Lights in steering wheel

[dlw]

On my '99 Explorer the cruise control on/off buttons next to the horn no longer light up. Has anyone ever fixed these themselves? It's a minor thing but bugs me when little stuff doesn't work.
Thanks for any possible info.

 

[Charlie]

I believe there is a way to open them up, somebody here had recently done that, but the easiest thing to do is just to replace the switches. If you do some searching on here, you should find the post about the bulb replacement.

 

[anti*commander]

to get to the bulbs you need to remove the airbag by removing the two screws on either side of the steering wheel (they are covered by caps) then sliding tthe airbag out and disconecting it, then its self explanatory from there.

DONT FORGET!!! to disconnect the battery and let the car set for 15 or 20 minutes before removing the airbag to lessen the risk of it deploying.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

once you get the switches out, you need a small screw driver, and just lightly pry at the seem on the switch. when you get it open you will see the circuit board with the light there. you will want to pry the board out of the switch as well. now the bad news. ford dose not sell the bulb anymore. you will have to find somewhere that has one and soder it into either the old bulb socket, or the circuit board. i found some bulbs at a place called the source (i live in canada), but circuit city should be the same thing. i can't soder anything that small, so i had a buddy do it for me, and they work fine now.

 

[anti*commander]

or you could go to radio shack and buy green LED"s and some resistors and solder them in. i did it but with blue, look great.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

hey anti*commander, maybe you can help with this, what size of resistor did you use, and how did you solder them in? i want to do this with all the lights in my truck, but no one can give me a strait answer, and when i ask that at the electronics store they give me the "deer in the headlights" look

 

[anti*commander]

the i cant remeber the exact resistor i used , they came with the LED's i bought from besthongkong. but you can use this risistor calculator to calculate it out.

http://ledcalc.com/

for the overhead lights i used 1 resistor (that came with the LED's) for 3 lights wired in series, there were 4 rows of 3. steering wheel i used 2 lights and 2 resistors (you will see why when you open the buttons). the instrument cluster i used a comination of both 3 to 1, and 1 to 1. the window/door locks i used the stock resistors, just removed the old ones and replaced them. the door keypad i use stock resistor, just removed the LED's (you may have a keypad like the one here - http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193400 mine was like post #18). the puddle lights i used 3 rows x 3 columns in a 3 to 1 ratio. the rear controlls lights i used a 1 to 1 ratio.

if you have any other questions PM me, id be more than happy to ask, i will be posting a how to on changing the instrument cluster lights, power window/lock, overhead, puddle, rear control, and console lights in a few weeks or 2 months, depends on school, weather, and helping take care of my new niece.

oh yeah, even got lights behind the air vents, just for fun.