[catdaddy]

anyone know what size bulb goes in there?

 

[SStealth]

From a post I made last September in the Electrical section:

"I just went through the same thing. My climate control lamps were burnt out too. The two lamps connect to a small harness, which disconnects, and the lamps come out with a quarter turn.

I removed the gray plastic retainers on the end of the lamp sockets, and using a small jeweler's flat-bladed screwdriver, found that by gently pushing up the center of the socket (from the back) the lamps just pop out.

Drove down to the local Pep Boys, and found a match to these bulbs - Sylvania 72s. PB sells them in pairs for $1.99. Popped 'em in, reconnected the harness, and thar be lights."

HTH,
Steve

 

[9c1 SS]

That is good to know, thanks for the re-post! I have the same problem and someone on here told me earlier that you couldn't just replace the bulbs, you had to replace the entire harness - that just didn't sound right. Thanks again!

 

[HockeyJohn1]

The bulbs Illuminating the heater controls on my 96 Caprice have burned out after 25 years. I consulted the factory service manual and if I'm reading it right to replace them I will have to remove the whole dashboard. I can't see any other way to access the bulbs behind the three knob panel. Am I seeing this right? I'm not anxious to remove the whole dashboard if I can avoid it especially since replacing the dashboard frequently can involve broken clips and squeaks or rattles afterwards. Besides it's a lot of work I'd rather avoid if possible. Anybody got any ideas? Also I'm little confused about what the number of the replacement bulbs would be I see numbers pc194 or pc161 and some of the responses on the Forum show Numbers 37 or 74. I'd also prefer to use LEDs as a replacement since any of the bulbs that I've replaced on the car where I could use an LED were superior in illumination and avoiding heat problems and the bulb life is greater. If anybody's done this please let me know and the bulb number also. Thanks John

 

[SAH62]

You don't have to remove the upper dash panel. You DO have to remove the lower dash panel. It's the lower dash panel that includes the bezel that covers the climate control unit.

 

[HockeyJohn1]

You don't have to remove the upper dash panel. You DO have to remove the lower dash panel. It's the lower dash panel that includes the bezel that covers the climate control unit.

Thanks for the help. I took another look at the service manual and see what you mean. I will do it when the weather moderates a little bit. But do you know the numbers for the bulbs that the factory used? I can't seem to get a definitive answer even through the FSM or on the blog. I'd like to be able to take it apart replace the bulbs and put it back together all in one day without having to order the bulbs and wait. ps I see your handle- I had a 1970 Cougar Eliminator with a 428CJ and a 1971 XR7 429 CJ back in my Ford days.

 

[Z09B4U]

The #37(OEM?) is the dimmer of the two but lasts way longer than the #74 which runs hotter.

I do not know how to replace these bulbs without removing some dash trim and the CC. Have a look at the CC:

View attachment 197516

Most of these bulbs will last a lot longer if you just turn the dimmer down as low as you can.