Gauge lights.

[bigcountry78]

I work the evening shift at work so I drive the truck at night a good bit. The dim gauge lights are driving me crazy. I hit a bump the other night and the fuel gauge light came on brighter than it ever has. Is there a wright up around here about how to disassemble and trouble shoot this issue?

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[1987 GMC Jimmy]

http://www.gmsquarebody.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8267
This link covers it so maybe that'll help. My Jimmy does the exact same, and when I tap the dash pad, it'll light up properly. I'd suspect poor contact to the printed circuit with that particular bulb assuming the others are fine. Just a haunch and maybe someone else will postulate differently.

 

[smoothandlow84]

Swap out to leds....problem solved

 

[bigcountry78]

Swap out to leds....problem solved

What's all involved in this?

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[Green79Scottsdale]

What's all involved in this?

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Simply buying LED's with the correct base and swapping out the old bulbs. Pretty straightforward. Have you ever taken your dash apart to get to the gauges?

 

[bigcountry78]

No I haven't, I'm scared of breaking something. I know the plastic has to be brittle.

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[bigcountry78]

While we're talking about it, anyone know how the high beam indicator works? Mines always been iffy, but it just stopped working a while back. I would like to fix it while I'm in there.

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[Green79Scottsdale]

No I haven't, I'm scared of breaking something. I know the plastic has to be brittle.

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You can get to the bulbs without breaking anything.

Start by removing the bezel that covers the gauges and radio and climate controls. This will expose your gauge cluster. From here you can remove the clear lense over the gauges. You may need to remove the gear indictator too, I don't recall. After the clear lense is off the black metal face comes off. Once that is off you have access to the bulbs. Simply pull them out and put new ones in. Put things back together in reverse order and be careful not to overtighten the fasteners. Done!

 

[bigcountry78]

Mines a manual trans so no gear indicator to worry about. You think the local parts store would have the correct LED or would I need to order them? This sounds overly simple lol.

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[smoothandlow84]

Superbrightleds.com is a good source for EVERYTHING led. Don't rely on the autoparts store for the proper bulb. Ebay also has quite a few. There is a thread on this site as well for more detailed information. Quite a few people have done the swap. The leds are much , much brighter than the incandescent bulbs and they don't emit heat.

 

[Green79Scottsdale]

Mines a manual trans so no gear indicator to worry about. You think the local parts store would have the correct LED or would I need to order them? This sounds overly simple lol.

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^ What smooth said about the LED's. Most likely your local parts store will NOT have them in stock. If you have any mechanical ability, yeah, it is kinda overly simple!

 

[Green79Scottsdale]

While we're talking about it, anyone know how the high beam indicator works? Mines always been iffy, but it just stopped working a while back. I would like to fix it while I'm in there.

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Your high beam indicator bulb is tied into the printed circuit on the back of the cluster. You probably just have a burned out bulb.

When you have your cluster opened up, remove three screws that hold your speedo. (Red arrows in pic #1) The bulb is behind the top of it.

You will also need to release the cable from the back of the speedo. There is a little clip on the back that holds it together. (Pic #2) Reach behind your dash with one hand and push the little clip with a finger or two and pull the cable out with the rest of your fingers. If you can remove your girls bra with one hand, you can do this.

Once your speedo is out of the way, the bulb is behind a blue plastic piece that is held on with a piece of foam. (Pics 3-5)

Again, assembly is the reverse. Your speedo cable just pushes back on.

 

[bigcountry78]

Well I was going to attempt this she ago, just to see what was going on with my present bulbs. My courtesy light stopped working for a while due to some corrosion on the bulb, and I was thinking that may be the problem here too. But the aftermarket AC controls kept me from pulling the plastic part off the dash. It has cables that don't seem to disconnect easily. I'll try it again tomorrow.

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