Problem Seeing Guages
#17
Originally Posted by Newton007
I will see what I can do with my digital camera.
But I am not sure how to upload a picture to this site as I am not a computer person.
But may be able to figure it out if I start punching a lot of buttons on this here comp-u-tu-ter.
But I am not sure how to upload a picture to this site as I am not a computer person.
But may be able to figure it out if I start punching a lot of buttons on this here comp-u-tu-ter.
#18
Originally Posted by Newton007
I will see what I can do with my digital camera.
But I am not sure how to upload a picture to this site as I am not a computer person.
But may be able to figure it out if I start punching a lot of buttons on this here comp-u-tu-ter.
But I am not sure how to upload a picture to this site as I am not a computer person.
But may be able to figure it out if I start punching a lot of buttons on this here comp-u-tu-ter.
#20
#21
I will try to get some pictures, but there is really not much to see as now the red indicators are white is really the only difference. Yes now the indicators are sort of pink at night now but white in the day when you really need to see it.
One important note is to use water based paint, hobby type only as anything else may melt the indicators. I would NOT use automotive touch up paint in the little bottle.
The hardest part is taking off the clear plastic face plate. There are several plastic tabs that must be taken loose. It is kind of tricky, but it can be done. Plus I did not disconnect the dash board wiring, just lifted it out a ways.
I found the white paint in the crafts dept. at Wal Mart. I used a very small brush. Total cost about $3.50 When painting use a lot of paint on your brush and just dab it on the indicators only. Be careful not to make a mess of things. You may want two coats of paint, but one good one seemed to work ok. The whole thing took about an hour to do. It helps also to have the ignition on so the indicators are more toward the center of the gauge.
Now I see the gauges just fine in the day and night too.
One important note is to use water based paint, hobby type only as anything else may melt the indicators. I would NOT use automotive touch up paint in the little bottle.
The hardest part is taking off the clear plastic face plate. There are several plastic tabs that must be taken loose. It is kind of tricky, but it can be done. Plus I did not disconnect the dash board wiring, just lifted it out a ways.
I found the white paint in the crafts dept. at Wal Mart. I used a very small brush. Total cost about $3.50 When painting use a lot of paint on your brush and just dab it on the indicators only. Be careful not to make a mess of things. You may want two coats of paint, but one good one seemed to work ok. The whole thing took about an hour to do. It helps also to have the ignition on so the indicators are more toward the center of the gauge.
Now I see the gauges just fine in the day and night too.
#23
Thanks Berry 1234 for helping me out on this.
I hope this helps if you should do this to your Expedition. It only took about an hour or so and was well worth the time. I will try to answer any questions about doing this.
I hope the Ford person monitoring this site takes note of this modification as before I did this I could not see a %$#&*(^) thing during the day.
I know you are not to use words like %*^%@#@ or even *^%##@ on this site but but this gauge indicator readability problem on my new $40,0000 SUV made me say it.
I hope this helps if you should do this to your Expedition. It only took about an hour or so and was well worth the time. I will try to answer any questions about doing this.
I hope the Ford person monitoring this site takes note of this modification as before I did this I could not see a %$#&*(^) thing during the day.
I know you are not to use words like %*^%@#@ or even *^%##@ on this site but but this gauge indicator readability problem on my new $40,0000 SUV made me say it.
#30
Rich 93 CW,
Try one coat of paint first as this usually works. More than that may cause night vision of the indicators to be not as bright.
Also now that I think about it I did not stir up the paint first so this may have helped with the translucent part.
Actually one good coat seemed to work ok as the point is to just have a white surface on the indicators, not a heavy duty paint job. Put a lot of paint on a very small brush and just dab it on. It looks like a lot of paint at first, but it is mostly water and when dry flattens out ok.
I would try one coat first, see how it looks in the day and at night. You can always put more on, but no way to to remove it if too much.
Those little plastic tabs on the face plate was the hardest part of the whole job. They are kind of tricky to take loose. Also a little socket wrench with extention helps too with the screws.
It is really not as hard as it sounds to do, it just takes some time as I was working through the steering wheel.
I think you can unplug and remove the panel, but did not do it as I am not sure if this does something to the electronics or not. I would not think so, but who knows. May be someone here knows if this is ok to do.
Let us know how it goes.
Try one coat of paint first as this usually works. More than that may cause night vision of the indicators to be not as bright.
Also now that I think about it I did not stir up the paint first so this may have helped with the translucent part.
Actually one good coat seemed to work ok as the point is to just have a white surface on the indicators, not a heavy duty paint job. Put a lot of paint on a very small brush and just dab it on. It looks like a lot of paint at first, but it is mostly water and when dry flattens out ok.
I would try one coat first, see how it looks in the day and at night. You can always put more on, but no way to to remove it if too much.
Those little plastic tabs on the face plate was the hardest part of the whole job. They are kind of tricky to take loose. Also a little socket wrench with extention helps too with the screws.
It is really not as hard as it sounds to do, it just takes some time as I was working through the steering wheel.
I think you can unplug and remove the panel, but did not do it as I am not sure if this does something to the electronics or not. I would not think so, but who knows. May be someone here knows if this is ok to do.
Let us know how it goes.
Last edited by Newton007; 11-17-2007 at 08:47 PM.