What a task...

[Mark_88]

My speedometer light burnt out a few months ago...been using the high beam indicator to check my speed when needed...don't drive too much at night anyway...but figured it was time to replace it...

On a Gen I truck that is not hard to do...just remove all the trim screws and yank the cluster...well, undo the speedometer so the cluster can be pulled out...so I did it...then it took me ah hour to find my spare bulb...lol...it was in the truck all along but thought I stashed it somewhere else...

I did this in bright sun so really had to do some fancy moves to see if it was working...success!

I went out last night to see it in the dark and...dang...there's two bulbs in there~! Only replaced the one on the right...but I can see the speedometer now better than before...

Wonder why it would blow both bulbs at the same time...

Now I have to find a working replacement for the other side...but I also discovered that the sockets and bulbs are two pieces...so I just have to find the right kind of bulb for the socket...makes it easier~

Anyone else have this happen? Both speedo bulbs blow at the same time????

 

[rtg143]

Maybe jostling it around loosened it and it just came loose enough for a bad connection. I usually replace all of mine if one goes. Takes too much time to have to do it again even if it's a few monthes.

 

[Mark_88]

Maybe jostling it around loosened it and it just came loose enough for a bad connection. I usually replace all of mine if one goes. Takes too much time to have to do it again even if it's a few monthes.

That's true...took me about two hours including finding the bulb in my toolbox under a bunch of other stuff...

 

[4.0B2]

you do know that part stores carry those bulbs right?
they are like a 194 bulb or something like that..
hardest thing on mine is getting the speedo cable to release..it wants to stick..

but yes, there are actually 3 lights on that side.. the one in the top middle is your High Beam indicator. the other 2 are on each side of that.

 

[Mark_88]

you do know that part stores carry those bulbs right?
they are like a 194 bulb or something like that..
hardest thing on mine is getting the speedo cable to release..it wants to stick..

but yes, there are actually 3 lights on that side.. the one in the top middle is your High Beam indicator. the other 2 are on each side of that.

Yeah, thanks...I could just barely get my hand in there to twist out the old one and felt around for the others but couldn't locate them...I had the cluster out of the truck years ago and thought I replaced the bulbs at that time...

I did find another socket and extra bulb so I can do the other one on the inside...I know the high beam is working so I won't have get that one just yet...

Since I have an extra one I can compare them...Canadian Tire and NAPA both carry the bulbs...I was more concerned that the socket might be the problem because they both went out and wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started...it's always a guessing game when you don't have spares to look at and compare...

 

[4.0B2]

i had the same issue twice... blown bulbs, both, on the tach side... come to find out it was because my gauge housing was cracked... even screwed in, it vibrated BAD.. i put a little 3m poxy on it to hold it straight... no problems ever since.

 

[BlackBII]

What do you need bulbs for anyway Mark? Isn't there daylight 24 hours a day up in the arctic anyway??

 

[Mark_88]

i had the same issue twice... blown bulbs, both, on the tach side... come to find out it was because my gauge housing was cracked... even screwed in, it vibrated BAD.. i put a little 3m poxy on it to hold it straight... no problems ever since.

Hmmmm...hopefully that isn't the case but I will check for that if I have to take it apart again...thanks!

What do you need bulbs for anyway Mark? Isn't there daylight 24 hours a day up in the arctic anyway??

We only need the lights when we drive through the tunnels that we built under the ocean...we were going to put in skylights but we found they leaked under so much pressure...and they only work well when you drive west as fast as the sun is moving...so to get to, say France, we would have to drive all the way around the world in 24 hours...

Cheaper to use bulbs!

 

[BlackBII]

Oh of course....the tunnels...

Well it sounds like you got your bulbs problem sorted out, so that's good. But, both blowing at the same time? That's crazy.

 

[fastpakr]

I had the cluster in my F150 out a couple of weeks ago. Took a volt meter to every bulb on it just to make sure they were good, and cleaned off the contacts on the sockets until there was low resistance across the terminals. Easy to do when sitting at a table. Pain to remove the cluster to do it again.

 

[Mark_88]

I had the cluster in my F150 out a couple of weeks ago. Took a volt meter to every bulb on it just to make sure they were good, and cleaned off the contacts on the sockets until there was low resistance across the terminals. Easy to do when sitting at a table. Pain to remove the cluster to do it again.

Definitely easier when it's out...I did all that years ago too...checking the bulbs with a volt meter never occurred to me though...I usually just look at them and inspect the contacts at the bottom...I can try that on my spare to see if it is working...

 

[AllanD]

I went out last night to see it in the dark and...dang...there's two bulbs in there~! Only replaced the one on the right...but I can see the speedometer now better than before...

Wonder why it would blow both bulbs at the same time...

This makes perfectly logical sense to me on several levels.

First one would presume that either ALL the bulbs were the same age
because they were installed new at the factory and lightbulbs being simple devices made on automated machinery tend to be very "Consistant".
Operated in the same environment you'd evpect every illumination bulb in the dash to burn out within hours of each other (I've personally seen three bulbs fail within the space of an hour)

Next the general perversity of the universe dictates that as soon as you go through the experience of disassembling the dashboard and removing the instrument cluster THEN reassembling it all before testing immediatly after replacing just one bulb that perversity will reach out and teach you a
life lesson...


An experience like this is how you aquire the wisdom that after taking the instrument cluster to replace one bulb you REPLACE THEM ALL, because the cost of ALL the bulbs combined are not worth the effort and aggrevation of needing to do it over.

Are we learning?

AD

 

[Mark_88]

LOL...sorry I missed this one Allan...yes, learning with the eagerness of a new student...only problem with this one was I couldn't actually feel any more bulbs...should have taken the unit out but that would have entailed crawling under the truck to loosen the speedo cable just to get it out far enough to disconnect it from the cluster...

You know what it's like to have big hands and trying to stuff them into small spaces...

 

[--weezl--]

when i get around to removing my cluster i will be taking all of the bulbs right out of the dash and tossing them in the garbage... my dash will be lit with these eventually...

unless i can find a better LED way... but i think EL is the way to go for the dash, with the exception of the lights for the needles, those will be LEDs i'm fairly sure...

 

[Mark_88]

when i get around to removing my cluster i will be taking all of the bulbs right out of the dash and tossing them in the garbage... my dash will be lit with these eventually...

unless i can find a better LED way... but i think EL is the way to go for the dash, with the exception of the lights for the needles, those will be LEDs i'm fairly sure...

Those look pretty cool...not sure if they would work on my truck though since they are so new...

I finally, finally, took the time to remove the cluster (phuck) and replace the burnt bulbs...but found, to my dismay, that the high beam bulb wasn't actually burnt out...the strip of electronic tape that they put on the back was actually separating from the cluster and probably needs some sort of glue to keep it in place.

I did replace the third bulb in the speedo cluster and it did not work after all the grunting and contortions I had to go through to get it in place.

I swapped out the old bulb on the other gauge cluster and not sure if it is any brighter (I will go check it in a few minutes now that it is darker)...so...an hour or so of grunting and contortions and I have made little progress...

I did learn something today...it's better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness...so maybe I will put a candle near my cluster and light it when I need to see if I am running low on gas at night...may cause some issues with driving but I can always stop and check things as needed...