I have an 81 f150 and the turn signal indicators don’t illuminate. I’ve replaced the bulbs and nothing. Any ideas? I do hear the flasher and the lights outside work.
Are the bulb contacts touching the bulb socket contacts? I know the 73-79 trucks have an issue where the ground for the turn signal housing at the grille goes bad and you have to replace the turn signal bulb socket. It could also be that... Those are my two best guesses.
when I rebuilt my motor on my 86, I bought a cluster out of a junkyard, I bought 1 that had the tach. I rolled the speedo back to 0 so my mileage will be correct on the motor
Great video. I have an 85. Replaced all the bulbs with dimmable leds. The brake indicator light. Just flickers when ignition is cycled and no longer comes on with park brake engaged. Does that bulb need to be incandescent. To work properly?
I typically leave that bulb as incandescent, because it shares a circuit with another circuit loop. If it flickers during ignition, then you know the bulb works... it may be purely coincidental, but it could be worth taking a look at the switch on the parking brake mechanism.
Culprit is more than likely the headlight switch being turned down all of the way (headlight switch knob turns to dim illumination), or the switch is bad and simply needs replaced. It's probably a $20 part and 15 minutes of your time. For how easily they wear out, it's not a bad idea to replace anyhow.
The right 1/3 of my dash doesn't light up, I'm soon to find out of it's the bulbs or the PCB. Did you leave the blue filters on the bulbs? My dash is really dim at night - I'm wondering if white LEDs will be enough of an improvement or if I'll need blue LED + no filter. Hopefully the first, I try to keep everything as original as I can.
Nice work. I pulled my cluster and one of the round pieces that connects the ribbon to the voltage regulator is gone. Any thoughts on how to repair? No idea what that part would be called. Also, what orange paint do you use on the needles?
Chris! Any fluorescent orange should do! Sorry to hear about your printed circuit... Unless you're REALLY handy with a soldering iron (solder 9v battery terminal to board, as that's what those connectors are) it typically needs replacing. If that's something you don't want to meddle with, I have good circuits on hand and would be more than willing!
The absolute easiest way to test a gauge is to ground the sending unit wire with the key on. Otherwise, a simple AA/AAA battery supplies a safe voltage to test a gauge. A potentiometer is a complex instrument for this technology! lol
@@ayyejustin there's no good way to do that, unfortunately. The best way for you to do it would be to plug it back into your truck (harness only) and test bulbs with the bezel still out of the way. Then you can key off, remove bulb (with harness still attached), make corrections/contact as needed, and reinstall.
@@bjsclassicclusters thank you for being so informative, I just bought my 1985 F150 and have never worked on cars my entire life, this will be my first project so I’m excited for it but it is going to be a big learning curve for me.
I do know the wiring, the tach should be plug and play. I use a bench top power supply to test the gauges, so I know they are good before put into use.
I have a 1981 bronco with factory tach looks like the wiring is correct do you have a video that shows bench testing a tachometer? Or know where I can send mine out for rebuilding?
Hey TJ, unfortunately bench testing a tachometer requires a signal generator or oscillator of some sort. The best way to test a tach before installation is to hook it up directly to the battery/ground/distributor under the hood using a few jumpers with alligator clips.
Do we have front access/pull out of the bulbs from the top illumination line-up with appropriate grip tool. And reinsert from the front also ?! Or do we actually have to spend the time and remove the next layer' of screws, and carefully pull out the inner panel to access the backside lineup of black twist'n pulls on the panel, to then remove/replace the bulb(s) ? Thanks . '82 F100 V6-3.8, 3onT
You could attempt to remove/insert from the front... but I'm afraid you'd break a bulb and end up having to remove the entire cluster anyhow. Also, some LEDs are polar specific, and you will need to see the cluster wiring to determine polarity anyhow.
After my query here, I actually stumbled across existence of bulb gripper pliers within my copy of the LMC complementary Ford parts+ catalogue. Chkd a local (bricks 'n mortar)supplier and surprisingly fd they had a Titan' model, in-stock for $10cdn vs $11us plus S&H from LMC wooow ! And successfully extracted/replaced the 5 bulbs with #194 sylvania LEDs with no breakage, just the LED polarity issue (4 out of 5 in error), so a bit of practice'. LoL Luckily the LEDs had a red microdot on one side of their input wedge' .
Love the work man. Your attention to detail is what makes your work stand out above the rest!!!
I have an 81 f150 and the turn signal indicators don’t illuminate. I’ve replaced the bulbs and nothing. Any ideas? I do hear the flasher and the lights outside work.
Are the bulb contacts touching the bulb socket contacts?
I know the 73-79 trucks have an issue where the ground for the turn signal housing at the grille goes bad and you have to replace the turn signal bulb socket. It could also be that...
Those are my two best guesses.
I have a 1982 F150, inline 6...Thanks for the video! I'm going to follow your steps. Can the dulled out paint on the gauges be repainted?
Yes! I repaint the needles every time!
If you run into any troubles, just get ahold of me!
@@bjsclassicclusters Thax! I will. Just getting things together.
when I rebuilt my motor on my 86, I bought a cluster out of a junkyard, I bought 1 that had the tach. I rolled the speedo back to 0 so my mileage will be correct on the motor
Way to go! Not the easiest feat! But I'm glad you figured it out! Nice work!
makes it a lot easier to remember to change the oil
Great video. I have an 85. Replaced all the bulbs with dimmable leds. The brake indicator light. Just flickers when ignition is cycled and no longer comes on with park brake engaged. Does that bulb need to be incandescent. To work properly?
I typically leave that bulb as incandescent, because it shares a circuit with another circuit loop.
If it flickers during ignition, then you know the bulb works... it may be purely coincidental, but it could be worth taking a look at the switch on the parking brake mechanism.
what leds are these look pretty good
They are 5SMD 194 LED bulbs!
