I did a search (admittedly... a quick one) and didn't find anything about this...

Is there supposed to be lighting behind the 4x4 **** on the dash? Similar to the lighting on the heater controls? In my '04 I cannot see the 4x4 **** at night with the headlights on. I was wondering if this is normal or if I have a bulb burnt out or something?

Thanks in advance!
Jason

 

I don't think there is any lighting behind the **** itself, just behind the 2wd, 4x4 high and low. That's the way it is on my truck.

 

That's good to know... I don't have any illumination in that area.

Thanks!

 

My '06 SD-250 4x4 switch is backlighted; don't know about your '04.
This is one heck of a site, isn't it? Everything from engine engineering to
dash light info.

bob

 

Yeah it is! I lurked on this site for a long time and finally got my SD and started posting.

So, I guess my next step is to take apart the dash as described in some other threads and see if I can find a blown bulb. Unless anyone has had luck removing the little 4x4 **** panel without pulling the dash apart???

 

Once you get the dash panel out you will see how to get the 4x4 switch plate out. I would not try removing it without taking the dash panel out. Search through my old posts, as I have given instructions on how to remove the dash panel a few times.

BTW I'm pretty sure the writing on my 99 F250 XLT and 07 F350 Lariat 4x4 switches lit up with the interior lights. I'm not sure if it is a replaceable bulb though, you may have to replace the whole switch.

 

Well, not sure what's going on but the writing above the **** lights up as of last night

It snowed a bit here last week and I had it in & out of 4x4 half a dozen times so maybe I shook something behind there and its working again.. for now?

Anyhow, I guess I'll just go with it until they go out again.

Thanks again for all the input.

 

Ok... the lights behind my 4x4 **** went out again so I took it apart. I found that the bulb is burnt out. I see +12V on the terminals with the headlights on, but no bulb lighting. So... has anyone ever replaced this bulb? It looks to be replaceable. It comes out of the switch assy with 1/4 turn of a screwdriver. See pics below.

 

That is probably going to be a dealer only bulb.

I thought it was a LED buy my schematic shows it to be a bulb lamp type.

 

I'm gonna check with the dealer tomorrow and see what they say.

Yeah, it looks alot like an LED but its just a regular bulb with a green jimmy hat on it

 

They sell LED replacements. Look here:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/74_t15.htm

 

Ok... here's the story as I see it, in case anyone's interested. The name for these type of 1/4 twist bulbs is "neo-wedge" which is apparently very popular for normal instrument cluster type illumination in cars these days. The company that built these particular bulbs for Ford is "JKL Components Corporation".

The 4x4 **** version of this bulb is an oddball since it is taller than the typical bulbs you'll find if you search for "neo-wedge" bulbs. It's also an oddball because the typical neo-wedge bulbs that I've found have the contacts in the wrong area. The replacment bulbs have contacts in the area shown by the blue arrow in the pic below. The Ford bulb has contacts in the area shown by the red arrow. You can see that better in the third pic that I posted above.

I ended up finding a bunch of the bulbs pictured below on ebay. They are *almost* an exact replacement, except for the contact location problem. So, I simply removed the dead bulb from my original housing, inserted a bulb from one of my spares, placed the green cap on, and it works like a charm.

So, if anyone ever has a problem with this bulb (and possibly the bulb that lights the headlight switch, I haven't looked?) shoot me a pm and I can help. If you're ok with doing what I did (remove dead bulb/reinstall new bulb) then I can mail you replacements for $2 each. I'm going to see about modifying these bulbs to be direct plug-ins but I don't have the time right now to work on it. I think it should be fairly simple.

Whew, so that's it. Everything I know about the 4x4 **** bulb

 

This may work for you. The following bulb worked in a 2007 Explorer Sport Trac headlight switch: http://audioxpress.org/listing/05-06-07-08-09-ford-mustang-headlight-switch-light-bulb It had a blue rubber covering over the bulb, so I removed it before installing.


Also here is a link to the bulb manufacturer. It has a lot of similar type bulbs with specifications, drawings and dimensions, but not sure which bulb it is:http://www.jkllamps.com/incandescent/neo-wedgelamps

 

Cool! Thanks for the link.

Good to see that some options have become available since I was working through this years ago.

 

Thank you for giving me ideas on my internet search. If you keep plugging in, you can usually find what you need with people like you who are willing to take the time to post answers!.