Instrument cluster drive bulb

Hi, I need to replace the “drive” bulb. I watched a couple of videos and it looks fairly simple. One question I have is does battery need to be disconnected when doing this and also how exactly does the bulb come out and go in. If anyone can provide input I would appreciate it. Also, is there anything I should be cautious of while doing this as I don’t want to mess anything up. It’s 2003 AC stepside. Thanks in advance.

 

Won’t hurt to disconnect battery. I don’t remember disconnection mine when doing the job, but if you want to play it safe then disconnect.

Nice little project. Might as well do the P Bulb, as well. They usually go out right after the D.

 

Anytime you work on something electrical it's a good practice to disconnect the battery as a safety/damage reduction measure. I personally didn't when I did my cluster as I was installing LED. You'll see why below.

Are you replacing with LED, or OEM replacement?

Oem lights (halogen) are non-polarity sensitive which means they work either way they are installed.

Leds are polarity sensitive which means they only work one way. Positive led side to positive power side. Only way to tell is to install, and test. If it doesn't work, remove the led, and rotate it 180 degrees. Reinstall.

The bulbs "twist" into their socket on the instrument cluster. Righty tightly, lefty loosey.

I'll dig up pictures when I have more time.

 

Thanks for the input. I’m going with OEM bulbs and will do the “P” (good advice ) while I have it apart.

 

The blue circles are your 194/T10 (turn sockets bulb base) backlights. I replaced all with Sylvania cool white LEDs from wally wurld.

Pink highlights are 74/T5 that are all your indicator lights like check engine light, seat belt, battery, etc. I replaced most of these EXCEPT the Check engine light, low fuel light, battery light, and SRS air bag light. They have to be incandescent/halogen due to the circuitry of those systems. (Bulbs act as a resistor)

Green highlights are your PRNDL2 O/D lights. These turn in/out with a screw driver. All the others can be removed by hand with a right hand turn. I recommend a small flathead screw driver, and potentially a small set of needle nose pliers if you don't have finger nails like me.

Here is the final outcome of all my work.


This picture is after I pulled the instrument cluster out four or five times to get everything "right" as I had made mistakes in earlier attempts. I'll be happy to elaborate more on this later on if you're curious.

The following pictures are ones I stole from a long time ago, and used for my own nefarious investigations before diving into this job. I have circled the lights you will be replacing in the smaller picture.

 

Thanks Tundra2, I appreciate all your help. Will contact you if I run into problems.

 

Where can I find bulbs for the PRNDL2 lights? I'm looking at doing an LED swap and these are the ones I am having trouble finding and the ones I need most.

 

Hey man. Welcome. I think you were the one messaging me today. Those lights are 4mm. According to another post, this may be the part # 9001111032 if you want to stick with OEM otherwise you could order LED's. A lot of us ordered from https://www.superbrightleds.com/

 

@steejans this appears to be what people used if they went LED. You just have to select 4mm and pick the color you want.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...led-bulb-high-power-instrument-panel-led/221/

 

@BubbaW and @FirstGenVol THank you guys so much!!!

 

My drive light went out too. I gave the top of the dash a good ol’ Fonzie magic touch and it came back on. That was 4-5 months ago and still going strong.

 

AAAAAAAAYYYYYY

 

Mine has been out for about 5 years at this point lol

 

Try it… lol.

 

Are those incandescent or LED part numbers? Thanks. Great info

 

Those are LED numbers when I bought from Superbright

LED Lights, Bulbs & LED Lighting Accessories | superbrightleds.com

 

Thanks! But next time can you reply a little quicker?

 

Slow in age

 

Based on the writeup by @Tundra2 above, I need an incandescent bulb for the check engine, low fuel, battery, and SRS indicators. I'm trying to find a local, non-dealer source for them. When I use the Advance Auto or Auto Zone websites and enter my brother's 2002 Tundra Ltd AC as the vehicle, they refuse to show me anything except the 194 bulbs. Oh wait, the 74 bulbs are available if I delete the truck and just search on "sylvania longlife 74". That's weird.

 

EDIT: 2002 AC Ltd 4x4 4.7 V8
So, I've just completed this tedious task and, after 4 installs and removals, I've got all the lights working except the Low Fuel and the Low Wiper Fluid lights. As recommended, I used an incandescent for the Fuel light, but an LED for the Wiper light. I have checked the seating on the incandescent and rotated the LED multiple times to no avail. Any insight or suggestions? Thanks!

 

@Tundra2 Your diagram and photos were super helpful. Have you got a minute to comment on my post above?

 

This discussion has been so helpful! We recently purchased a 2003 Tundra. We swapped the green LEDs the previous owner put in the instrument cluster and replaced or rotated a few of the other lights that needed attention. The CRUISE light and OD Off light are staying on whenever the truck is on. Any thoughts? I see some suggestions for the wires touching - doesn't appear to be an issue and the OD wire is already taped. Fuses look good. I'm at a loss. Hoping it is an obvious fix on our end, but am thinking we may need to take it to a mechanic.

 

Just for shits and giggles, try swapping a standard bulb into those slots, see if it persists? I know there are two bulbs (fuel and ??? - some are listed above) that you cannot use LEDs for without having problems.

 

Yeah - I tried that too... I'm going to take it apart one more time and then take it in. Thanks for replying!

 

The only other thing that comes to mind, I've seen some folks mention that the bulb holders themselves have a penchant for digging into the contact sheet, and causing haywire behavior. But ...

Better for someone on here with the earlier model to chime in. 05-06 trucks have on-board LEDs.

 

Took it in today. Mechanic thinks it’s the circuit board. They replaced every lightbulb with standard bulbs. Unfortunately, now the OD off light doesn’t come on at all and the A/T Temp light is stuck on like the CRUISE.

Has anyone replaced just the circuit board? I’ve seen a few threads that discuss it, but I’m not finding any results.

https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem...4=SR5;5=ATM;6=4HC;7=ACB;9=SD;0=UCK40L-ARSSKA)

 

There’s a place called circuit board medics in Greenville, SC that repairs them.

 

The contact traces on the circuit sheet aren't super robust. As you can see mine were showing wear (from past bulb replacements?). I cleaned all of them with alcohol and a Qtip, and put the smallest amount of dielectric grease on them before re-installing (LED conversion). Those tiny contact pads on the bulb housing/holder can get bent in as well. Using a tiny screwdriver I bent a few back up to provide more tension on that contact point... Super gently though.
That might explain your lights that don't come on at all, but the ones that stay on are def a different problem.

 

I found an instrument cluster on eBay that happened to be 10 minutes from me. I went to take a look at it in person before buying. And I had quite a few questions before pulling the trigger. I’ve seen conflicting information regarding how the mileage is updated and needing to program the vin etc. I lucked out! The mileage is within 60 miles of what I had.

The front plastic was broken, but mine was in good shape so I swapped them. Everything is now working as it should!