dash lighting
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 7
dash lighting
I am asking this question for a friend that has a beautiful blue 88 convertable that is about to be put away for the winter up north. A couple of weeks ago the left side of his digital dash went dark at night! One week later the other side also went dark. The dash seems to operate normaly other then the lack of lights at night. This make it hader to see especially when the local law infrcement officers watch for fast traveling Vets... Is it difficult to change the dash lights or does the whole dash have to go in for service. My 90 does not have that type of dash so I was unable to help him.. Thanks for the help in advance.
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 924
From:
RE: dash lighting
You can change the light bulbs by removing the trim and prying the silver metal caps off of the face of the instrument panel. Turn on the ignition and see which ones don't light up. Next use some needle-nose pliers to replace the bulbs.
At this point, you should seriously consider replacing the 882 illumination bulbs in the cluster with 194s obtained from any auto parts store. The 882 bulbs are brighter, but heat damage to the circuit boards always occurs, and in my opinion, it's not worth it. The 194s are almost as bright, are still quite readable in the daylight, and are a lot cheaper than the 882s.
Also have him check his grounds heres how:
Typical problems are:
1) The ground wire is broken.
2) The ground wire has a bad connection to the frame (under the drivers side cylinder head, near the firewall).
3) There's a bad connection at the firewall connector.
The easiest fix for all three of these problems is to tap into the ground wire on the passenger side of the firewall and run a separate wire to another electrical ground. This can be connected to another ground wire, seat bolt, etc.
HERES A DIAGRAG. Hope this solves his problem.....
[IMG]local://upfiles/3722/EB8336B76BED41A688C080C481776391.jpg[/IMG]
At this point, you should seriously consider replacing the 882 illumination bulbs in the cluster with 194s obtained from any auto parts store. The 882 bulbs are brighter, but heat damage to the circuit boards always occurs, and in my opinion, it's not worth it. The 194s are almost as bright, are still quite readable in the daylight, and are a lot cheaper than the 882s.
Also have him check his grounds heres how:
Typical problems are:
1) The ground wire is broken.
2) The ground wire has a bad connection to the frame (under the drivers side cylinder head, near the firewall).
3) There's a bad connection at the firewall connector.
The easiest fix for all three of these problems is to tap into the ground wire on the passenger side of the firewall and run a separate wire to another electrical ground. This can be connected to another ground wire, seat bolt, etc.
HERES A DIAGRAG. Hope this solves his problem.....
[IMG]local://upfiles/3722/EB8336B76BED41A688C080C481776391.jpg[/IMG]
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4
RE: dash lighting
ORIGINAL: Black86vette
You can change the light bulbs by removing the trim and prying the silver metal caps off of the face of the instrument panel. Turn on the ignition and see which ones don't light up. Next use some needle-nose pliers to replace the bulbs.
At this point, you should seriously consider replacing the 882 illumination bulbs in the cluster with 194s obtained from any auto parts store. The 882 bulbs are brighter, but heat damage to the circuit boards always occurs, and in my opinion, it's not worth it. The 194s are almost as bright, are still quite readable in the daylight, and are a lot cheaper than the 882s.
Also have him check his grounds heres how:
Typical problems are:
1) The ground wire is broken.
2) The ground wire has a bad connection to the frame (under the drivers side cylinder head, near the firewall).
3) There's a bad connection at the firewall connector.
The easiest fix for all three of these problems is to tap into the ground wire on the passenger side of the firewall and run a separate wire to another electrical ground. This can be connected to another ground wire, seat bolt, etc.
HERES A DIAGRAG. Hope this solves his problem.....
[IMG]local://upfiles/3722/EB8336B76BED41A688C080C481776391.jpg[/IMG]
You can change the light bulbs by removing the trim and prying the silver metal caps off of the face of the instrument panel. Turn on the ignition and see which ones don't light up. Next use some needle-nose pliers to replace the bulbs.
At this point, you should seriously consider replacing the 882 illumination bulbs in the cluster with 194s obtained from any auto parts store. The 882 bulbs are brighter, but heat damage to the circuit boards always occurs, and in my opinion, it's not worth it. The 194s are almost as bright, are still quite readable in the daylight, and are a lot cheaper than the 882s.
Also have him check his grounds heres how:
Typical problems are:
1) The ground wire is broken.
2) The ground wire has a bad connection to the frame (under the drivers side cylinder head, near the firewall).
3) There's a bad connection at the firewall connector.
The easiest fix for all three of these problems is to tap into the ground wire on the passenger side of the firewall and run a separate wire to another electrical ground. This can be connected to another ground wire, seat bolt, etc.
HERES A DIAGRAG. Hope this solves his problem.....
[IMG]local://upfiles/3722/EB8336B76BED41A688C080C481776391.jpg[/IMG]
+ 1 ..definately upgrade the bulb....no you do not need to send out for service......YET
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
stubbs
Corvette C4 Forum
3
Oct 29, 2005 02:25 AM