Having issues with 86 f150 dash lights not working change a few bulbs still nothing headlights work not sure if it could be headlight switch
Culprit is more than likely the headlight switch being turned down all of the way (headlight switch knob turns to dim illumination), or the switch is bad and simply needs replaced. It's probably a $20 part and 15 minutes of your time. For how easily they wear out, it's not a bad idea to replace anyhow.
The right 1/3 of my dash doesn't light up, I'm soon to find out of it's the bulbs or the PCB. Did you leave the blue filters on the bulbs? My dash is really dim at night - I'm wondering if white LEDs will be enough of an improvement or if I'll need blue LED + no filter. Hopefully the first, I try to keep everything as original as I can.
Nice work. I pulled my cluster and one of the round pieces that connects the ribbon to the voltage regulator is gone. Any thoughts on how to repair? No idea what that part would be called. Also, what orange paint do you use on the needles?
Chris! Any fluorescent orange should do! Sorry to hear about your printed circuit... Unless you're REALLY handy with a soldering iron (solder 9v battery terminal to board, as that's what those connectors are) it typically needs replacing.
If that's something you don't want to meddle with, I have good circuits on hand and would be more than willing!
What paint do you use for the needles?
Dylan, I typically use some sort of fluorescent orange or red... But I have heard of people using finger nail polish and also having success.
How do you test the led lights one you installed them in the cluster
Easiest way is to honestly plug them into the truck and pull the light switch!
You should add the disassembly/reassembly in fast play 😕
Want to clean the inside glass on the cluster can I remocmve and clean?
You most definitely can!
Can you test the gauges by gator clipping your leads straight to the back of the cluster with a potentiometer?
The absolute easiest way to test a gauge is to ground the sending unit wire with the key on.
Otherwise, a simple AA/AAA battery supplies a safe voltage to test a gauge.
A potentiometer is a complex instrument for this technology! lol
@@bjsclassicclusters Awesome, thank you! One more question, how did you test the LED’s after installing them back into the cluster?
@@ayyejustin there's no good way to do that, unfortunately.
The best way for you to do it would be to plug it back into your truck (harness only) and test bulbs with the bezel still out of the way. Then you can key off, remove bulb (with harness still attached), make corrections/contact as needed, and reinstall.
@@bjsclassicclusters thank you for being so informative, I just bought my 1985 F150 and have never worked on cars my entire life, this will be my first project so I’m excited for it but it is going to be a big learning curve for me.
@@ayyejustin you've got this! If you run into any hiccups, don't hesitate to reach out to me via my FB page. That's a quicker way to get ahold of me.
I have a 1885 f800 dash and the fuel, oil pressure gauge, and temp are not working any ideas?
I would say check your fuses, your grounds, and replace your tiny voltage regulator on the back. In that order.
Thank you.
Doesn’t mess up the odometer?
What kind of bulbs are you using?
194 LEDS!
Hi, do you rebuild clusters? how do I contact you?
Why yes I do!
You can contact me on Facebook by visiting my page, BJ's Classic Clusters, or email me at BJ'sClassicClusters@gmail.com
I have problems with the lights, I changed the bulbs and the dashboard cannot be illuminated strongly, how could I solve this problem?
it sounds like you could possibly need a new headlight switch, as the dimming ability gets worse as the part ages.
Do you know the wiring from the distributor to the tach for a 1980-1986 ford bronco?
How did you bench test the gauges?
I do know the wiring, the tach should be plug and play. I use a bench top power supply to test the gauges, so I know they are good before put into use.
I have a 1981 bronco with factory tach looks like the wiring is correct do you have a video that shows bench testing a tachometer? Or know where I can send mine out for rebuilding?
Hey TJ, unfortunately bench testing a tachometer requires a signal generator or oscillator of some sort.
The best way to test a tach before installation is to hook it up directly to the battery/ground/distributor under the hood using a few jumpers with alligator clips.
Please do not hesitate to reach out on my FB business account for more/further info!
Do we have front access/pull out of the bulbs from the top illumination line-up with appropriate grip tool. And reinsert from the front also ?!
Or do we actually have to spend the time and remove the next layer' of screws, and carefully pull out the inner panel to access the backside lineup of black twist'n pulls on the panel, to then remove/replace the bulb(s) ?
Thanks .
'82 F100 V6-3.8, 3onT
You could attempt to remove/insert from the front... but I'm afraid you'd break a bulb and end up having to remove the entire cluster anyhow.
Also, some LEDs are polar specific, and you will need to see the cluster wiring to determine polarity anyhow.
After my query here, I actually stumbled across existence of bulb gripper pliers within my copy of the LMC complementary Ford parts+ catalogue. Chkd a local (bricks 'n mortar)supplier and surprisingly fd they had a Titan' model, in-stock for $10cdn vs $11us plus S&H from LMC wooow !
And successfully extracted/replaced the 5 bulbs with #194 sylvania LEDs with no breakage, just the LED polarity issue (4 out of 5 in error), so a bit of practice'. LoL
Luckily the LEDs had a red microdot on one side of their input wedge' .
@@CentralCanada I'd say you made out fantastically then! Great work!
I know the LEDs make such a difference! I know you will enjoy them!
Is there a specific color LED that you used? Cool blue, green white?👍🏼
6500k White/ 194WLED/Philips@@porfiriomendozaiii9837
How can I contact you?
You can find me on FB on my business page at BJ'sClassicClusters, or shoot me an email at BJsClassicClusters@gmail.com
Love the video. Where did you get the bulbs and what product number are they?
They are simply 194 LED bulbs, they can be found almost anywhere!
@@bjsclassicclusters found it thank you for responding 👍