How do I remove bulbs from dash panel?

**herculesrider1** · 11-20-2009, 09:43 AM

Is it very hard or will it cause any electrical issues if I pull the bulb out of the "TCS off" or "ABS inop" sockets?? The TCS is going to stay off permanently and with the Midwest Chassis rearend replacement, the ABS is going to stay "inop". Can I go up and behind the dash cluster from underneath or will I have to pull the cluster out from the top? Thanks.

**FORD RECOVERY EXPERT** · 11-20-2009, 11:20 AM

pull out on the trim bezel that contains your headlight switch, then remove the screws that retain the cluster, tilt steering wheel all the way down, and pull cluster out top first... the you can access the lamps.

**herculesrider1** · 11-20-2009, 11:53 AM

Cool, thanks man.

**Smittro** · 11-20-2009, 12:10 PM

Except the ABS and TCS lights are LED's. and most likely soldered in place...

**herculesrider1** · 11-20-2009, 12:46 PM

Surely you jest Smittro..... are they for real soldered in place?

**Smittro** · 11-20-2009, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by herculesrider1

Surely you jest Smittro..... are they for real soldered in place?

LED's, yes they usually are when it comes to curcuit boards.. That way less likely to fail.. Sorry..

**FORD RECOVERY EXPERT** · 11-20-2009, 05:01 PM

Im am VERY positive they are very small incandesent bulbs.... they plug into the board, and are very easily removed with the disassembly of the cluster.

**Smittro** · 11-20-2009, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by FORD RECOVERY EXPERT

Im am VERY positive they are very small incandesent bulbs.... they plug into the board, and are very easily removed with the disassembly of the cluster.

You maybe right here's a Camaro cluster from behind. The " very small" incondesent bulbs are soldered in place and are nowhere near where my abs, and ASR lights are.. Which on this board are LED's.. So can't tell you if the T/A uses the same but I can't see why they would'nt be..

**FORD RECOVERY EXPERT** · 11-20-2009, 06:08 PM

have you looked at the other side of the board????

those soldered laeds go to the socket for the bulb in mine.....

**Smittro** · 11-20-2009, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by FORD RECOVERY EXPERT

have you looked at the other side of the board????

Huh?
those soldered laeds go to the socket for the bulb in mine.....

On mine the abs inop and ASR lights are high on the board.. The twist in lights are for back lighting, and the mini lamps are very low on the board and are used for other types of warning lights..

Hold on i'll get a pick..

**FORD RECOVERY EXPERT** · 11-20-2009, 06:23 PM

your not feelin me.... the solder shown here.... is the bulb socket. the small bulbs go into this socket.... the twist ins are the illum. lights.... my ABS inop light is in the lower corner... and tcs off socket is mid left side... (I dont have TCS but the hole is there and held up to the light you can see it.)

**FORD RECOVERY EXPERT** · 11-20-2009, 06:30 PM

here is a shit shot from google....

another....

**Smittro** · 11-20-2009, 06:30 PM

**FORD RECOVERY EXPERT** · 11-20-2009, 06:35 PM

look at the lower left corner....

**FORD RECOVERY EXPERT** · 11-20-2009, 06:37 PM

yup yup.... shouldnt be nothing to do what OP asked... just open it up and pull the lights.

**Smittro** · 11-20-2009, 06:37 PM

Originally Posted by FORD RECOVERY EXPERT

look at the lower left corner....

Yeah that's about where mine is too. But the ASR lamp is high on the cluster and IS an LED..

**herculesrider1** · 11-21-2009, 09:14 AM

Wow guys, thanks for the detailed analysis!!! I feel like I can disassemble my cluster and do exactly what I need to to accomplish my goal. Thanks for the pics and for all the trouble you went to! Y'all are the bomb!

**FORD RECOVERY EXPERT** · 11-21-2009, 04:04 PM

Anytime.

