I have a 08' F-250 XLT with the factory keyless entry pad on the outside of the driver's door. My keyless entry (fob & door pad) works perfectly, but one of the lights (bulb) in the door pad doesn't work (the 9/0 button). Is it possible to replace the individual light bulbs in the door pad....or do you have to buy a whole new door pad? It doesn't bother me that much but I thought if it was an easy fix there was no reason not to do it.

I did a some searches but didn't find anything that addressed this. Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions!

Clint

 

Sorry, the whole pad will need to be replaced.

 

Good ol' Ford for ya!

I have never seen a car company with so few separate parts that require you to buy whole assemblies for small, common-to-fail parts like bulbs.

 

I doubt they are bulbs. They are very likely pin head sized surface mount LED's soldered onto a circuit board. Surface mount resoldering is not something the typical auto mechanic is going to want to try. Surface mount resoldering is not something the typical electronics repairman, or electrical engineer, is going to want to mess with.

 

True. In that application, yes. However, when one has to purchase a new ESOF switch because the bulb burns out is annoying. LEDs are supposed to last a really long time, I think I heard that LED home light bulbs last something like 40+ years, and yet LED lighted car electronics seem to be a crap shoot. Some last a long time while others crap out soon. There should be a warranty of some type on these items. If there is no bulb inside that can be replaced with simple disassembly, and instead has soldered LEDs that cannot be easily replaced, there should be a guarantee. On something like an '08, I would expect everything to work, including all lighting and would be upset if I had to purchase a new keypad for that.

In high school, one of my friend's parents had a 1988 Lincoln Town Car Executive Series. It was top of the line with every option including the keypad on the door. The car was 10 years old at that time and the keypad used bulbs, and it all still worked. That car by the way had the MOST comfortable leather seats I have ever experienced. I have seen sofas that were less comfortable, and because the leater was not pulled tight like modern seats, the leather was allowed to breathe and not crack, while remaining soft to where one sunk into them like an armchair. <Sorry a bit off topic.

Back to LEDs. The Chevy 2500HD I had years back had LED lighted A/C controls and it is common for these GM electrical items to fail. The truck had 70K miles on it and anything on the interior lit with LEDs was not working or half-working, whereas the gauge cluster that used bulbs worked perfectly. I am not against the use of LEDs, as they should ideally last longer, it just seems like in many cases, they don't. I have seen cars with 300K+ miles on them with bulb-lit interiors and it all still works.

 

I agree. It would be fairly trivial, for example, to engineer the keypad with a removable, flexible circuit board with just the LED's on it. Same with the ESOF switch, the Instrument Cluster, etc. In cases were it wouldn't be cost effective then a better warranty on those items.

Since they very rarely burn out, an additional warranty probably wouldn't cost Ford anywhere near what they'd get back in customer satisfaction.

 

Oh, to the OP, it just occurred to me you may try a salvage yard. It looks fairly easy, just take off the door panel, pull some clips and unplug the electrical connector.

 

Aren't the new keypads just stick-on with no drilling? I thought they worked the same as the remote, just attached to the truck.

 

No. In most cases, the keyless entry keypad is wired directly to the VSM. I'm not sure of the situations, but there were trucks without the wired keypad and you could put a wireless one on. I think earlier model trucks were more likely to be like this.

 

Looks like $70-$85 for a new keypad depending on dealer.

 

Thanks for all the great info! I have the wired version on my 08' F-250. I had the stick on kind on my 99' F-350. I guess I'll just wait for another led to burn out and then buy another one from fordmoco.