2.3L ('83-'97) Instrament pannel problem

[TheSurge]

Now I know by that post title you may have avoided this thread but I'm at a loss. I took the dash apart and took out the intrament panel and checked all the bulbs and got the turn signals, seat belt light, and battery light working bit there are two spots for bulbs that do not connect to the prefabricated panel connection thing. I'm new at this so I'm not sure the technical term. Anyway I found wires behind the the dash that might go to it. One had a red bulb connector and the other is black. Do they go in the instrament panel and if so where. If one is the shift indicator it's not working. If it is how can I fix that?

 

[JoshT]

First, provide more details about the vehicle you are working on.

Second, not all das indictators are used from the factory. Cluster can have the shift light indicator, but no shift light. I can't recall all of the "extra" indicators that my 84 had, but there were a few. I'm pretty certain that a shift light was one of them. Even on my 99 model there are unused indicators in the instrument cluster.

 

[TheSurge]

I thought that also seeing as there aren't any connectors for the bulb units to attach to but there were to wired up bulbs that were locked into the cluster itself so I wasn't sure if they were supposed to be locked into the cluster or not. I know that neither of them light up when I'm driving the truck so I'm not sure if they are supposed to be the shift indicator and just aren't working or if they are for a completely different purpose. Or no purpose at all and they were added on by a previous owner for some reason.

My truck is a 1985 2.3L LX

 

[superj]

85? wow. i bet all you probably have is high beam indicator, turns signal, oil low, battery, and maybe 4x4

 

[JoshT]

85...

I've got one of those at the house, but I'm not going to pull the dash apart to check. I have got the Ford wire diagram manual somewhere at the house for that year.

Anyway I found wires behind the the dash that might go to it. One had a red bulb connector and the other is black.

What color are the wires going into the red bulb connector?

"Black" is that another bulb connector, or just a wire? Black wires in these are generally grounds and could be for anything. If it's a connector,what are the wires colors?

 

[JoshT]

85? wow. i bet all you probably have is high beam indicator, turns signal, oil low, battery, and maybe 4x4

85 2.3L was EFI, so it's probably got a CEL too.

The 85 cluster was same as 83 &. 84. They had the high beam in the speedo, then the two turn signal indicators. They only had 4 warning indicator slots, unfortunately I can't remember what they were. I know one was a park brake light and one was probably a CEL. Another may have been a shift light, it was an option on some but don't recall if it was then or started in 86 when they added more indicator slots. I'm almost certain that there was not an oil pressure or battery light, those years came with actual gauges not the dummy gauges that we have now.

I'll add a caveat to the oil and battery light. I seem to recall that some trucks did not have those gauges and did have a light, but the light was installed as a replacement for the gauge. I could be remembering older trucks though.

Wouldn't bet on 4x4 indicator, but anything is possible. There were more 4-cylinder 4x4s then, but manual transfer case was also a lot more common and wouldn't have indicator lights for it. IIRC even on the 89-94 trucks with electric shift transfer case the indicator was in the switch panel and separate from the cluster.

 

[TheSurge]

The two middle lights are seatbelt and parking brake. The two outside lights are emissions and shift. I know that the dashes were produced and used in many different modles. Did the 85XL not use the shift indicator or emissions lights. If they did how are they wired? The two outside lights are not part of the printed circuit that the bulbs lock into.

 

[JoshT]

Interesting, I recalled my 84 having the p-brake there in the middle section. It has been about 15 years since I totaled it and the 85 hasn't had a battery installed since I bought it, so not surprised if I got it wrong.

 

[TheSurge]

Interesting, I recalled my 84 having the p-brake there in the middle section. It has been about 15 years since I totaled it, so not surprised if I got it wrong.

No you're right. It's below the seatbelt light. But the one below is the shift light and the top one is emissions but they don't connect to the printed circuit board but after taking the dash apart I found to individually wired lights that are seperate to the board but not locked into the instrament panel. I was wondering if they are supposed to be or if a previous owner wired them in for about her reason.

Really my question is did the 85 XL have a shift indicator light and emissions light or did the guy before me try and rig it up.

 

[JoshT]

Misread your post. Emission and shift lights depend on how it was equipped. We can't really tell you from here.

Like I said above, tell us what the wire colors of the bulb sockets that you found and maybe someone can find it in the wire manual.

 

[TheSurge]

Misread your post. Emission and shift lights depend on how it was equipped. We can't really tell you from here.

