have to remove the radio bezel to remove the cluster trim, i guess you'll find out soon enough.

 

[truker]

Thanx koda, I was just trying to avoid removing the cluster because I don't want to mess with the wiring and speedometer cable; I'm wondering if I can just pull it out enough to change the bulb without disconnecting anything?

 

[Peck]

no i have custom gauges and ya i can pull everything out without pulling the radio out the bulbs are small and on the back of the cluster just make sure u pull the shifter locator out to

these was 20 bucks

 

[truker]

Thanx Peck nice job on those gauges, lookin good man! So you say I don't need to pull the radio just unscrew trim panel,unscrew shifter locator,unscrew cluster ,change bulb and that's it?

 

[koda2000]

if i remember correctly, there's a plastic structure thing in the way of being able to get at the cluster from the back. you don't need to remove the radio, but there's a screw for the cluster trim under the radio bezel, so you at least need to pull the bezel out enough to get at it. once you've gone that far, the only thing holding the radio in is the wiring for it and the various switches. getting the cluster out isn't hard (once you know how to do it. i found good instructions by Googling), but you've got to be careful not to break the PRNDL cable. there is no speedo cable, just 3 or 4 wiring connectors. while not hard to do it's very time consuming. the first time i did it, it took me around 2.5-3 hours (remove, repair and re install). if you want to test my memory on directions on removing the cluster, PM me.

BTW: if the BATT light doesn't work, are you aware your alternator will not charge?

 

[truker]

Koda I just read you're message on the battery gauge light causing the alternator not to work;Thank you for helping me thus I'm sure you know more about this than I, but how can that lil ol burnt out bulb keep the alternator from working. I fail to see the logic, please enlighten me. During the day I see the needle in the gauge move to where it should be(midway) when I start the truck so the gauge is working; It just won't light up at night like the others. Could I be running on my battery and don't even know it? I do have a good battery(OPTIMA) but I don't think it's that good! PS. tell me what you think, I value you're input Respectfully Truker

 

[koda2000]

the BATT light gets turned on/off by the voltage regulator, which, if i remember correctly, provides the ground for the light. if the bulb is burnt out (or if the wire is broken) the circuit is incomplete and the alternator/voltage regulator is not turned on, hence it doesn't charge the battery. another poster went through this a few months ago. in his case the wire to the bulb had a break in it. the "gauge" on your dash is not a real voltage gauge. it's more like an idiot light with a needle (notice the lack of numbers on the gauge face). generally the needle is always about in the center, same with the temp gauge and oil pressure gauge. Ford does this as too many people would get freaked out if they saw how much real gauge needles move around. to know for sure whether the alternator is charging your battery, put a DVOM across the battery terminals. a fully charged battery should read about 12.6 volts static and 14+ volts with the engine running. best to check it so you don't get stuck.

 

[truker]

I'm waiting for AutoZone to open up so I can buy a voltage meter and do that testing as per your request. Last night I came across a thread by NJONES 1220 and you were helping him/her with an alternator/battery problem, somewhat, relative to mine; In that thread you wrote: " If the battery light is on the alternator is not charging" so it dawned on me, you and I are not on the same page;That's my fault, I did not word my problem descriptively, what I meant was that the burnt out bulb is one of the many that light up the instrument panel when I turn on my lights at night. So I think that the bulb you think I was writing about is one that lights up when there is a charging problem. I hope I'm making sense, cause, **** ,I'm starting to get confused myself! Any way I'll get back to you with the battery testing results(#s)

 

[koda2000]

so you were talking about the instrument illumination bulb? if so, you're correct i thought you meant the BATTery fault light. there are 6 instrument illumination bulbs (#198 i believe). if you need to change one, i strongly suggest you replace all 6, as the new one will appear much brighter than the others, if one has burnt out the other 5 have just as many hours on them and this is not a job you want to do more than once if you can avoid it.

your battery is probably fine, but a volt meter is a good tool to have in your tool box.

 

[bobflood]

OK - now I think y'all are on the same page. Koda is correct - if the "battery indicator" bulb is burned out, the alternator will not charge the battery. The "illumination" bulbs being out will not have any impact on the alternator operation.

You can run a surprising distance/time on the battery alone - especially this time of year when it's light longer and you don't use headlights as much - but it will catch up to you eventually IF the alternator is not charging. So it is a good idea to get the voltmeter and verify charging - with the engine running you should get about 14.4 volts across the battery teminals.

