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Dash Lights Partially Not Working


Cozmokittylord

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West Olive, Michigan
Vehicle Year
2003
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Ford Ranger XLT
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4.0 V6
Engine Size
4.0L
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Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
FX4 Suspension
Its pretty self explanitory, i noticed when i bought the thing that the dash cluster lights were pretty dim and just off in some spots so i put brand new lights in the dash

it is super bright now but the areas that were off before are still off and it does not make sense to me. The areas that wont light up include the entire area right of the 55 spot on the spedometer and the area on the far left by the gas guage

in the photo the green areas are the lit up portion
I have also verified that the new dash lights work fine

any help is appreaciated
 

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mikkelstuff

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You did use standard incandescent 194 bulbs I assume? I ask because LED replacements have a polarity issue.
 

Cozmokittylord

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West Olive, Michigan
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Ford Ranger XLT
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4.0 V6
Engine Size
4.0L
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
FX4 Suspension
No, i used LED lights but i tried flipping all of them around and there is no change, the spots that are out now are the exact same as before i changed the bulbs out
 

DILLARD000

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SportTracJob2
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Ain't new technology great? NOT in this case.
Replacing the original\traditional\simple IncanBulbs with more complex LEDs in the InstrumentCluster+DashCenterPanel
is just asking for trouble; several of the circuits are LED INCOMPATIBLE (GLOW when they should be OFF),
the LEDs flicker when dimmed, tend to prematurely die, simply do NOT last as long as Bulbs, & cost too much.
Likely need to do a detailed\careful cleaning of the FlexCircuitBoard & tighten+clean each of the BulbSocket prongs.
Then use only IncanBulbs that have been tested with an OhmMeter before install.
Use 161\194s for BackLamps, 906\912s for DutyLamps; do NOT use higher wattage Bulbs, they'll melt the surrounding plastic.
It's a fairly simple, but tedious job; good for a slow quiet Saturday\Sunday afternoon with a couple of cold beers.
Click here for more info on this repair.
 
Last edited:

SenorNoob

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1.5" Front + 4" Rear
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You can see the traces on that circuit. Follow them around with multimeter till you find the bad spot. They probably all run from 2 pins at the connector.
 

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