The lights for my dashboard went out, the problem I'm having is removing the dashboard to replace the lights.

I an pull the dashboard out about half an inch before something back there holds the rest of the board back.

I just dont have enough room to squeeze my hand back there and feel around.

is there anythingback there that could be holding the board back? Maybe the wires are wrapped around something?

Any help in regards to this is greatly appreciated.

BTW, she's a dirty red 1991 Sentra SE-R sporting 164K miles.
(Dirty *** in this Oregon Wet Season it's pointless to wash.. :D )

Its the speedo cable. Check out this thread from the general SR20 forum

http://www.sr20deforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11276

I am assuming that you have a 91 Se-R. Those car have a cable for the speedo that causes that, if you reach from under the steering column and behind the dash you can feel where it is (it is round) and once you twist it, it pops off. If it's not a 91 let me know.

You did check your fuse box first right?


Welcome to da club! :D

Yeah i checked the fuse box... Replaced the fuses.

Thats the first thing I did.

Didnt work... ::shrug::

Now i gotta try and see if the lighbulbs are dead.

some part shop around here claims the lightbulbs I need for the dash is a dealers-only part and it's 13.01 each ( i need at least 3..)

Driving in the dark unknowning my speed suddenly doesnt sound so bad.. :D

Actually, how well does using those 197 bulbs work?

Can i rip out the propeitory cables and replace them with those 197 bulbs?

I'll be honest, I've never had a dash bulb go out on me so I've never seen them. However as long as the wattage is the same on both bulbs, and they fit in the space you got, then yes you could cut and splice them in. They should also be the about the same brightness because the wattage would be the same. On our classisc's the 194 bulb is the same one we have in our side markers on the front. So if you take the covers off them you will get to see how bright they are. Hey I just had a idea, Autozone sells 194 bulbs in red, blue, amber, and white, so you could trick it out bro if that was yo thang

If you decide to stick to the stock ones, call Brian at courtesy Nissan. 800-527-1909. I think we get 20% off, though you would have to pay shipping.

Good luck

Oops you asked about 197's My bad. Well if there is room 194 might work for you anyway. The 197's, if again same wattage and you've got room I don't see why they wouldn't work.

Im pretty sure no one on here has ever bought the bulbs from the $tealer. Just take the bulb out of its holder and go to all the auto stores then if nothing else go to radio shack. You will see what i mean when you pull the cluster out. Its really not that hard i know ben does it quite frequently :D. But it comes out then the bulbs are in these little plastic holders that come out with a half turn. then you will see the bulb with its condom over it. you can pull the condom off and put it on the new bulb. what i would do is one at a time pull each bulb and use a multichecker to see if its burnt out. there are two different size bulbs if i remember correctly. Just pull them put a continuity check on it to see if its burnt out. But IIRC you can get the bulbs cheap without the holder at other stores so id probaly go ahead and replace them all so you dont have to do it again. i did it on my friends cougar and helped ben change out dash's once its not a big deal after you get that speedo cable unhooked.

Getting ready to replace one on my '92. I assume it has the same cable to detach?

Got 2 bulbs at Advance Auto for $1.99. Non of this $13 shit.

The 194 bulbs (the 3 main ones) from a local dealer where $21 or so. WHAT! Then I said okay, hung up and went to the local auto parts store to see if they had them and they did. When it warms up this project is going into full force. :)

Has anyone done the dash lighting in the blue 194 bulbs?

Also, can someone either post or e-mail the number of bulbs (qty) and types of bulbs I need for the whole dash cluster. While I have it out I am going to replace all of the bulbs.

I had mine in blue for one day. Blech.

I got the bulbs from PepBoys ricer dept. Turned out more blue-green than anything.

Everything becomes blueish (which sounds good in theory). When I say everything. I mean the needles, the numbers, the red stuff.

It looked way one dimensional. I then got some Polarg "hyper white" bulbs and Sharpied the needles red.

Way better than colored bulbs.

with a 91, you cant just remove the bulbs. At least on my car, the bulb and the plastic holder were one unit that had to be replaced as a whole, thus the exhorbant cost. What i did was go to a junkyard and grab the assembilies off the NX that i got my console out of, and that car had the assembilies with removable bulbs. Bought new bulbs and put in the assembilies off of the NX and it is working fine. If you go this route, look for toshiba assembilies, then should be blue in color, and those will have the removable bulbs. hope this helps

The housings *are* removeable.

