Fordmods Logo

Illuminate cluster while out of car? 

 

Page 1 of 1 [ 7 posts ] 

 
 Post subject: Illuminate cluster while out of car?
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:53 pm 
Stock as a Rock
Offline

Age: 34

Posts: 134

Joined: 14th Oct 2010

Gallery: 11 images

Ride: FG G6E/EF Fairmont

Location: Cranbourne East
VIC, Australia

I put some blue LEDs in my cluster today, one side looks great but a couple of them I must have in the wrong way because they aren't working (I also took out the ECON light globe and must have put it in backwards because it's not working either)... I'll turn them around tomorrow but is there a way to illuminate the lights in the cluster whilst it's out of the car? I really don't want to have to take it in and out any more than necessary.
It's a standard EF Fairmont cluster, if that makes a difference. Are there pins that just need a bit of power or something, or am I being too simple?!

Cheers in advance for any advice!

 

_________________

"Build" Thread: the-garage-f53/jesse-s-g6e-and-ef-fairmont-t103265.html

Top
 Profile  
 
 
 Post subject: Re: Illuminate cluster while out of car?
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:01 pm 
Technical Contributor
Offline
User avatar

Age: 35

Posts: 3714

Joined: 27th Sep 2006

Gallery: 20 images

Ride: ED Falcon

Power: 133 rwkw

Location: Leeton
NSW, Australia

resources tab up the top in the navi bar... then tech docs... scroll to ef/el section... look for changing instruments or something of that nature...

Easier still...

Why not walk it to the car plug the two plugs in... Turn the lights on... And twist them in there...

Surely you can lean it forward enough to get a small pair of needle nose pliers in behind and turn them around with it plugged in but not screwed in...

I can on my ED with no worries...

 

_________________

{DESCRIPTION}

Performance: Complete AUII VCT Wiring & Power Train, Pacey Headers, 2.5" Exhaust, Exedy Clutch, DBA Rotors
Visuals: FG XR Wheel, XR Front, 17's, BA 5 Spd Shifter, BA Ghia Window Switches, NL Cluster
Tunes: 8" Pioneer Sub, JBL Speakers, Clarion Double DIN Headunit

Top
 Profile  
 
 
 Post subject: Re: Illuminate cluster while out of car?
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:05 pm 
Stock as a Rock
Offline

Age: 34

Posts: 134

Joined: 14th Oct 2010

Gallery: 11 images

Ride: FG G6E/EF Fairmont

Location: Cranbourne East
VIC, Australia

I did try that today but the pliers I had were a bit too big. Also due to where I'd parked the car it was difficult to see which lights were on anyway.
Also I didn't realise that Tech Doco had wiring info, thanks. I'll give it another crack tomorrow.

 

_________________

"Build" Thread: the-garage-f53/jesse-s-g6e-and-ef-fairmont-t103265.html

Top
 Profile  
 
 
 Post subject: Re: Illuminate cluster while out of car?
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:23 pm 
Technical Contributor
Offline
User avatar

Age: 35

Posts: 3714

Joined: 27th Sep 2006

Gallery: 20 images

Ride: ED Falcon

Power: 133 rwkw

Location: Leeton
NSW, Australia

Yeah that is cool...

Issue you may have powering pins is if you short any together (remember only a couple of mm between them)... Then you may damage something else...

Unless you have some spare plugs you can cut off a loom and use...

With my NL one I pulled the front perspex off and pulled the dials out so I could see all of them and then worked off that...

I found something the pins on the LED itself didn't make contact in the base... Not that they were the wrong way around...

Also... If you pull the dials out you can see the LED and can pull them out of the base and turn them around without needing to remove the bass from the board... Hence why I did it this way... Only 4 screws to remove on the NL cluster... Imagine it is similar on the EL one...

Cheers,
Tim

 

_________________

{DESCRIPTION}

Performance: Complete AUII VCT Wiring & Power Train, Pacey Headers, 2.5" Exhaust, Exedy Clutch, DBA Rotors
Visuals: FG XR Wheel, XR Front, 17's, BA 5 Spd Shifter, BA Ghia Window Switches, NL Cluster
Tunes: 8" Pioneer Sub, JBL Speakers, Clarion Double DIN Headunit

Top
 Profile  
 
 
 Post subject: Re: Illuminate cluster while out of car?
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:29 pm 
Fordmods Junkie
Offline
User avatar

Posts: 11752

Joined: 17th May 2005

Gallery: 11 images

Ride: EL Fairmont, VFR400 racer

Power: 144 rwkw

Location: Melbourne
VIC, Australia

If you have a voltmeter or one of those LED indicator light probes, you can work out which contact is what polarity while it is plugged in with the lights on. I did that just recently to my cluster. Had it plugged in, used my probe to see which one contact was what, marked it on plastic and took the cluster back out to fit the globes. Worked fine and only took me 15 mins. Not sure if it's the same for EF or Falcon models, but in my EL Fairmont, I just plugged the drivers side plug in to get the lights working, that allowed me to move the cluster out further.

 

_________________

phongus = Post whore 2006
EL XR6 motor, EL ECU + J3 chip, WADE 1673 Camshaft, 3" S/S intake, Pacy 4480, 2.5" Hi flow cat, 2.5" Lukey exhaust.
Max Power = 144.6 rwkw (03/05/2008)

Top
 Profile  
 
 
 Post subject: Re: Illuminate cluster while out of car?
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:32 pm 
Technical Contributor
Offline
User avatar

Age: 35

Posts: 3714

Joined: 27th Sep 2006

Gallery: 20 images

Ride: ED Falcon

Power: 133 rwkw

Location: Leeton
NSW, Australia

Same Same Phong... Only variation was the NF & NL clusters which have two left hand plugs instead of one...

That'd work too... As i Said mine didn't quite make contact in the base cos the little wires were crooked a bit so I found out buy removing the dials and fixing them accordingly...

Cheers...

 

_________________

{DESCRIPTION}

Performance: Complete AUII VCT Wiring & Power Train, Pacey Headers, 2.5" Exhaust, Exedy Clutch, DBA Rotors
Visuals: FG XR Wheel, XR Front, 17's, BA 5 Spd Shifter, BA Ghia Window Switches, NL Cluster
Tunes: 8" Pioneer Sub, JBL Speakers, Clarion Double DIN Headunit

Top
 Profile  
 
 
 Post subject: Re: Illuminate cluster while out of car?
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:39 pm 
Stock as a Rock
Offline

Age: 34

Posts: 134

Joined: 14th Oct 2010

Gallery: 11 images

Ride: FG G6E/EF Fairmont

Location: Cranbourne East
VIC, Australia

Ah okay. Sounds like that might be a plan then!
I did try it with only one plug in and only that respective side lights up, which is why I had a little less room to work with.

Either way I'll give it another crack tomorrow and hopefully it'll work a bit better!

Thanks guys.

 

_________________

"Build" Thread: the-garage-f53/jesse-s-g6e-and-ef-fairmont-t103265.html

Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:
Sort by  
 Page 1 of 1  [ 7 posts ] 

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 47 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

 

 

It is currently Wed Dec 25, 2024 4:23 pm All times are UTC + 11 hours

 

 

(c)2014 Total Web Solutions Australia - Australian Web Hosting and Domain Names