I think you can get the cluster out far enough to change the bulbs without unplugging all of the connectors. If I remember correctly, I had to unplug the connector closest to the middle of the car; then I was able to rotate the cluster far enough to get at the bulb holders. According to my notes, the illumination bulbs are #194 and there are 6 of them; those holders are bigger than the various indicator bulbs, which are #74 bulbs. While you have the cluster out, replace ALL the illumination bulbs, plus any indicator bulbs that might be burnt out. I needed to use some small pliers to break loose each bulb holder the first time; I was able to reinstall them w/o the pliers. Good luck.

 

[koda2000]

OK - now I think y'all are on the same page. Koda is correct - if the "battery indicator" bulb is burned out, the alternator will not charge the battery. The "illumination" bulbs being out will not have any impact on the alternator operation.

You can run a surprising distance/time on the battery alone - especially this time of year when it's light longer and you don't use headlights as much - but it will catch up to you eventually IF the alternator is not charging. So it is a good idea to get the voltmeter and verify charging - with the engine running you should get about 14.4 volts across the battery teminals.

I think you can get the cluster out far enough to change the bulbs without unplugging all of the connectors. If I remember correctly, I had to unplug the connector closest to the middle of the car; then I was able to rotate the cluster far enough to get at the bulb holders. According to my notes, the illumination bulbs are #194 and there are 6 of them; those holders are bigger than the various indicator bulbs, which are #74 bulbs. While you have the cluster out, replace ALL the illumination bulbs, plus any indicator bulbs that might be burnt out. I needed to use some small pliers to break loose each bulb holder the first time; I was able to reinstall them w/o the pliers. Good luck.

i checked and you are correct. they are #194 bulbs. as far as removing the cluster, once you've got it out far enough to reach behind it, disconnecting the electrical connectors and removing it all the way is pretty easy, but whatever worked for you. i removed by cluster, took the lens off to clean it and get the dust out of the face (my OCD again) and i took the opportunity to adjust by gear indicator pointer, which also drove me crazy. it was amazing how much brighter the dash lights were after replacing the 13 year old bulbs. the old ones looked like they were chromed.

 

[truker]

Well guys battery gauge reads: 12.6 and 14.5 so everything is O.K. there, I'm glad about that because I can't afford an alternator right now. I'll be replacing those 4 bulbs#194 soon; I notice,on a YOUTUBE film showing the back of the cluster that there are a bunch of other little bulbs. The 4/#194's were in black holders and the others in white bulb holders, do you know how many and the bulb #s ? I figure I'll do them all while I have the cluster out. Once again THANK YOU

 

[bobflood]

Well guys battery gauge reads: 12.6 and 14.5 so everything is O.K. there, I'm glad about that because I can't afford an alternator right now. I'll be replacing those 4 bulbs#194 soon; I notice,on a YOUTUBE film showing the back of the cluster that there are a bunch of other little bulbs. The 4/#194's were in black holders and the others in white bulb holders, do you know how many and the bulb #s ? I figure I'll do them all while I have the cluster out. Once again THANK YOU

The small bulbs are #74; don't know how many there are in total. Most of them are indictor lights that rarely come on other than for the bulb test on start up, so they tend to last a long time. good luck.

 

[koda2000]

i'm pretty sure there are 6 #194 cluster illumination bulbs, not 4.

 

[bobflood]

The 4/#194's were in black holders

+1 on what Koda said - there are definitely 6 #194 illumination bulbs.

 

[1996BLKBauer]

You need to pull it all the way out, it really isn't that bad, everybody says it is horrible, but don't be scared. I can get mine out in 5-10 minutes. There are 6 type 194 bulbs in there. I HIGHLY suggest going with LEDs if you are taking it out, because the other bulbs are on there way out anyway. Just make sure you get the right polarity.

Before My LED swap:

After LED swap, '96-'97 1/2 the cluster has a blueish tint, with yellow bulbs, and the super white LEDs make it appear blue, I think it looks awesome:

 

[truker]

O.K. guys,6#194's instead of 4, got it thanx; But if I decide to go with the LED's, how will I know if I'm buying the right ones, I don't know what polarity means or how to check it and I don't trust the guy behind the counter most of the time they don't know what they're talking about; THANX GUYS

 

[koda2000]

O.K. guys,6#194's instead of 4, got it thanx; But if I decide to go with the LED's, how will I know if I'm buying the right ones, I don't know what polarity means or how to check it and I don't trust the guy behind the counter most of the time they don't know what they're talking about; THANX GUYS

polarity means that current has to be flowing in the right direction through the blub power-to-ground. LED's are diodes and will only work with the power flowing one way.

LED's do not work well for these illumination bulbs. someone recently posted he tried them and was disappointed with the result.