My check engine light hadn’t come on for a long time—not because there were no error codes, but because the bulb itself was burnt out. Replacing it requires removing the entire instrument cluster and pulling out the panel, but the process is fairly straightforward.
First, the lower center panel trim has to be removed, which is secured by a single screw hidden behind the ashtray.
The panel can be easily pried out by hand without any tools, as it’s held in place by several clips.
Behind the panel, there are two connectors—for the cigarette lighter and the ashtray light bulb.
Once the lower center panel is removed, the two screws securing the instrument panel trim become accessible. After removing these screws, the trim can be gently pried out—it’s held in place by several clips and pins.
The biggest challenge was unplugging the connectors behind the hazard flasher and defroster switches. These switches only pull straight forward from the panel, and with the connecting wires being quite short, removal requires carefully reaching behind the panel into a tight space to wiggle the connectors free.
Once the two connectors are unplugged, the entire instrument panel molding can be removed, revealing the instrument cluster. The cluster is a single enclosed unit secured by four screws. After removing these screws, the cluster comes out easily.
There are two electrical connectors on the back of the cluster that need to be unplugged. As before, the wires are short, leaving very little room to work.
The backside of the instrument panel is an exposed circuit board. All of the black circles are light bulb sockets for illuminating various things. These are clearly labelled and are easy to identify.
The bulbs can be removed by simply twisting and pulling them out. They are glass wedge-style bulbs, also known as T (tubular) types. Bulb sizes are designated by their diameter, measured in eighths of an inch. The smaller bulbs are T1.5 (0.1875″ diameter), while the larger ones are T3.25 (0.406″ diameter). To replace a bulb, simply pull it out from its plastic base and insert a new one.
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