I need to replace a bulb in my instrument panel, one of he ones that illuminate the dials not the small warning light ones. They come from the dealer with bulb holders and are expensive. They seem to be standard 501 5 watt bulbs but I suspect they are 2.2 watt or something like that. There is no marking on the bulb itself.
Has enyone any experience of changing these with standard 501 5 watt bulbs which are cheap? Please help!

 

If the 5w bulb fits use it. I've found that some of the bulbs will not come out of the housings. Which seems to be just another way to extract more money from the consumer.
You may be able to find the lower wattage bulbs on eBay, uaually from China in LED form.

 

Just replaced one behind the panel of a 2010 Sport Trac..The one I changed is PN # 6L2Z*13466*A…$5.78 with tax..Not hard to change, just 6 self-tapping screws and two electrical plugs. Works..Took about 1 hour..