Replace Ranger HVAC lightbulb

[RangerM]

1993 Ranger HVAC bulb burned out on the way home tonight. Did a Google search, but found conflicting info. Some sites say there is one bulb, and some say two. I say one because it would be too coincidental for two bulbs to burn out at the exact same time.

 

Has anyone ever replaced the HVAC bulb? What's the best way to get to it?

[RangerM]

I've replaced the HVAC bulb. Took about 30 minutes. If you are interested in doing it yourself, here's how.....

 

 

First, my Ranger is a 1993 model (but I'd imagine this would apply to 1994s and maybe others, as well). There is ONE bulb for the HVAC and one (separate) bulb for the ashtray. I'm not a smoker, so I hadn't noticed the ashtray bulb had gone out. Fortunately the bulbs come a 2-pack.

 

The bulb you will need is a size 194. This is the same size bulb as the rest of the dash (instrument cluster and ashtray), so that's convenient.

 

Next, you WILL have to remove the radio, ashtray, and take the dash fascia off. There is no other way to access the bulb.

 

Once you have removed the ashtray, radio, and fascia, you will need to remove the four screws that hold the HVAC control unit. It is not necessary to detach any cables, as there is enough slack (about 4 inches in my truck) that you can pull the control unit out enough to get to the bulb. The HVAC bulb itself is located in a socket mounted in the center-rear of the HVAC control unit. You will have to push the top contol lever to one side (the right, IIRC) to see it, but once the lever is out of the way, you will see the socket. The wires come out of the socket at a 90 degree angle (pointing to the driver's side). Remove the socket by twisting it (wires going up) ONE 8TH TURN and the pull the socket out. You may have to jiggle it like I did, but it will come out.

 

Pull out the old bulb, put in the new one, and reverse the procedure. My biggest hassle was lining up the tabs on the socket to get it back into the hole, but it wasn't a big deal.

 

While you have the ashtray out, if you want to replace that bulb, the bulb is under the green plastic bubble on top of the ashtray mounting bracket, but to get to it, you have to unplug the socket and pull it out (the bulb comes with it). The green bubble should not be removed.

 

Best of luck.