Burned out instrument light

Duff · Jan 21, 2007

OK, about 6 months ago I notice a dark region on my instrument cluster. ('05) It is the right-half of the speedo and appears to also be the left edge of the digital display. The digital display isn't dark like the speedo, but it isn't uniformly lit and seems darker on that edge than I remember.

So, a couple questions:

1. Is the light in the cluster an LED or a standard bulb?

2. Does the entire cluster or just the speedo or just the light/LED need to be replaced in order to fix the problem?

I'm sure someone on here has dissected their FJR to this point and has some sort of answer. With that in mind, thanks in advance for the help!

Ignacio · Jan 21, 2007

I'm sure it's bulbs within the instrument cluster. I happen to have my '05 nose completely off and looking at the back of the panel there aren't holes where bulbs plug in from the outside so one would have have to detach and disassemble the instrument cluster to get to them. Sorry, but it's a bunch of work to get to them.

.....maybe it's a lose instrument connector. There's one substantial connector pretty much behind the centerline just above the needles lateral line. That could be lose.

HaulinAshe · Jan 21, 2007

Anybody know if YES would cover it?

Ignacio · Jan 21, 2007

JeffAshe said:
Anybody know if YES would cover it?

No. Bulbs are an expendable items.....just like turn signal bulbs, brake lights, and headlights.

Sucks yes. While you're in there.....may as well replace them all.

ionbeam · Jan 21, 2007

I'll chime in with a 'me too' here. My '04 has been missing 5-10k rpm and 0 to 60 on the spedo for almost 15k miles. I've given it a quick look and I'm pretty sure the instrument pod needs to come out and be disassembled to access the illuminator. I believe the light source has to be a bulb because a LED should have a life expectancy of no less than 100 years! Also, white is a very unusal color for a LED.

The schematic shows the solid blue wire in the meter connector as power for METER LIGHT (singular) and the drawing only shows one light. Either there is some object flapping loose blocking the light or there is actually two illumination sources. In any case the pod must come apart. I have seen many digital car dashes with missing lights due to poor PCB assembly, a simple touch with a solder iron fixed broken solder joints. I've also seen just about an equal number if burnt resistors causing problems because the wattage of the resistor was too low.

I will probably continue to live in darkness until I'm in the nose for some other reason.

skyway · Jan 21, 2007

Half of my dash just went black as well, odometer and digital readout. :angry2: There is something bearly making contact in there, as when I give it a slight tap it will come back on. I'm going to talk to my dealer about this one.

Duff · Jan 21, 2007

I have to admit a bit-o-luck on this one. The dealer I am having fix the "tick" is considering this an instrument cluster failure and doing the repair under YES. I have not posted about the tick repair because the verdict is still out (waiting on a tool) and I want to give accurate info if/when I praise this dealer.

Ignacio · Jan 21, 2007

Duff said:
I have to admit a bit-o-luck on this one. The dealer I am having fix the "tick" is considering this an instrument cluster failure and doing the repair under YES. I have not posted about the tick repair because the verdict is still out (waiting on a tool) and I want to give accurate info if/when I praise this dealer.

That's probably the magic words.....don't say one has a "burned out bulb" and say you have an "instrument panel failure". Their service manual doesn't tell how to change the bulbs and treats it as a whole unit. And, it's so hard to get in that thing I even see the logic in it. Skyway's tapping even reinforces that.

skyway · Jan 21, 2007

Here's the P/N's for the meter (instrument panel) lights on my '04

(5) 4YR-83517-10-00.BULB (12V-2W T5) 2 reqd.

(6) 4WM-83517-10-00.BULB (T3.4 14V-80MA) 9 reqd. (I have at least 2 of them gone bad)

dcarver · Jan 21, 2007

What a pain in the ass. My Harley, on the other hand, has a nice simple little light bulb socket that is easily removable... and the bulb is a heavy duty filament type to resist vibration because.....

kaitsdad · Jan 21, 2007

skyway said:
Here's the P/N's for the meter (instrument panel) lights on my '04

(5) 4YR-83517-10-00.BULB (12V-2W T5) 2 reqd.

(6) 4WM-83517-10-00.BULB (T3.4 14V-80MA) 9 reqd. (I have at least 2 of them gone bad)

This verifies that you A: have bulbs, not LEDs, and B: You must pull the meter to get to them.

That sucks.

Or you could just by an 07 with LED's in the meter -

650cent · Jan 21, 2007

Hey,

Is there an automotive cross ref. number for these bulbs?

Duff · Jan 22, 2007

Thanks for the info guys. I think I'll let the dealer do the cluster... less PITA on my part and a potential for 20K fewer miles on the bike at trade-in time. Nice to know what I'm up against if the cluster replacement doesn't pan-out though.

kaitsdad said:
skyway said:

Here's the P/N's for the meter (instrument panel) lights on my '04

(5) 4YR-83517-10-00.BULB (12V-2W T5) 2 reqd.

(6) 4WM-83517-10-00.BULB (T3.4 14V-80MA) 9 reqd. (I have at least 2 of them gone bad)

Click to expand...

This verifies that you A: have bulbs, not LEDs, and B: You must pull the meter to get to them.

That sucks.

Or you could just by an 07 with LED's in the meter -

Now I am wondering about replacing lights WITH LEDs. I don't have to worry about it right now, but if I DID have to get in there, I would want to make the fix permanent.

Hmmmm.... cross-check the bulb size and match an LED, then figure out how to get the LED to mount in the socket... someone have fun with that one! :dribble:

radman · Jan 22, 2007

Actually, the dash isn't all that tough to get out on these. I'd rather do the dash than the centerstand any day of the week.

FJRMGM · Dec 7, 2007

here is a photo of the back of the dash circuit board - at the bottom center you can see two grey bulbs then a white hole where one is missing then two more - the missing one is because I don't have ABS. There are nine of the small bulbs with the two larger ones at the top on each side of the plug in. All of them twist into a hole in the board.

and here are the two different bulbs used - the small one is really small and the reason there are no LED replacements.

Just above the penny you can see the two holes the small bulbs twist into.

dcarver · Dec 7, 2007

Great post FJRMGM. Keep this up and you will soon be the bulbmeister.

SkooterG · Dec 8, 2007

FJRMGM - Well done! Great piccies and info on this subject.

At 130,000 miles or so, I finally had a bulb go kaput! The one that illuminates the right side of the info display is out. I am not looking forward to fixing it. Next order from University Motors will include 9 little bulbs, and perhaps even two bigger ones. I'll get around to replacing them sometime in the next year or so.

Toecutter · Dec 8, 2007

Fred H.? Can you be our hero?

FJRMGM · Dec 8, 2007

I forgot to add - thanks to the tips posted by others, taking the front cowling off was not a big problem at all.

I tried to purchase these bulbs from the local dealer and it would have $75 plus tax for them !!!

thanks to our friends at University Motors and the FJR forum discount, I was able to get them all for less than $30..

Moral of the story if you are planning to replace - plan ahead and call University Motors at 866-551-6478.

Burned out instrument light

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