I had the dash completely apart today to fix a stuck oil pressure needle. Since it was so much work, and I had it out anyway, I hopped in the cobra and ran down to Autozone, and picked up some LED 194's (given, they are the single led type) I put the LEDs in the back of the cluster (there was 6 of the main ones) and although I didnt get the dash back together tonight*, I plugged in the cluster and hit the lights, and they are NOT EVEN BRIGHT ENOUGH TO ILLUMINATE THE CLUSTER! I tried putting them in the overhead light to see if that worked, and although they let off a cool blue hue, they are VERY dim. Im going to return them tommorow and pick up some Super White 194's and put them in there. Thought I would share, so nobody makes the same mistake =)
*Talk about a *****, dont EVER try to get to the cluster unless its mandatory. I took everything apart yesterday and called it a night. (Radio console, bottom panel, dash trim, the whole thing) This morning, I took off the plastic cover over the cluster because I thought it was part of the whole assembly, and the two bottom torx screws are hard to get to, so I lost one of them pulling it out. Once I got the plastic off, I accidently broke the MPH resting pin off, so the speedo needle dropped straight down. Than, I try to pull the gear indicator out, and before I found the "easy to remove tabs" I broke off the connecting harness, and accidently take out the white connector that feeds the cable. I took me an hour to figure out how the white thing goes back into the gear indicator, and once I did, the gear indicator needle was off by a 1/2", so I try and stretch the spring a lil to make up the room, and the spring gets bent and is instantly useless. So now I have to go in to my house, try to find a replacement spring, and after an hour or so of using writing pen springs, I say screw it and run to Autozone (again) to get some throttle body return springs. They turn out to be too stiff, so I finally came up with an awesome idea to use a rubber band. It took me another half hour to find the right size, and I still had to cut it and tie it. So now I have that part fixed, but I still have a needle thats off on the indicator, so next I tie a knot in the cable to pull some slack, and than I realize there is an adjustment under the dash, so I adjust it, put it together, and now the knot catches and the needle hangs up when I try and shift, so I try to take the knot out again, and accidently rip it in half. So now Im pissed and figure I have to replace the whole part, so I go underneath the dash to unscrew where the adjuster is, and break the adjuster off on accident. So now I have a screw that is bolted in underneath the dash that I cannot get out (have you ever worked under the dash? Its like working in a coffin.) So by now its dark out, and I plug in the cluster just to see if the LED lights look cool at night, so I go to start the explorer, and the battery is dead.
I throw is a ****-fit right in the middle of the street.
I get the battery charger, try and plug it in, and the cord is about 30' too short to my garage, so I have to look for 30 minutes in the garage for 2 extension cords, finally find them, plug in the charger, charge for 15 minutes, start the truck, and the LEDs aren't even bright enough to light the cluster. I say screw this, I take out my key, unplug the charger, and call it a night.
Im going to run to Ford early in the morning and see if I cant get that cable. (its prob out of stock with my luck) and Im taking back the LED's and going to buy some super white 194's for the dash.
Anyways, had to vent, it was a long stupid day, and I cant wait to get my explorer back together and running again.
out
Joe
