I'm replacing a burnt out light bulb in my '85 Corvette dashboard. Literature that I've acquired states that you can replace the 882 bulbs with 194's "available at most auto parts stores". The writer of this literature suggests that the 194's are not as hot burning and will not affect the the printed circuit boards in the dashboard which the 882's will eventually do because they burn hotter. Here's the problem. The 882's have two exposed wire "tails" coming out of the bottom of the bulb. These "tails" plug into holes in the light bulb socket. The 194's have glass covering the wire "tails" and the "tails" aren't anywhere near as long as the original light bulb "tails". The glass covering seems to get in the way when I try to plug the bulb into the socket. Are the 882's available in the general market place or do I have to fly to China to find them? Thanks.

 

The 882 bulbs are halogen and do burn hotter, but they also burn brighter and last longer. Check at WalMart for the best price. They were available at Walmart when I replaced all of mine in my 88. You can also call NAPA or search online. The 882 is not hard to find.

I'd suggest replacing all of the bulbs in the digi-dash at one time. It saves having to go back in a month later and it looks soooo darn good all lit up and bright at twilight.

 

Replace all 4 with 882s, they were at Autozone and WalMart around here.

 

Thanks. I'll head over to the store today and replace all four of them, as long as I've got it apart. Thanks again. :)

 

Well, so far I haven't been able to locate the 882's at two Autozone stores. Does Wallmart have more bulb sellection than Autozone? Are the two exposed "tail" wires supposed to be like that? I really don't want to order them from the Chevy dealer and pay a rediculous price.


[Modified by Netnarc2, 8:04 PM 6/1/2003]

 

Walmart has them in the automotive dept for $4.96 ea, the cheapest source you will find.

 

I went to my Anaheim CA Walmart and they didn't have the 882's. Not even an empty slot for 882's. I found some 891's that look very similar to the 882's, so I'm going to check the wattage on those and if within range, try one and see if it works. If not, I'll probably have to order them.

 

Go to any Auto Parts store. Don't know where you live, but you can't be that far removed from an AZ, or NAPA, or Advance.

 

I finally located one at the NAPA store about four miles from home. They only had one left but would order more if I needed them. The funny part is the dealer at NAPA pulled out the part and I looked at it and realized that the two wire "tails" on my original bulb were that way because I had pulled the bulb out of it's base on the original. Now I just have to pull the bulb's base out of the socket. :crazy:


[Modified by Netnarc2, 12:01 AM 6/2/2003]

 

1985 Corvette. I've got the dashboard gauge assembly out of the car and on the bench. Wearing latex gloves to avoid a static electricity arc, I removed the back metal cover and all of the screws from the printed circuit board, intending to remove the printed circuit board to get to the light bulbs to repace them. There is one difficulty here. I can't figure out how to remove the grounding terminal. It has a white or cream color piece of plastic holding onto the pins that are running from the front printed circuit board to the back printed circuit board. That seems to be the only thing that's preventling me from removing the back printed circuit board to get to the light bulbs. How do you clear the part? I don't want to pry on it for fear of breaking soldering joints or part of the printed circuit board. How do you get that part to unplug? Thanks in advance.

[Modified by Netnarc2, 7:07 AM 6/2/2003]

 

You seem to have it apart, but what I learned from the forum here was to remove the silver tabs from the front of the unit. Pull the bulbs out of the base, and put the new ones into the old base.

I did this using a needle nose pliers with some tape on the ends of it to grip the bulb better. It took some patience and a few trys, but it was successful.

The pintails on the bulbs were just stiff enough that if you lined them up straight enough I could press the new bulbs into those old bases.

Good luck and I would like to thank the forum.

