Dash Lights

[ajward]

I'm really new to my Festiva ('89 L 4-Speed)... had her a day and a half now.

The instrument cluster is very dark, like maybe only bulb is working. How do I go about changing the little buggers? Can it be done by reaching up behind the dash or maybe pulling the cluster?

Can't find a Haynes or Chilton locally, except special order and the last special order took almost 2 months to arrive!

Not a serious issue since I don't have a big need to drive after dark, but it's annoying! The darned things are there and they supposed to =work=!

Appreciate any advice,

Amanda :? :?

[gdawgs]

Festivas have a really flaky/junky dimmer switch. Have you tried fiddling with that yet?

It still could be a bulb, but in my 13 years and 300,000 miles with Festivas, I have never had to change a dash bulb. So my first guess would have to be the dimmer.

[htchbck]

I agree that its probably the dimmer switch. But if that doesn't help, its not too hard to take the cluster out. Only nine screws.

First five screw are located on the dash bezel:



After the bezel is removed the next four screws are accessable. These are the screws that actually hold the cluster in.



Once those screws are out you can slowly pull the cluster out away from the dash until there is enough room to reach in behind it and unplug the two wiring harnesses and the speedometer cable. Now you can pull the cluster all the way out.

Flip the cluster over. There is back lighting bulb in the top center (yellow arrow). The four top light bulbs are indicated by the red arrows. There are also two screws on the top light assembly that can be take out to remove the top light bar. Under this bar is a green lens (which makes the dash glow green). This can be removed to allow a lot more light through making the dash much brighter.



The number for the replacement bulb for the backlight is 194. Not sure what the top bulbs are, but they are tiny... I'm going to the store today to try to pick up some blue bulbs and replace the old ones with those. I'll have to wait and see how it turns out, but your question may very well have helped me discover a really easy dash light color change conversion...

[htchbck]

just got back from Advance Auto Parts. They didn't have any of the little bulbs in blue . But I did get the number for them, they are 73s... and the stock number for the backlight bulb is 158, but 194s work fine and are available in different colors... still have to wait till it gets dark enough outside to see if putting in the blue bulb worked though.

[ajward]

Wow... Y'all are awesome and the info helped. I went to pick & pull this afternoon to look for a passenger side mirror. The only Festiva they had (a 1990) didn't have a matching mirror, but it did have a white tachometer instrument cluster. Pulling that out was a breeze.
Now another question... is this a plug in replacement or are there some contortions I'll have to go through?

The electrical connectors =look= similar (to your pictures) and are higher and farther apart. The speedometer cable is offset from the middle of the cluster toward the centerline of the car.
I'm not too concerned about the cable, do you think the electrical bits compatible?

Thanks a bunch,

Amanda

[mechanicaldj]

look at this post , about the speedo cable routing:

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6105&highlight=

[htchbck]

On a slightly different but still similar topic, I was putting my dash back together today and noticed that all the buld holders are marked "Toshiba"... then I looked on top of the cluster, and the model number is "A-15"... does it seem weird that the very laptop that I am typing this on right now is a Toshiba... with model number A-15?

[ajward]

I got the tachometer cluster installed today... everything works except the tach. I'll deal with that a bit later.
The swap went well, with minimal BFFI and abusive language required.

Swapped out all the old bulbs with 14 volt equivalents for a bit longer life and left off those odd little green covers. Checked the lighting while driving through the Caldecott Tunnel today and the new panel looks great. 'Specially like the lights on alarm... I've had to have a few roadside service calls from leaving the lights on!

Thanks for all your help.

Amanda