[chuaed]

Hello guys,

 

There seems to be an issue with my instrument cluster lighting.  On occasions, one half of it (left side) does not light up.  The right half works perfectly fine.  I've tried knocking on the dashboard, tapping on the cluster but doesn't seem to bring it back on.  The obvious would be a loose wiring/ connection but strange that it is only one half of the cluster that goes off and it is always the left side.  Anyone had a similar experience?

 

Also my hand brake and anti-lock braking warning light on the cluster flickers intermittently (at the same time) about once or twice while i'm driving.  No obvious patterns.  Any idea what could be the cause of this?

 

 

Thanks!

 

Ed.

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[94SilverCab]

Probably time to pull it out and refresh the bulbs, check connections, etc. I think by now most of us have had to do it.

 

Jay

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[MCL968]

Yep, follow the advice on the forum and disconnect the battery overnight and remove the wheel. Be sure to refresh the reflectors and use the right bulbs. And clean all the brass nuts, washers, and connections to the PC board with soft sandpaper to restore the grounds to your gauges. I did mine a month or so ago and the difference is astounding. I actually have to dim my dash light now, before I had to light a match to see if they were on.

 

Note, the airbag bolts (on the back of the steering wheel) are Torx, and were tightened at the factory by someone named Hans with forearms like Popeye. My mechanic has actually had them break when he tried to loosen them, some were that tight.

 

This site has a good price on the Osram bulbs. O'Reilly also has them, but the cost is a bit higher.

 

http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product...el%20Light

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[JTP]

There are three bulbs illuminating the dash. I replaced mine with LED and it's fantastic. Much brighter.

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[MLB]

JTP >  thanks for posting that pic of the LED-illuminated gauge cluster, looks great. Are those dim-able?

I prefer less bright, but my originals may be getting weak enough that a fresh up is in order at least with the Osram bulbs mentioned above.

 

MCL968 >  is that Osram bulb used for more than the 3 gauge illumination spots? Do they also go behind the face to illuminate warning lights? If so, how many bulbs total? I would like to just order a bunch and replace them all at the same time.

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[MCL968]

The Osram bulbs are for the "idiot" lights, and I think there are 14 of them in a manual, more in a Tip. The general lighting bulbs are the Sylvania 904's as I recall. The problem with the LED's is they are not very dimable, and they produce a lot of light, which makes it hard for your eyes to adjust at night.

 

Carb cleaner works well to remove the silver from the light tunnels, then some foil and tape and you are good to go. Be sure to put a lot of protection (several levels of tape) over the foil because it's easy to tear it when reinstalling the instrument cluster.

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[JTP]

The LED bulbs I have are Phillips brand. They dim slightly but not the full range as regular bulbs. At first they seemed a bit bright but after driving with them for nearly a year they are perfect for me. I always struggled to see the gauges with the old bulbs, now it's crystal clear.

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[chuaed]

I've just recently replaced my instrument cluster cover which came with new reflective plates. Had all the bulbs replaced and looks good as new - obviously when it is not half lit! Wonder if its the pc board... does it ever need to be replaced?


Will have to pull the cluster again and check thru the contact points.

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[flash]

this one makes me crazy.  i have to dim my dash lights because they are too bright, and they are stock.  i tried the LED thing.  way too bright and too much glare.  it made an obvious reduction in night time visibility outside the car, particularly peripheral vision.  the human eye dies not do well with oncoming light.  the issue is looking at the bright dash, and then trying to adjust to the dark.  dangerous.

 

as said, not really dimmable either.

 

all together everyone "bright is bad".  just bright enough to see the gauges is good.

 

as to the original problem, it could also be the multi-pin connectors.  if they are not seated fully, or the connections are corroded, you won't get full voltage.

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[ds968]

Disagree on the glare - with LED lights you have zero glare, that's actually one of their key advantages, the gauges numbers look incredibly crisp , easily 100 % sharper than with the regular bulbs! and it eliminates that fuzzy / blurry appearance of the VDO plastic winow , especially when age takes its toll on it.. As for the rest , yeah you're probably right but I still like mine as bright as possible . I hate tne dim OEM crap , even when turned all the way up ( and this is after I replaced the reflective " foil " in tne cluster with a new one to make it more visible ) I changed to LEDs and love the look ! Will do that also on the daily driver...when I get around to changing the broken odo.

