Hi All,
Feel good - just replaced all of those non-functional instrument lights under
the dash on my 69 2000 roadster. There were five of those little buggers that
were either burnt or the small plastic pad that the light contact sat on was
so brittle that it had broken and the contact had retracted below the spring
until it no longer made contact with the light bulb. In fact, the whole
assembly falls off the wire and onto the floor. At first I had no idea what
the heck was falling out of the light socket once the bulb was removed. This
last scenario was totally unexpected and was a real pain. I had no desire to
cut wires and do any soldering under the dash! Hell, I can just barely get
myself down there to get the lights out from the gauges. There is zero room
to do much of anything. I had visions of having to pull the loom to fix the
problem or go with no lights.
Found a fairly simple solution to the problem if others have or are
experiencing the same kind of problem. Schucks (and I assume others) sells a
'single contact pigtail' (part 85800) that has enough parts in it to fix 2
lights and it only costs $2.49. I simply took the 2 small fiber disks out of
this package and, using a grinder, ground these disks down to the size that
would allow them to slide inside the light socket but large enough such that
they still retained the spring. I then made one slit to the center hole
(using wire dikes) to allow me to slide this piece in as a replacement to the
original part without having to cut any wire. It worked slick, it was cheap
and it worked 3 for 3.
Thought you all might like to hear. I'm sure others on the list will have
alternatives that are equally as successful.
Oh, for those who responded to my 'Tweedle' email several weeks ago. Thanks -
the tweedle is history and the solution was so simple. Also chose to go with
the 4 bladed fan option to reduce noise. I had asked about how to reduce fan
noise and got several good solutions. I have the hard mounted 7 blade fan now
and it is a screamer. The list provided me with a part number for the four
bladed fan and the local Nissan dealer even had one in stock! I have yet to
put it on but it is up there on the list. I figure I've got all winter.
Take Care,
Jon R.
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