**herculesrider1** · 11-22-2009, 02:00 PM

Man, I did it but they definitely didn't make it easy to get the trim ring out, did they? After pulling everything out and separating all the covers, bezel, and circuit board, I found out that all of the lights on the left side of the instrument cluster were LED's and soldered in. So, I took the cluster in the house, hooked up my soldering iron, and used my spring loaded sucker tool to suck the liquid solder away, then gently pulled the LED out after gently bending the LED prongs back to straight. I took out the ABS inop, TCS off, and BRAKE LED's out. I didn't need the BRAKE LED lighting up when my emergency brake was not even on, I think it has something to do with the ABS inop that happened after the rearend swap. I don't need a light to tell me my emergency brake is on when I can look over at the handle and see that it is straight up....duh! Put it all back together painstakingly, trying not to break anything, and in the process, accidently turned the dimmer control all the way down. So, when I started it up and turned on the parking lights, nothing on my dash lit up.....My first thought was "OH MAN, NOW I'M GOING TO HAVE TO DISASSEMBLE EVERYTHING AGAIN AND RE-SOLDER THOSE LED'S BACK IN PLACE". Then while thinking about doing the whole process over again, my thumb rubbed over the dimmer control, ....light bulb.....hallelujah!!!! Turned the dimmer all the way up and everything worked normally. That was one of my concerns that if the circuit board didn't have the LED's in place, would electrical current still travel to where it needed to in order to let everything else work the way it should, even though certain LED's were taken out of the circuit. All the other LED's worked along with the gauges and non LED lamps. So, it IS ok to take out LED's and the rest of the system not be affected. Thanks again to everyone for their incredible pictures and help in this issue.

Being that we are talking about the dash panel, does anyone know how our cars know when we need an oil change???? My oil change light, an LED also, comes on even immediately after an oil change. It goes off after a minute or so, but I almost took that LED out as well. Seems useless to someone who "religiously" changes their oil like I do........

**Smittro** · 11-22-2009, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by herculesrider1

Man, I did it but they definitely didn't make it easy to get the trim ring out, did they? After pulling everything out and separating all the covers, bezel, and circuit board, I found out that all of the lights on the left side of the instrument cluster were LED's and soldered in. So, I took the cluster in the house, hooked up my soldering iron, and used my spring loaded sucker tool to suck the liquid solder away, then gently pulled the LED out after gently bending the LED prongs back to straight. I took out the ABS inop, TCS off, and BRAKE LED's out. I didn't need the BRAKE LED lighting up when my emergency brake was not even on, I think it has something to do with the ABS inop that happened after the rearend swap. I don't need a light to tell me my emergency brake is on when I can look over at the handle and see that it is straight up....duh! Put it all back together painstakingly, trying not to break anything, and in the process, accidently turned the dimmer control all the way down. So, when I started it up and turned on the parking lights, nothing on my dash lit up.....My first thought was "OH MAN, NOW I'M GOING TO HAVE TO DISASSEMBLE EVERYTHING AGAIN AND RE-SOLDER THOSE LED'S BACK IN PLACE". Then while thinking about doing the whole process over again, my thumb rubbed over the dimmer control, ....light bulb.....hallelujah!!!! Turned the dimmer all the way up and everything worked normally. That was one of my concerns that if the circuit board didn't have the LED's in place, would electrical current still travel to where it needed to in order to let everything else work the way it should, even though certain LED's were taken out of the circuit. All the other LED's worked along with the gauges and non LED lamps. So, it IS ok to take out LED's and the rest of the system not be affected. Thanks again to everyone for their incredible pictures and help in this issue.

Being that we are talking about the dash panel, does anyone know how our cars know when we need an oil change???? My oil change light, an LED also, comes on even immediately after an oil change. It goes off after a minute or so, but I almost took that LED out as well. Seems useless to someone who "religiously" changes their oil like I do........

The oil change light comes on after 3000 miles or so many engine revolutions.. To reset it: Turn the ignition to the "run" position without starting the engine. THEN hold in on the trip reset pin till the oil light begines to flash then release. The light will go out and the variables that make it come on will be reset...