When you look at the backside, you'll notice the metal contacts of the bulb are soldered onto the housing metal.

Just break the solder. Before you slide the bulb in, straighten out the wire contacts on the bottom (look at the bulb, you'll see what I mean).

Once you have slid the bulb in, bend the metal bulb wires back and mash them around the housing's metal contact.

And I, too, have a 91.

Hmm. Yes I did mean the 194 bulbs. Dunno why I said the 197s :confused:

Anyway this looks like a somewhat complicated process seeing as how I have the '91 SE-R, and this cursed so called housing.

I'll give them a try. If the housing breaks I'll just duct tape the stuff together :D

Now I just gotta talk with my wife, Red, Green, Blue, White, or Purple?

hehehehe :D

Trust me, the housing wont break. Twist and pull, Twist and pull.

Its quite simple, really.

Its only overwhelming if you haven't done it yet.

But trust me on the colored lights. Blech. I understand, though, if you're antsy to see for yourself. I was.

I tried messaging you, but your box is full.

To all who wonder where to get Polarg bulbs, Ive pasted my email reciept for the bulbs below. Hope this helps.

The bulbs are basically as good as a regular bulb with a condom. I threw my condoms out, therefor in a cruch I got these.

They do have an ever so slight purplish tint.


>>>>>>>>

Thank you for ordering from Procarparts.com. The following is a receipt of your order. If
there is any error, please call us at (626)350-0286 or e-mail us at customerservices@procarparts.com.

================================================== =====================================

---Order Information---

Item Number 1
Product ID: m4pair
Product Name : Polarg M4 hyper white bulbs
Quantity: 2
Unit Weight: 1
Unit Price: $8.95
Total Price: $17.90


Shipping Fee: $7.95
Documentation Fee: $0.00
Tax: $0.00
Subtotal: $17.90
Total: $25.85

Well I'm going to try to do mine sometime in the next month hopefully. My only questions are that one how do I take out the speedo cable (I have never been able to get a definitive answer) and how do I get my hand and arm around the heater duct under the steering column?

Thanks for all the hope so far.

Also, where can I get the super white bulbs for the dash setup? I can't find them at a local auto parts store. I can only find the blue, red, white and amber.

I'm about to do my dashboard lights.

I decided to be cheap and get the reg white lights.

Speedo cable? Hmm.. If i cant reach them i'll try the other end :D

I am doing this RIGHT NOW in my garage! My car is in pieces all over the place. I even had to remove some of my cage. How in the F#$K do I get to the speedo cable?!?! What kind of freakishly small hands do you have to have?!?!?

HELP!!! This F-ING SUCKS!!!

Matt, I just removed mine this morning. The speedo cable is a bitch. Lay on your back in the footwell. Look up and stick your hand up to the right side of the steering column and on the firewall side of the HVAC ducts. You should be able to feel the cable up there. You'll know you have the cable when you feel four fin like pieces on the outside of the cable where it meets the cluster. Feel around it until you find a little tab sticking out. Push that tab in while pulling the cable off. It is really difficult to get your hand in there and you don't have much room to move once your in there. Good Luck!

Anyone know what size the 8 smaller bulbs are on the bottom that light up the idiot lights?

OK, here's what I did. Went to SE-R.net and looked at their proceduces and used George Roffe's procedure at the bottom of the page.

http://se-r.net/electrical/change_cluster_bulb.html

Basically, I deceded my hands were WAY too big to find this connection behind the speedo, so I disconnected the cable from teh transaxel and pushed about 6 inches worth of cable into the firewall. This allowed the cluster to come far enough out for me to actually get a hand on the speedo connection.

I used 2 extensions and a 10mm socket to loosen the screw on the clip-thingy that holds the cable into the transaxel, and then removed it by hand (you do NOT want to lose that thing). I then removed the cable by grabbing that gnurled thing and did a lot of twisting, pulling and cussing. The cussing part is very important :). Everytime I tugged on it, it would only move a few mm. After about 10-15 minutes it finally popped out. I have the cluster sitting on my kitchen table right now!! Woo-hoo!!!