Has anyone changed the lights in there dash recently. I know these stupid little lights are like .50 cents each but are probably a pain in the *** to replace. Somone told me that I had to drop or take off the steering wheel. True, not true. Thanks guys !!

 

What year are we talking about? It doesn't make that much difference, but some are a little easier, depending on the type of speedo you have, because you have to remove the cluster. There are a few posts in the electronics and body/interior forums (recent) that pretty much cover it, but in a nutshell, you do not have to remove your steering wheel. You'll have to remove the trim piece around the cluster, remove the plastic gage lense, and remove the cluster itself. Once you do all that, the bulbs are on the backside of the cluster. Be aware that they are the type that the bulb is soldered to the socket, basically a one-piece socket/bulb combo. If you want to change colors, like I did, you can either "break" the solder points on the socket, or go to Auto Zone and get the individual sockets and you can swap bulbs out that way all day long. The whole process of getting the cluster out, changing bulbs, and putting it all back together will take about an hour. Somebody on this board told me how to do it, I've done it, and now I can help you out Post or e-mail, if you need more help, and I'm sure others can/will help out as well.

KAM

 

Thunderstick hit it pretty much on the head. Personally, I'd recommend dropping the steering column a bit to make it easier to manoeuvre the cluster out of its housing. You might consider replacing the stock bulbs with the much brighter xenon type. By the way, my bulbs were not soldered to the sockets. After removing the socket from its housing, I simply wiggled one bulb out and wiggled another in.

JamesC

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[This message has been edited by JamesC (edited March 10, 2001).]

 

I replaced the lights in my 89 IROC with the Zenon blue lights. Love the look. On my car, the non-electronic speedo cable was the toughest part of the job. Taking out all the nuts and screws holding the cluster in place is easy, but the speedo cable is held in place by a spring clip which is damn difficult to get at. It took me almost an hour of poking, prodding and prying before I finally managed to get the spring clip to release. Once the clip was off, the cluster came right out and the bulb swap only took a few minutes.

 

Thanks everyone for the help. I will change the bulbs either tmrw if the weather is good. By the way where can I get those blue bulbs from......I didn't know you can get them that small. If that is the case I'm changing all of them
Talk to you guys soon.

 

I bought mine from MacEwen motorsports. Check the archives and the Vendor section for the info.

 

It depends on what kind of car you have...

If you have a cable speedo, all you have to do is take the cable loose from the cruise regulator, and push a little of it through the firewall grommet so there will be some slack behind the dash.

Earlier cars (up to at least 87 IROCs) had regular 194 bulbs in their sockets. Don't know about the Birds or later Camaros.

There are like 10 or so Torx screws that hold the bezel on; you don't have to take off the lens; 2 10mm nuts at the lower corners that hold in the cluster; then the speedo clip. It's about a 3 minute job.

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