Question #1 - It appears that one of the dash bulbs is out on Ryan's 72 swinger. Does anyone know what number bulb it takes. I want to pick them up before I tear it out.

Question #2 - The oil pressure light does not work now. It did before we parked the dart about 18 months ago. We have a good Auto meter oil pressure gauge but I would like the idiot light as well. I replaced the sender and no light. I grounded the wire and no light. I suppose there is a bulb in the dash for the oil light as well.Could it just be the bulb? I guess so. Do you have the number for that bulb? Or do I look somewhere else.

Electrical issues are not my specialty.

Thanks, for your help,

Rick

Even I, with my non-dainty mitts, can reach up behind the dash and remove the bulb sockets. I don't pull the instrument cluster if I don't have the need. The bulbs are available in several different candle power. 194 is 2 candelas, 168 is 3 candelas. You owner's manual should list the original spec as should a replacement bulb catalog.

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Joshua

Ok Josh, Thanks.

Rick

My 71 plymouth service manual is calling for 158s for the valient.

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V8?? We don't need no stink'n V8!!

Yep, that's the same package as the 168 and 194. It's also 2 candelas like the 194 which makes me wonder what the difference are between the 158 and the 194. Looking over the specs the only significant difference I find is the 194 bulb has an average life of 2500 hours and the 158 is rated 500 hours. I've used 194s in my instrument clusters for years. You can buy a 10-pack of 194sfrom Allied for $1.88 plus shipping.

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Joshua

Yep, 158 is the old short-life version of 194.

It's worth your money to buy good quality bulbs rather than poor-quality ones such as the linked Eiko items — unless you like twisting yourself into pretzel knots to change dash bulbs on a regular basis. Better than (anyone's) #194 is a W3W (Sylvania #2821 or 10-pack of super-duper quality Narva or 10-pack of good quality CPI). If you want your dash illumination brighter, you can substitute W5W (Sylvania #2825 or Narva or CPI 10-pack), which is a better analogue of #168. If you want to fiddle with the colour of your dash illumination, you can either leave the blue plastic balloons in place behind the instrument cluster and use WY5W (Sylvania #2827 or Narva 10-pack) for green light, or remove the blue plastic balloons and get amber light. Then there's the blue W5W which, without the blue plastic balloons, give a sort of "ice white" light effect.

WY5W is a very expensive bulb, but it's actually amber (not just kinda almost a little bit yellowish at the tip like the 194A/194NA) and it stays amber thru the whole lifespan of the bulb.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Dan- you rock. I am bookmarking this thread for future dash bulb customization purposes. I vote this thread become a sticky for dash lightbulb references purposes.

Ditto on that, I've been pondering what to do about my sad, dull dash bulbs in most of my cars for a while now. Ten pack should be used up pretty quickly.

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Pre-'66 cars don't use the all-glass wedge-base bulbs like 158/194/168/W3W/W5W. They use metal bayonet push-twist base bulbs. Originally #53, #57, #57X; later #1891 or #1895. There are fewer options for these bulbs — probably the best pick is a T4W (Sylvania 3893 or Narva or CPI 10-pack). The other option is to replace the bayonet-bulb holders with the later wedge-bulb holders and then refer to the above.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

hi sages- interesting info here from danno since i just replaced a load of these peanut bulbs in my f body 80 volare. installing 168s or sylvania long lifes instead of the 158s called for seems best due to more light and less frequent replacement. 158s dont seem to be available anymore. in the a body duster etc era from the 70s you could just barely get your hands behind the dashboard to turn out the little sockets and replace the bulbs even though your hands might be shredded. however with both f bodies ive had , the 77 aspen and the 80 volare, i wasnt able to get my hand behind the board and had to remove the bezel, remove the bottom panel, loosen the two nuts and drop the steering column , then unscrew the cluster face plate, then unscrew the circuit board backing. all the while you must be very careful and gentle because the plastic and gauges are very fragile. a little tricky resticking the speedo cable to the speedometer too. really a poor design , when you consider bulb replacement is a regular maintenance item. bet a dealer would want $100 to replace these bulbs. two questions looks like the sylvania long lifes would be best? and do you advise eliminating the blue balloon covers for more light emitted? thanks bob f

I was reviewing this post with an eye towards upgrading the dash lights in my brother's van. Candlepower.com suggests that if one wants a bulb brighter than W5W, one should order bulb 2886X. Candlepower.com describes bulbs 2886X as follows:

"This Osram MiniXen® 2886X mini wedge (W2.1×9.5d) base bulb has an ultra long life, and produces 85 lumens from 6 watts for the brightest and whitest possible light (up to 80% brighter!) in applications calling for these standard bulbs:

•European W5W, W3W, 2821, 2825 •American 194, 168 •Japanese 3652"

A ten-pack of W5W is $7.80 ($.78 per bulb). 2886X bulbs cost $4.20 EACH.

Are the extra lumens worth the extra cost?

That depends. There are some cars wherein the dashboard design makes the instruments impossible to read even with the lights turned all the way up. The 2886x serves well as a problem solver in those cases. It's a spendy bulb, to be sure, but there's a fair amount of high technology in it. That's what it takes to get extra brightness out of a bulb of this form factor. If you'd be satisfied with "somewhat brighter than stock", just get the 10-pack of W5W.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks!

I ordered some W5Ws to replace the bulbs in the dash of my brother's 83 Dodge van. I'll try and get some before and after pictures so we all can check out the difference.

Upgrading to the Sylvania #2825 is WORTH IT! I did the swap today and the difference is amazing. Such a cheap and simple upgrade, but what a difference. No pictures, unfortunately.