Hey Guys,
Pulled the dash cluster out today to fix that annoying ground problem that makes the backlight go off and on. Surfing thru my catalogs I see the 194 bulbs but no 882 bulbs. I also see socket and bulb combo's which I would like to change because I do have one bulb out and a couple of the sockets are cooked because of the heat. Can you get a cooler bulb / socket combo? (Halogen?)
Thanks to everyone on this forum for helping me with all of my Corvettes!
Still Wavin After All These Years
Robert Anderson
www.virginiacorvetteclub.com
See ya on the Caravan!

 

In previous threads I have read that there is a Xenon lamp that replaces the 882 (quartz iodine) and produces the same light but less temperature. 194's don't belong in the cluster, they won't connect to the socket.

 

i don't know exactly which bulbs are used in the 87 models. i've been PM'ing forum member "Relic" with the exactly same issue. i think halogen 882's with the socket are designated "882X". i don't know if you can purchase the sockets separately. 882's are a bi-pin design and 194"s have a wedge type base. they are not interchangeable. as for cooler bulbs, replace the 882's with xenon - the cost is a lot less, they burn cooler, and have a 10000 hour life. xenons are used in c5 and c6's. try this link:

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page...nBiPin/X5G412V

i used these exact bulbs in my 85 several years ago without issues - they were a direct replacement. hope this helps...

 

A light to illuminate a dashboard in a motor vehicle.

Regards,
Gaines

 

I haven't done the job yet. I searched autozone and they specify a 194 with the wedge base for a 1987. I've seen jfb post in past threads that the 194 is too hot. I've also read other posters saying the 194 is cooler.
I have no idea. It's confusing at best.

Rockauto also shows a 194 for the 1987.

 

Just ordered the new sockets from Ecklers (will come w/ 882's)($9.99 ea) and I just ordered the Xenon bulbs from Lightbulbsdirect (approx $2.50 ea). I went by my local Chevy dealer and they wanted approx $25 per bulb!
I'll keep you guys posted, I paid a little extra for shipping for Wednesday delivery.
"Film at 11" like they say on the news.
As always, thanks for all the help and advise!
Robert

 

i have no personal experience on what bulb is used in the 87 corvette. i do know that my 85 used 882's, and my local napa dealer says the standard bulb for the 85 is the 194, and they are wrong! as stated, the 194's have a wedge base and the 882's are bi-pin, SO WOULD SOMEONE YANK ONE OF THES BULBS OUT OF THEIR 87 DASH, AND POST A PICTURE OF IT. either way, xenon replacements are available for either the 882 or 194 bulb configuration.

 

The earliest I can possibly get to it is this weekend.

Joe, how do you find the cross bulb? Is it as simple as finding a 12V/5W lamp? So, would this be the wedge base 194 replacement?

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page...nWedge/X5WW12V

Interesting to me, I've been told over and over about the wonders of the FSM. I checked the FSM electrical supplement and all I can find is a drawing showing the bulb, and it says, replacable halogen.

Nice.

 

The previous post from Joe C with the lightbulbsdirect link for the BiPin part# X5G412V is the same bulb that came out of my 87.
If I wasn't such a dummy I would take some pictures and post them myself, I have not tried to post pictures yet.

 

There is a place on E bay that sells all the bulbs for your cluster, they are Xenon and a direct replacement with new sockets, all for about 25 bucks. I used these and am very happy, I did not find what I needed at Autozone. The bulbs that almost fit at the zone were about 5 bucks apiece.

 

At this point, the pics don't matter, just the confirmation of what you have. You've got the bi-pin job, with the 2 pins sticking out?

Thanks for the input, will make find the right bulb easier for me.

 

Hey Relic,
Yes, It is the bulb with 2 pins at the bottom.
I have it in my pocket now and it has stuck me in the leg twice already.:o

 

Little booger isn't going down without a fight?

Are you going to order the zenons or go to advance auto and get 882s?

Thanks.

 

I ordered the Zenons from lightbulbsirect and I ordered the 882/socket combo from Ecklers. I could not order just the sockets so I'll just pull the 882's out and out the Zenon's in.

 

normally, i don't plug an ebay item, but overall, this seems like a good deal (considering the free shipping). (FWIW) from the writeup, 84 thru 88 used halogen's and GM went to xenons in 89.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/84-89...Q5fAccessories

 

Hey Joe,
I enlarged the photo on the E Broke item you linked and the sockets look very different from what I pulled from my dash. They might work, they just look different.
Robert

 

Ok Guys, Here is what I got and what happened. As stated before we know our early C4's have 882 bulbs. I ordered 4 new bulb/socket combos from Ecklers and Zenon bulbs (882 type) from lightbulbsdirect thinking I could pull the regular 882's from the new combo and put in the cooler Zenons. WRONG! The new bulb/socket combo comes with 194's like the later C4's but the aftermarket sockets fits the circuit board just fine. So what I did (even though a couple of my original sockets looked a little cooked), I put the Zenons in my original sockets. The only problem (if it is a problem) is that the Zenons are a little bit longer than the original 882s and you cannot push that little metal cover all the in that cover the bulb. I put the guage panel back in and pluged it in and those Zenon bulbs are very cool to the touch. Another piece of advice if you do this is to pull the very bottom panel off under the dash and pull out the 2 main bolts (15MM) that hold the steering column. pulling the steering column down about an inch makes it SOOOO much easier to get the guage panel out. My lights are now nice and bright. Oh Yea, I was having that annoying ground problem where the lights go out and just the bright light and turn signal indicator lights come on. I cleaned the pin connector real good with an electrical cleaner from Advance Auto Parts and added a very small piece of wire where the male pin goes into the female receiver. It's the last pin connector on the right side. You can go the Corvette Fever Magazine web site and get the details on that to. So far the lights are staying on!
Hope this helps someone as I have received tons of help from you guys!
Still Waving After All These Years!
Robert Anderson
www.virginiacorvetteclub.com

 

thanks for this thread robert, and everyone who contributed! this is a great resource for all us disco dash owners. I do like the dash, but it has apparently, some exciting inherent problems

I copy threads like this and file them for future reference!

 

Robert,
I just want to summarize because my parts are being shipped to me.
You didn't use the Eckler's parts at all, you used the xenon bulbs JoeC linked us to at lightbulbsdirect?
I've ordered those bulbs, and the ebay bulbs JoeC linked to.

Do you have a link for the Corvettefever magazine article you mentioned?

Thanks again,
Dale

 

Dale, You are correct. I did not use the Ecklers bulb/socket combo. I used the Zenon bulbs from lightbulbsdirect in my original sockets.
You can go to the Corvette Fever Magazine web site and type in "Dash Removal" in the search bar and you will see the article where you pull out the dash if you need to. If you are replacing just the bulbs they can be replaced from the front just by taking the front plastic cover off and popping off the 4 little metal covers. The Corvette Fever article has some great pictures and descriptions.
Robert
Good Luck! It's not hard at all to do this.