:cheers:

 

88Vert, thanks. I knew about the fact that you can open the little metal "port holes" to gain access to the light bulbs, but it didn't seem secure enough to pull the bulb out of the base and insert a glass bottom bulb into the slot in the old base. Since this is a project car, and I don't have to rely on it to be ready in the morning to go to work, I thought that I would go ahead and replace the bulbs from the back side, so that I could replace the bases with new bases and bulbs. I had the unit all apart, but I couldn't get that printed circuit board off of the unit, because the ground unit just wouldn't budge. I took it to the Corvette parts store, Coast Corvette, and Gene told me that you just have to work the thing back and forth until the ground unit loosens up and lets you slide the printed circuit board off. I took it home and messed with it until I finally said "screw it" and "I'm going to end up breaking this circuit board, then I'll be in a world of do-do". So I was able to lift the cicuit board up just enough to replace the burned out bulb with a new one and put the unit back together. I used curved needle nose plyers to insert the bulb and base into the hole and turn and lock it. It was the only one I could access this way. Put it all back together and put the car back together and the new bulb works. Of course, it's brighter than the old bulbs, but at least I can see my temperature reading clearly. I watch the temperature gauge the most. I ordered a set of bulbs from the Corvette parts store, so that when I find out what the "magic" is to remove the printed circuit board ground unit, I'll tear it all apart and do it again. By the time I get done with this I'll be an expert. :lol: :lol: :lol: While I had it apart, I did some "repairs" on some of the broken dashboard parts that are usually hidden from sight. I think the WWF wrestled in this car.


[Modified by Netnarc2, 4:38 AM 6/3/2003]

 

I found that the easiest way to seperate the two boards is to push toothpicks (the flat squared ones) into backside of each pin position on the female side of the connection. It loosens the grip on the pins on the male portion of the connector and the 2 boards come apart easy. Leave the toothpicks in this makes it easier to reassemble then remove the toothpicks and gvie the boards a light push together to confirm thay are seated.

 

Thanks I'll try the tooth picks next time I take it apart. I want to replace all of the bulbs.

 

How long did it take to remove the digital dash part. My speedo display has a bulb burned out and was just curious how long will it take to fix it?

 

It took me about four hours to get it out and on the bench, but I removed or dropped everything under the instrument panel to make it easier to remove the unit. I dropped the hard plastic 'kick panel", removed the padded/carpeted panel under the dash board, dropped the steering wheel by removing two accessible 13mm bolts and removed the wheel tilt lever. You also have to remove the center radio/upright bezel and the speedometer bezel. Be sure to disconnect the battery before beginning this project and wear vinyl gloves or a ground strap when you have the unit on the bench to avoid any static electricity damage to the unit. Here is a website that you can do some research at: http://www.batee.com/corvette/dcrg/problems.shtml

 

SOVAIN, I gave into temptation and replaced a second bulb in my instrument panel today. I didn't want to bother with taking the whole thing apart again, so I just removed the speedo bezel and took a pair of needle nose pliers with masking tape on the ends to cushion my grip on the old bulb. I then gently rocked the old bulb back and forth until in pulled out of the base. You'll note that the bulb has two pig tail stiff wires coming out of the bottom. I had an 891 Halogen bulb which I found the other day at Walmart for $7.00. It's 12 volt and the package describes it as being intended for turn siganls and brake lights. I figured I'd try it anyway. I inserted the pig tails of the new bulb into the little holes in the original bulb base and it works. Seems to be as bright as the 882's. If not, I can't tell any difference.

 

I just disassembled the digital dash. You seemed to be having a problem separating the two boards. The link you provided to schematics helped and he noted that you "just rock it back and forth" and out it comes. After an hour and a half of that, patience grew thin. Had it out 30 seconds later. Take a small flat screwdriver (smaller than 1/8 inch). If you notice that the receptacle on the outer board has tiny metal tabs in it, just slide the blade between the tabs in next to each pin. Nothing magical happens, until you slide the outer board right off. This makes the complete disassembly last a whole 10 minutes, if you're careful. Good luck.

 

loflyin, thanks for the info. I'm sure I'll have it out again and this time I'll use the screw driver or the flat wooden toothpick method. Thanks again. :cheers: