4wd shift lever light

[Jgonick]

I was fixing small things on my k10. 4wd shift lever light has never worked. I removed the 4 screws from the housing, but it won't even wiggle. What am I missing? I've never had to work on the shifter and I'm trying to be careful with 39 year old parts.

 

[WebMonkey]

the shift lever boot may be keeping the plastic cover in place.
give the boot a little twist and see if that helps.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Just four screws. What transfer case?

 

[Jgonick]

N208
I'm referring to the cover.
Thought I would ask before I accidentally used too much force and break something.

Edit: I guess the correct term would be bezel

 

[PrairieDrifter]

There is a little slider that goes around the shifter, for the indicator, that'll fight you a little but it should pop right off.

 

[Jgonick]

Success... just a lot of gunk from the years I guess. Once I tried a little harder it came right off.
I'm going to have to reconsider the light bulb. It's ever so slightly melted where it goes.
Bad design I guess.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Not necessarily. That's just incandescent bulbs for ya

 

[AuroraGirl]

Success... just a lot of gunk from the years I guess. Once I tried a little harder it came right off.
I'm going to have to reconsider the light bulb. It's ever so slightly melted where it goes.
Bad design I guess.

use a pick to restore it to the original condition and use an LED or use an LED Strip (if possible)

 

[Jgonick]

use an LED

I need to look into LEDs, might even change my dash lights.

 

[AuroraGirl]

I need to look into LEDs, might even change my dash lights.

if you do, LEDs like to be dimmed by PWM rather than resistance

 

[BlazerBill]

What is PWM and when converting to LED’s shouldn’t relays be used, if so, which relays or is there a relay kit for converting the entire vehicle to LED’s? Please provide specific details, thanks!

 

[CalSgt]

For something like replacing an existing incandescent bulb with an LED no relay is needed, the incandescent bulb likely draws 10 times the amperage of a similar sized LED replacement.

Relays are a good idea when adding a large light bar though.

Most LEDs are dimmed using a potentiometer but inside the 4x4 shifter housing dimming shouldn’t be any concern, it’s not likely to be blinding you at night down there.

LED’s are polarity sensitive unlike incandescent bulbs however, I usually test them to see what way they work before spicing any wires.

 

[Jgonick]

LEDs don't pull as much current as incandescent- so if you are replacing turn signal/ hazard lights- the typical turn & hazard relays (thermal) don't work as they should. They have to have enough current going through them to heat up. So you need to replace them with an electric relay.

PWM stands for "pulse width modulation"-

 

[Jgonick]

Also something to he aware of- LEDs (light emitting diodes) Diodes allow current to flow in only one direction. That can become problematic in some instances , such as front side marker/turn signal lights- those incandescent light bulbs flow current in different directions depending if your headlights are on or not. Typical LEDs won’t work correctly without some modifications.