Like I said above, tell us what the wire colors of the bulb sockets that you found and maybe someone can find it in the wire manual.

Oh okay. I'll take a look at it again.

 

[tomw]

Pretty sure I read somewhere, besides looking at the flexible printed circuit board on the cluster, the UPSHIFT and EMISSIONS lights were not connected on 85 models with EFI. I have a CA emissions 85 that has neither and never did. The printed circuit board kind of leaves the area around those two sockets(and maybe more, it has been years since I looked) kind of bare without any traces that come near. There may be some sockets that are loose hanging off the wiring loom, I do not remember, but if so, and if they are still taped to the harness, they are likely not functional. I read about the UPSHIFT light in the manuals, owners & SHOP, and wanted to connect it if possible, but when I investigated the switch was not built into the side of the transmission case, nor was there a plug to plug into the switch if it was. So, no light for me. I was curious to see if my driving was close to what the 'smaht guys in Engineering' considered to be somewhat efficient driving.
I did replace the bulbs with LEDs from Aliexpress for about $3. It made all the difference in being able to see the cluster after dark. Previously, setting the knob to the highest setting just short of turning on the courtesy light was where I had to put it to be able to see the speedometer needle or gas gauge. The LEDs upped the brightness, and changed the color a bit, so now I can see the gauges. FWIW.
tom

 

[TheSurge]

Pretty sure I read somewhere, besides looking at the flexible printed circuit board on the cluster, the UPSHIFT and EMISSIONS lights were not connected on 85 models with EFI. I have a CA emissions 85 that has neither and never did. The printed circuit board kind of leaves the area around those two sockets(and maybe more, it has been years since I looked) kind of bare without any traces that come near. There may be some sockets that are loose hanging off the wiring loom, I do not remember, but if so, and if they are still taped to the harness, they are likely not functional. I read about the UPSHIFT light in the manuals, owners & SHOP, and wanted to connect it if possible, but when I investigated the switch was not built into the side of the transmission case, nor was there a plug to plug into the switch if it was. So, no light for me. I was curious to see if my driving was close to what the 'smaht guys in Engineering' considered to be somewhat efficient driving.
I did replace the bulbs with LEDs from Aliexpress for about $3. It made all the difference in being able to see the cluster after dark. Previously, setting the knob to the highest setting just short of turning on the courtesy light was where I had to put it to be able to see the speedometer needle or gas gauge. The LEDs upped the brightness, and changed the color a bit, so now I can see the gauges. FWIW.
tom

Hey thanks man. This helps alot. I thought they might have been for a later mattle or higher trim package. I just wanted to be sure. I'm curious if I'm shifting efficiently as well.

I will be putting in LEDs for sure.

 

[JoshT]

I've been semi looking for my 85 EVTM for a couple of days. Clicked on the thread to see the update just now, look up, and there it is sitting on the shelf over my head.

As I thought, there are no bulb socket colors listed. Going to need to know wire colors.

According to the EVTM the shift light was a 2.3L manual transmission only item. It does not say if it was standard on those or an add on. It shows like the wires go directly to the socket, not through the flex circuit. The two wire colors for the shift light are:

• R/Y H = RED wire with YELLOW hash marks
• R/W D = RED wire with WHITE dashes

On a quick search I am not finding an Emissions indicator circuit. I'm wondering if you could be mistaking something else for an emissions indicator? I'm not saying you are wrong, I just don't recall what that symbol looks like andsome times they can be vague. I mean the regen symbol on dad's tractor has been described as someone farting in the Facebook groups before.

I doubt "emission" indicator would have been placed there for a later model. They changed the instrument cluster for 86 and it went to one that had spots for about 8 warning lights. The light masks on those was also attached to the cluster, and not to the bezel, so they could have been changed for different options. Probably weren't, but could have been.

I think it more likely to have been a left over from the 83 & 84 diesel models. I don't know if there were any 85 diesels, but my 85 EVTM doesn't show one. I don't recall ever having an EVTM for my 84 model, and since I totaled it 15 years ago I wouldn't know where it is now.

 

[JoshT]

Other note, you said "I'm curious if I'm shifting efficiently as well."

I don't think that a shift light would be the best way to figure that out. I've never tried it and don't know the details, but I think you would be better served with vacuum gauge for that. Old medium duty trucks, like 60 and 70s F-650s, actually came with a vacuum gauge in the dash which I've been lead to believe was supposed to help with driving effeciently.

I don't know exactly how one would read it as a sign of when to shift, but I'm sure that information is out there on the net somewhere.