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[flash]

not true.  LED lights create just as much glare, and in some cases, more.  i have been playing around with those in the house lately.  the lens is what creates the glare, and in our case the plastic lens.  it's a bad design to begin with.  the brighter lights just add more too it.

 

the bottom line is that any light pointing at you reduces your ability to see at night.  this is a scientifically proven fact.  i posted a 400+ page study on this a while back.  regardless of what it "looks" like aesthetically, it is a very bad idea to have a bright dash.  you only need to see the gauges at a glance to read them.  this problem gets worse as you get older too, and your eye's lens gets harder.  it is even more subject to glare at night, and the eye takes even longer to adjust from bright to dark.

 

if you want to conduct a little test, go sit in the car at night, headlights off.  take a good look around, paying particular attention to your peripheral vision, and your ability to see color at night.  then, turn on your dash lights and look at them, even for just a second or two.  then turn them off and see what you can see out there.  it will freak you out and make you think twice about turning them on at all.

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[Waylander]

If you use CANBUS LED's they dim

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[flash]

addendum to "test" - make sure you let your eyes adjust to the dark, before turning on the dash lights.

 

is there a canbus bulb that fits?  the ones i tried did not.

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[ds968]

Like I said, no argument with the brighter lights effect on visibility of the exterior environment at night, or the adjustment time for the eye as you get older, yada, yada - was just making a point that based on my personal experience and I have driven the cars now with and without LEDs for many years , I can categorically tell you that the LEDs completely eliminated any glare which the plastic window previously had with the OE regular bulbs. And it also takes me less time to glance at the instruments than it did with dim lights trying to focus on the exact line of the gauges , so it actually might be better for the eyes re-adjustment come to think of it..

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[flash]

i think we are dancing around terminology.  glare is the refraction of light through a lens, and the aberration that results.  that would not change, regardless of whether you had an incandescent bulb, an dLED, or a mercury bulb.  the  number of lumens, and the color of the light would be the only factors that could alter the glare.  different wavelengths have different perception of glare.  similarly, brightness alters the amount of glare, but this one is a simple one.  the more light, the more glare.  it's basic optics.

 

you may have convinced yourself that there isn't any glare, and you may even be able to see your gauges better, but frankly that is a function of the age of your eyes, and the degradation of their ability to adjust to differing amounts of light.

 

this would be akin to choosing a pair of reading glasses so you could see the dash better, but sacrificing your distance vision in the process.  you are choosing to see the dash, rather than what you should be looking at.

 

it's a bad trade

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[Bulti]

Lol, no problems over here with any of that crap. Our road network is lid up like a christmas tree.


But I agree, any light burning in the car when driving in pitch black conditions is one too many.



FYI: see the "Black Panel"-function Saabs used to have...

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[JTP]

My personal experience with the LED bulbs has been better than the old incandescent bulbs. I also like my dash fairly dim but found I was struggling to read the gauges before as it was too dim and now I can see the gauges much quicker without any trouble readjusting to the road. Perhaps my reflective foil is bad (I never bothered to clean the foil) so it isn't as bright as someone inserting LED bulbs into a cluster with better reflective foil.

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[Waylander]

addendum to "test" - make sure you let your eyes adjust to the dark, before turning on the dash lights.

 

is there a canbus bulb that fits?  the ones i tried did not.

 

 

the three at the bottom, yes there is got mine from ebay

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[chuaed]

Guys, back to the original problem re instrument lights not coming on, could it also be the ignition switch that is causing this?  I was told my ignition switch may not be functioning well as there have been occasions when my a/c doesnt work at all. 

 

And any thoughts on the intermittent flashing handbrake and ABS light?

 

Think i'm really on a roll here with a new fault every other week....

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[flash]

the last couple of posts, which were unrelated to this thread, have been removed.  please start a separate thread for that.

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