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LED conversion gone bad Fried cluster component?

vipjeff

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Year, Model & Trim Level
1995 Ford Explorer XLT
:exp:

My 1995 Ford Explorer XLT had most of the dashboard lights burned out (the instrument cluster lights which illuminate the tachometer, speedometer, etc). All the "instrument warning" lights were fine (check engine, brake, etc).

I thought while I was going to pull the instrument panel anyway I would upgrade to compatible LED bulbs.

I ordered these ones using the car make and model guide on their webpage.
These are the exact ones http://tinyurl.com/nf8attf I got.

I removed the cluster panel from my car, removed the 6 bulbs just fine, replaced them with these LED bulbs, everything physically went perfect and when I first turned them on they worked great for about a minute or less then they stopped working and I could not get them to come back on.

So I thought I blew a fuse so I checked all fuses in the fuse box to the lower left of the steering wheel by drivers doorjamb then checked the fuses under the hood. All were good.

Then I thought it may just be the LED lights so I bought the original 194 incandescent bulbs at my local auto parts store and swapped out the LED's for the OEM bulbs and to my surprise they did not work!

At this point I am thinking I may have fried something on the back of the instrument cluster like a resistor or diode?

There is a possibility it is the light switch however I don't think so because the light switch still works for headlights and the dimmer light works as well for my dome light and all other lights.

Anyone have any ideas? Any way to bench text the resistors and diodes on the back of the cluster I have a DVOM.
 



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:exp:

There is a possibility it is the light switch however I don't think so because the light switch still works for headlights and the dimmer light works as well for my dome light and all other lights.

Did you check the fuses by eye or with the DVOM? Do the lights at the radio and heat/air controls work? If not the first place I'd check world be power going in and out of the dimmer.
 






Checked fuses with DVOM and ALL including the interior fuse panel with regular space fuses and the under the hood fuses with the Maxi large fuses were good.

I don't think there is a specific fuse for just the dash cluster lights is there? If so which one is it?

I checked with DVOM for continuity. Should I check the fuses another way with DVOM?

If a fuse it blown it will not beep on DVOM and it beeped on all of them.
 






My manual says #11 is Radio, dimmer relay, Insturment cluster and auto lamps. But mine is a '96.

Testing fuses for continuity should be fine. You could always swap a fuse from a known working circuit to se if that changes anything.

I'd definitely check for power into and out of the dimmer switch. The fuse chart also has me curious with the mention of a dimmer relay. That might be one of the ones on the center console under the radio on the drivers side.
 






I fixed it. Well kind of. So someone here had posted how they had a similar issue and it turned out to be loose solder point inside the dimmer switch so I gave that a try and sure enough the solder points inside the dimmer switch were lose! So I gave them a solid soldering and my cluster lights came right back on!

Now I don't know if the HVAC lights and lights for the light switch and dimmer switch worked before but they are not now.

The dimmer switch works and so do the cluster lights now and stock radio lights and digital compass and dome lights but my issue now is how do I get the HVAC and light dimmer switch lights working?

Keep in mind I did not go back to the LED lights I just went back to the stock 194 incandescent lights for now so I can troubleshoot and maybe put the LED replacement in later in the future.
 






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