replacing the dashboard lights?

[strollingbones]

2003 subbie outback.....i know you have to take the entire front of the car from the arm glove to get to the dash....it warns not to do this if you have a car with a cable? how the hell does one know this?

how hard is this to do...anyone done it before...i hate having a burned out light...its the tact ....11 pm....that one..but if i open the dash i will replace all the lights...

 

[oldsoul]

2003 subbie outback.....i know you have to take the entire front of the car from the arm glove to get to the dash....it warns not to do this if you have a car with a cable? how the hell does one know this?

how hard is this to do...anyone done it before...i hate having a burned out light...its the tact ....11 pm....that one..but if i open the dash i will replace all the lights...

Not sure on the subaru line. Did a couple times on a late nineties Taurus. BIG job. Plan for all day if you have to remove the dash. Most cars have a few screws on the top and bottom of the instrument cluster to remove it for lights. Worth a look.

 

[strollingbones]

and if i were looking for this cluster...it would be up under the dash? or under the hood at the top?

 

[saveliberty]

Way cheaper to take a flashlight with you.

 

[strollingbones]

no cluster..apparently dash removal......

 

[Pogo]

Way cheaper to take a flashlight with you.

Yeah I agree after having a light go out and pricing the replacement of --- the whole unit.

After all, do you really NEED to know how much gas is in the tank? When it runs out, it'll let you know.

 

[strollingbones]

o hell save its one of my neurotic things....i hate burned out lights...hate them...i mean i will make a trip to get a light bulb...its an old car.....i need to not obsess over the damn dashboard light...over the tac....

 

[strollingbones]

dudes i am thinking of replacing light bulbs not the entire dash

 

[strollingbones]

calling mechanic

 

[strollingbones]

he told me to call someone else lol.......

 

[Pogo]

dudes i am thinking of replacing light bulbs not the entire dash

There may not be a difference. Seriously. Last time I went to get this checked out (on a Saturn) I was told the lights are embedded and you have to replace the whole instrument cluster unit.

Then about a week later the errant light came back on. Total cost: $0.
All things come to him what waits.

 

[strollingbones]

50 bucks.....damn thats not bad

 

[Valerie]

found a youtube explanation for a 2001 and one of the comments below says it's the same as 2003.

 

[koshergrl]

I had a Honda once that would die every time I drove over railroad tracks. I took it to the mechanic, an old guy who had worked all his life for first my sister's husband's family when they were farming, then for my father in law...he worked on the trucks and the combines and the tractors, out of a giant shop next to my house. His name was Swede, because he was Swedish.

So I took it to Swede and he looked under the hood and said "Ya it's a jort, you have a jort."

So I dutifully took my car to the foreign car repair shop and told them that I didn't know what a jort was, but Swede said the problem was the jort. They looked at me like I was insane.

Of course he was trying to say SHORT. It's a SHORT.

Omg.

 

[strollingbones]

note most of the videos say 1/2 the day that dude with the 30 minute time done a estimate has already done a good bit of work by taking out the screws ahead of time

 

[saveliberty]

For most newer cars it is very expensive to replace the lights, as they are more LED style and not simply pull out and put it. We are in Michigan and I have a guy in Kentucky we send them out to for repairs.

 

[oldsoul]

and if i were looking for this cluster...it would be up under the dash? or under the hood at the top?

It's on the dash. The instrument cluster includes things like the speedo, tach, and various gauges....

 

[longknife]

2003 subbie outback.....i know you have to take the entire front of the car from the arm glove to get to the dash....it warns not to do this if you have a car with a cable? how the hell does one know this?

how hard is this to do...anyone done it before...i hate having a burned out light...its the tact ....11 pm....that one..but if i open the dash i will replace all the lights...

Go to the manufacturer's website and see if there's a mechanic's manual to check out.