replacing cluster illumination and indicator bulbs, LEDs or incandescents | Ford Explorer Forums

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replacing cluster illumination and indicator bulbs, LEDs or incandescents

jrbjrbjrb

Elite Explorer
Joined
January 6, 2025
Messages
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City, State
Santa Cruz, CA
Year, Model & Trim Level
2000, 4D 5.0L V8 FI, XLT
Need to replace the cluster illumination bulbs and watched a few youtubes on how to get to them. Saw a comment saying don't replace the indicator lights with LEDs (the #37's) but the illuminations ones are fine to replace with LEDs. Any thoughts on this? I only have one indicator out that I know of (cruise control) but since I'm going to be in there I'd just replace them all with LEDs
 



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Need to replace the cluster illumination bulbs and watched a few youtubes on how to get to them. Saw a comment saying don't replace the indicator lights with LEDs (the #37's) but the illuminations ones are fine to replace with LEDs. Any thoughts on this? I only have one indicator out that I know of (cruise control) but since I'm going to be in there I'd just replace them all with LEDs
I have replaced mine with LEDs, I used some cheap amazon ones that came in warm white in a pack of 30 for like $20. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THESE. They do dim and function correctly, but after a year they started flickering and parts of the led started burning out. they also dimmed over time. Ive done them twice

I recommend getting a sylvania or other name brand LED as you will be much happier with the long term results even if they cost an arm and a leg.

I believe the illumination bulbs are t10 wedge bulbs
 






Thanks, this was exactly the kind of thing I was trying to avoid. What's annoying about that is when you make the LED you know how long it's going to last (roughly) relative to how hard you are driving it, but there's no real way to tell when you buy them.

If you're looking for an internet rabbit hole look up the "sold in Dubai only" versions of Philip's light bulbs. The ones we can buy are over-driven so they don't last as long, explained by BigCliveDotCom on YouTube
 






I'd just get same type incandescent bulbs that it started out with. They aren't expensive and lasted 25 years.

As far as how hard the LED ones are driven, if they dim properly (linearly enough compared to other lights controlled by the dimmer) then just don't run them at full brightness. I never have my dash at full brightness, just reduces my night vision.

One other factor with the LED bulbs is that (especially the cheap ones made for multiple purposes besides automotive) they are typically designed to run at 12V, with a resistor in series. Doing some math...

Suppose a 3.2Vf drop across the LED, and the target current is 73mA (a value I chose, just because it would use a very common resistor value of 120 ohms, and also that I have T10 landscape bulbs that I switched to LED and they do consume about 73mA) but the math works similarly with some other target current), that makes the LED power 0.073A * 3.2V = 0.23W

Now suppose same LED and resistor but running at approx 14.4V that the alternator provides, and it's running at 93mA or 0.30W.

If it's a multi-chip LED bulb with the LED dies in series, the math could work differently for the worse, like suppose it has 3 LEDs in series for a 9.6V forward drop and 25mA current through the series, 96 ohm resistor and 0.24W drive. At 14.4V the same 96 ohm resistor causes a doubling, 50mA current and 0.48W drive.

I faced the same issue with the 73mA LED bulbs that I swapped into my landscape lighting. It uses an unregulated 12V transformer, and the load from the incan bulbs pulled it down to not much more than 12V, but with the far lower load of the LED bulbs, voltage floated up a couple volts and they didn't last a single season, so I put a buck regulator circuit in series to get the voltage back down to 12V. That seems impractical for adding to a vehicle lighting circuit, as long as the plain old incan bulbs exist at low cost. Your call.
 












Keep it simple and replace with original design. The new bulbs will outlast the car.
 






FYI, I used ones that looked like these:
1738678708426.png


Every single one flickers and cuts in and out after a year or so.
They were practically all that was available at the time (2018 or so)
Though TBF they are still "on" and I have yet to replace them a third time lol

Try some other types as they have come out with newer styles and configurations
 






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