I bought my new truck last night, and have already found an issue. its an 06 xlt 5.4 3v
after leaving the dealer, i stopped at the fossil station, and filled it up. when i left i noticed the the light that illuminates the shift indicator was very dim. i thought it was from using the dome, and i had it down to low, i cycled it and the light came on bright. this morning on my way to work it did it again, but i narrowed it down a bit. when the seat belt chime sounds and flashes the shift bulb goes out. if i play with the dome light dial i can get it back.

on my 98 there were indiviual bulbs for the illumination, are these new clusters similar? or is there a more difficult illumination circuit?

 

They are still individual bulbs. It's not a hard job to do. There's a write up on here you can search for.

Put led bulbs in and you'll never have to worry again.

 

thanks that a great idea. any clue how many bulbs there are on the cluster?

 

I believe it's 8. Might as well do the HVAC bulbs too. Here's what I ordered, came with 20 bulbs.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/131070488984?nav=SEARCH
Only issue is it ships from China and takes like 3 weeks. But it's a good deal.

Where ever you decide to get them, they're #74 bulbs with the t5 base.

 

ordered, thanks for the info. since i bought a new bodystyle im out of the loop on all the subtle but usefull mods. looking into leveling kit now. just so many fun little projects to do!!!

 

While you're at it, stick some LED's in the third brake light like I did. They also tend to leak, so remove the housing, removing the gasket and apply a bead of clear silicone, let it set and cure before reinstalling and you'll never need to mess with it.

 

Or you can just go a little led crazy as I did. They can go in lots of different places. Just giving you some cheap ideas.

 

Hey.

Just to clarify....

The center stack (radio, HVAC, etc), the headlight switch, 4x4 switch and window / door controls, steering wheel controls etc, are already LEDs and none of them are socketed #74 bulbs - they are very small surface mount (SMT) LEDs, soldered in place.

This was recently covered in this thread:

https://www.f150online.com/forums/il...ight-part.html

Specifically this link found within the above: https://www.f150online.com/forums/20...rior-leds.html

Hence - if you wanted to tackle more than just the cluster (which are socketed OEM incandescents, that can be replaced with #74 LEDs), to perform a color change (the only reason that you'd touch them), be prepared to do some fine soldering work.

Cheers

MGD

 

Hey, thanks!

Good to know. So the only #74's are the 8 in the cluster then? I guess I won't bother with HVAC.

The odomiter is also #74, right?

 

Yep.

There are more if you include the various indicators/warning lamps, depending on the specific.

MGD

 

They all #74 T5's? I have 20, so I'll replace every incandescent with LED's that I can.

 

yeah the hvac didnt bother me, just liked the idea since theres a problem in the cluster. i should have checked a source in the us first. for 41 cents more theyd ship from washington. ohh well i bought some rice for some family. not in a hurry. but heres the link http://www.ebay.com/itm/20xT5-5050-1SMD-Cool-White-58-70-73-74-Dashboard-Gauge-LED-Wedge-Lamp-Bulb-Light-/261527643241?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3ce4432469&vxp=mtr

 

Good thing you dint buy those - only one forward facing LED. Produces horrible hotspots and uneven illumination.

Rice is good stuff .

MGD

 

I'm sorry man. I tried to warn yu about China haha. I did the same exact thing though! They told me it would be only 2 weeks though. So hopefully it's the same for you!

 

not a problem at all, with the cost being so cheap i never would have thought a us seller could compete. ive bought enough electronics crap on ebay, and its always been if you want it for half price or less its gotta come from china. looks like here somone did the leg work already