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Does anyone have a trick to keep the instrument light bulb housings from popping out of their interface to the odometer and tachometer shrouds behind the drivers side dash panel?
This is very annoying ..maybe this is an issue unique to me..but
things are so tight behind this panel.
I thought maybe some of you might have a solution.Thanks for your help.
Does anyone have a trick to keep the instrument light bulb housings from popping out of their interface to the odometer and tachometer shrouds behind the drivers side dash panel?
This is very annoying ..maybe this is an issue unique to me..but
things are so tight behind this panel.
I thought maybe some of you might have a solution.Thanks for your help.
That is always a problem when you have the dash out and try to put it back in place if you don't have the main wiring harness in the right position . It must be in the right position or it will knock the bulb sockets out of their holes. Working on these dashes can be a pain in the a**.
That is always a problem when you have the dash out and try to put it back in place if you don't have the main wiring harness in the right position . It must be in the right position or it will knock the bulb sockets out of their holes. Working on these dashes can be a pain in the a**.
Oh you're telling me!! Ive been wrestling around with this off and on for 6 months.
Hi b,
I 'adjust' the little 'prongs' on the socket using a needle nose pliers to make them a little tighter fit.
You have to be VERY careful!!
Regards,
Alan
I also replaced all the incandescents with LED's and tied the source wires all together . Lower current draw. Finally I put a connector on them so I could hook them together with a source in the harness after installing the instruments. Any source would do. That way I could have all the bulbs in place when reinstalling the cluster. Maybe have a picture somewhere. Will look for it.
Incidentally, my original sockets kept falling apart. Had lots of bulbs at the bottom of the assembly.
Alan - your picture looks exactly like my aftermarket part?
Last edited by ignatz; Nov 16, 2016 at 11:46 AM.
Reason: original?
Hi b,
I 'adjust' the little 'prongs' on the socket using a needle nose pliers to make them a little tighter fit.
You have to be VERY careful!!
Regards,
Alan
I also replaced all the incandescents with LED's and tied the source wires all together . Lower current draw. Finally I put a connector on them so I could hook them together with a source in the harness after installing the instruments. Any source would do. That way I could have all the bulbs in place when reinstalling the cluster. Maybe have a picture somewhere. Will look for it.
Incidentally, my original sockets kept falling apart. Had lots of bulbs at the bottom of the assembly.
Alan - your picture looks exactly like my aftermarket part?
Wow ... Thanks for the advice ...Good job.. That looks awesome.
Does anyone have a trick to keep the instrument light bulb housings from popping out of their interface to the odometer and tachometer shrouds behind the drivers side dash panel?
Yes I do...but I really need to know your problem exactly ...because it can occur two different ways.
1.) The light socket falls away from the gauge BUT the metal portion is still stuck in the gauge and the bulb can fall into the gauge.
2.) The entire socket pulls out of the gauge with the bulb still held in the socket as designed.
If you have the black plastic sockets, those metal clips are just pressed into the plastic. After years of use and some removals, those clips will not stay in the plastic well. To resolve this, just mix up a bit of epoxy (JB Weld 2-part is good) and use a toothpick to push some down into the grooves where the clip mounting pins are to fit. Then press the clip back into place. After curing for 24 hours (more if in colder temps), reinstall the bulbs and place into housing. If the fit is sloppy, do as Alan71 indicated and bend the housing retaining clip fingers OUT a bit to tighten them up.
If you do this repair to 'some' of the sockets, it would be wise to do ALL of them that you can access. This will prevent future headaches.
P.S. The LED bulbs sold as replacements for incandescents have a slightly smaller diameter base than needed to fit WELL in the C3 bulb sockets. The fit can cause poor connections and bulb 'blinking' or become inoperable. If you have suggestions for dealing with this, it would be good to know.
Last edited by 7T1vette; Nov 17, 2016 at 10:24 AM.
With your entire socket coming out with the bulb still intact. I simply bend the tangs and move on and not make a huge deal about it.
I do agree with POST#11..and I also use JB Weld and bond the metal retainer in the stock sockets.
While I have the metal retainers out and in my hand...that is when I bend the retainer tabs so it will grab and hold the bulb better BEFORE I bond them back in. These can be a bit fun to do...and are quite stout...due to the area you are trying to bend is so small...so I use my fine tip needle nose pliers.
And YES...if I do one bulb socket....every socket gets done that this process will allow.
instrument bulbs
