mrlmd

Today I got my new hazard flasher in the mail so I replaced my bad one after taking off the driver side knee bolster, by wiggling my arm up underneath the dash to get the original one out. Man, it's tough to unlatch the old one but once you get the bottom free, it knocks out with the screwdriver like suggested. And it's not that easy to line the new one up and get it in there, but persistence pays off and the job's all done and it all works now. So thanks guys.
While I had that knee bolster off and had the job half done, I thought I'd replace the bulb in the dash cluster that fell out months ago - the upper one on the right side which lights up the fuel and gauges buttons for the DIC. I found that bulb on the floor by the gas pedal one day and just never got around to replacing it, or was chicken to try it.
I got the gauge cluster out by dropping the steering wheel, with a little wiggling of the cluster, didn't have to remove the whole center console and radio/AC bezel, etc.. I never unhooked the cables from the cluster or the button pad, I was able to slightly turn the loose cluster to the left and look into the back of the DIC buttons with a mirror and see the empty socket on top where the bulb came out. I also was fairly easily able to place another bulb into that socket and turn it a little to screw it in and all looked OK. I tried to test it all by turning on the lights but because it was daylight, I couldn't see any lights go on at all inside the car. All the DIC buttons functioned normally.
So, like an optimistic idiot, I put it all back together anticipating it would all work and be good to go. Now I go out to the car in relative darkness and when I put on the lights, 3 of those bulbs behind the buttons do not light up, only the bottom light for the E/M and reset buttons lights up. The DIC works fine, there are no codes, just no lights on. So now, tomorrow, I have to take the whole friggin thing apart again, totally remove the gauge cluster and take off that button module and try to see what's wrong with it. Too bad there's no way to test that without putting it all together again. If anyone has any other suggestions, I'm open for listening.

Vetteman Jack

Sounds like you have the same luck I seem to have when I do a project on the car.

Hope the fix is relatively easy but too bad you have to take it all apart again.

Pounder

I have a 9 volt battery hooked up with a foot or so of wire and alligator clips which I use to test all my dash lights or whatever !!!!!!

El original

I have the same issue with almost every project..gotta do it twice it seems. If it goes fine the first time I fiddle with it until I have to do it all over again...(OCD I suspect) Good luck on your second attempt and you are in good company!!!

mrlmd

Well, I took it apart again and got it fixed. Turned out the middle bulb didn't light up because it was loose in it's socket and I managed to tighten it up with a tiny screwdriver, without pulling out the cluster completely or disconnecting it from the plug-in cables connected on the left rear and top, or taking anything on the rear of the cluster apart. Those cables are in their sockets TIGHT and are not that easy to remove after being in there for 15 years. I was able to pull the cluster out far enough and rotate it to see and get into the back of the DIC button module. Also, turns out the upper bulb that I replaced, having fallen out before, was dead, burned out, non-functional. That's probably why the car spit it out many months ago. If I was smarter I would have tested it before putting it in there last time, but I tested the new one before putting it in (got smarter). I had a few bulbs so kindly donated to me by another forum member on here who replaced his with LEDs, but they were the white based, slightly shorter bulbs than are what's in the DIC buttons (black base, slightly bigger bulb.) They work fine although the illumination is slightly dimmer and slightly more yellow compared to the original bulbs in there, but now I can see them at night. One of these days if I ever feel like doing this again, I may replace them all with LEDs but that involves more work. After doing this twice, I can do it faster now, but each time I do this, no matter how careful you are, I feel there is a chance of breaking some plastic here and there, so I'm happy I did this twice and had nothing break.
This time I was a little smarter than last time, I tested it all as I was putting it back together to make sure I had no surprises at the end. Now I'm charging up a dead battery - surprise!

mrlmd

Seems like my almost 3 yr. old battery that came with the car has decided to give up the ghost today, it's not accepting a charge fast enough after a few hours on the charger. But it's still under a 36 month warranty if I can convince the local Ford dealer to replace it (a Motorcraft battery, was installed by a Ford dealer in Charlotte N.C. 10/12 according to Carfax). Won't they be happy to see me? I don't know why that happened all of a sudden, the only thing on was the security message on the DIC and the interior lights when the door was open when I was working on the car, and both of those went off after 5-10 min or so. I also started and ran it a few times checking out the lights and everything else, but when I went to start it after I was all done,the voltage had dropped down to 10.5V which is quite excessive for leaving a door open for 1- 1 1/2 hrs. and I never disconnected anything except those plugs on the knee bolster. It's been on a 12 amp charger for about 4-5 hrs and the voltage has only risen to 11.8-11.9 so the battery may be toast. I checked the voltage of all the cells and they all read the same so it's not like one cell has died. We'll see what happens in a few more hours but I think I may have to get a new battery.
All this work for a friggin light bulb and functioning directional signals.

romandian

how did you check the voltage of individual cells?

mrlmd

With a voltmeter from one battery terminal to the first cell, then from that cell to the next, then from the second cell to the third, and on down the line.
This AM my battery reads 12.4 V, 65% charged, the car starts and with the engine running the DIC says 14.2V which is my norm, so I'm going to go out for a 20 mile ride to my volunteer job at the local State Park, to see if it charges up. And I'm taking 2 booster packs with me just in case the battery's dead 4 hours later and I can't start the car. And if it's dead - time for a new battery. Anybody have a recommendation? JUST KIDDING, DON'T ANSWER THAT.

romandian

sorry, i still dont get it. do you stick the probe into the acid, or how do you measure between the cells?

mrlmd

Yes, stick it right into the acid, you won't hurt anything, then just wipe it off when you're done.