Forum | DAYYYYY'um!!!

Sometime back the backlight for the odometer/compus/tripometer burned out. It's annoying on night trips 'cause ya' can't see how far you've driven so ya' don't know how far ya' have to go… Amazing how many times one glances at that bit of information. Anyway…. that was a month or so ago it burned out. I figured I'd change it when I had the time and, with intermittent rain expected all day long, today was the day.

Heck no – you can not get to this puppy from the back side of the dash. Sooo first thing to come off was my electronic brake controller… then the lower dash panel. I figured all along I'd have to pull those two items. Snake hand up behind instrument panel…. can't feel squat. Get a flash light start peekin' through wires n' braces…. Shessshhhh no light thingee back there. Seems the upper dash has to come off too! This jewel goes almost to the windshield on a 2008 F-150. I pull the only two screws I can see – panel doesn't budge. Back under the dash with'a flashinglight… Ahhhh…. clips…. get something to pry on panel without busting it…. eventually I get all 4 clips holding the upper dash panel lose and finally get the panel extracted from the dash. Am I done? Hellllllll no. Now gotta pull the instrument cluster…. Remove 4 more screws and finally extract instrument cluster from the dash. Flip it over, as best as I can with 3 wiring harnesses holding it in place, and look on the back… I see…. nothing. Ka'rap! There's a single funky looking cable at the bottom of the instrument cluster… what's that???? I'm starting to think… fiber optics…. remote bulb…. Grrrrr…. I still don't know what that thing is but it ain't a fiber optics cable for the dash light @ the odometer. Peering between the back of the instrument cluster and a sheet of thin insulating plastic bolted to the back of it I see…. A light holder socket! Eurekka… 3 more screws to remove /loosen the insulating plastic and I have that burnt out puppy in my hand….. Sho' is an itty bitty li'l bulb I can tell you that fer sure! Off to the Auto Parts to see if they have anything like this in the house!