Dashboard Lights

[Golfaholic]

I too, have joined the ranks of Lexus owners (although with a '95 ES 300 I feel a bit like a red-headed step-child compared to some of you lucky dogs) and was amazed at the depth of knowledge in these discussion groups. My problem is quite minor but it irritates me none the less. The right-most dashboard lamp (behind the gas gauge) is burned out and I'm wondering how much work and how I would go about dismantling the dash to fix it. Or would it be in my best interest to ignore it and get on with life? Thanks for any information you can give. Did I mention that I'm too cheap to take it in to my nearest Lexus dealer and trade my eldest son for the cost of repairing it there?

[SW03ES]

Welcome to the site Golf! And dont worry around here, a Lexus is a Lexus ;)

I don't blame you for not wanting to pay Lexus to do it, and I'm sure someone here has a DIY suggestion, unfortunately I haven't come to this issue with a Lex before. I was under the impression the optitron gauges were lit by one giant cathode tube...

Probably wrong again tho...

Welcome!

[SKperformance]

it is actually real easy to change the bulbs the needles are a while other situation

if you havea second car to go to the dealer in to pick up the bulbs it might be very handy

that is what i did

just remove the 2 scrfews for the bezel around the cluster

then i think another 4 hold in the cluster to the dash

open off the back cover ( i think it has one)

sorry i did mine 4 years ago

and a simple flat head screw should remove the bulbs and its base socket with a twist

takes about 35 minutes to do all

bulbs about 3 bucks each

[zeta]

the bulbs are one thing (as basically DYI'd by sk)

but the needles (if not burnt out yet) may go out sometime in the future. and it is not the best thing to happen to your car. especially when you're missing 3 needles like me :)

at least i still know how much gas i have... after that one's gone... i'm screwed...

[Golfaholic]

Thanks for the quick response, folks. I'm going to give it a shot and let you know how I made out. But don't hold your breath as we just coming out of a bit of an ice storm and with 10 cm of snow on the way (that'd be 4" of the white stuff to my friends below the 45th Parallel) and no garage, I'll be waiting for some nicer weather. Thanks again!

[SW03ES]

Don't blame ya one bit!

[zeta]

oh yeah... the weather these days isn't the best. the scary part was hail in TEXAS in early april. pretty weird. but what're ya gonna do when the weather goes against ya. luckily the car was garaged. but if i had gotten my own car, it'd have dents all over it by now.

[lex]

My light behind the gas is out too. The light in the needle of the the speedometer is completely out and sections of the other needles are out too. I just bought a used but suppposedly all lights working cluster from ebay. The dealer says they can install it for $180. Anyone know where I can get it installed for cheaper?

Sk: How do you access the 2 bezel screws? Do I need to remove the dash trim to get to these screws? How do you remove the trim? Thanks.

[SKperformance]

the bezel screws are behind the 2 little notches at the top/ underside

of the bezl pop off the covers and there you will see 2 screws

then it pull off

don't forget you have to disconnect the bezel buttons harnesss for the reset and trip when you are pulling it out

it is very easy to change a dash cluster a philips ( also called a star) scew driver and a flat head are all the tools needed and maybe 20 minutes

[lex]

Thanks Sk, also do you know if the mileage is built into the cluster or is the mileage stored elsewhere? Just want to know if the new cluster will automatically know my current mileage or not. Thanks.

[zeta]

the mileage is built into the cluster itself.

or at least that's what i remember from old posts.

[SKperformance]

^^^^^^^^yah what he said :D