Stupid bulbs for EATC hard button illumination

[kumba]

Just put in my replacement evilbay EATC hard-button. Thing works great, except the buttons for flr/def, def, off, and auto are burned out. I tried putting in part #F5VY-13B765-AA on forparts.com but it just tells me that's not a ford part number. The EATC I have is the correct 95 update (F5 part) for the car.

I have my old soft-button EATC, but the posts I searched through on this forum are contradicting. One post says you can use the bulbs from a soft-button on a hard-button, another says you cant. Any luck in them being interchangable? And if not, where can I get these things (preferably not for $12/ea)?

 

[the4biddendonut]

I bought a couple sets from Mike Gallion last year. He might still have some. They're very reasonably priced.

 

[Sidestreet]

Interesting, kumba, we're both in the same situation. The hard-button Taurus EATC I bought from an eBay seller works just fine and looks great except for the same buttons on the right that won't light up (including, in my case, the HI-LO by the dial).

Now that I've read that the soft-button and hard-button bulbs are different types and not interchangeable, I'll probably just leave the new unit installed and live with the few dark buttons for now. So the new unit isn't tip-top perfect, but at least it looks much better than the old one did, day or night. (****, it's definitely not the only oddity about my old SHO.)

 

[Vnuk1]

I was saving my old Soft EATC for the Bulbs but yeah we cannot use them in the Hard Button one.

 

[the4biddendonut]

Interesting, kumba, we're both in the same situation. The hard-button Taurus EATC I bought from an eBay seller works just fine and looks great except for the same buttons on the right that won't light up (including, in my case, the HI-LO by the dial).

Now that I've read that the soft-button and hard-button bulbs are different types and not interchangeable, I'll probably just leave the new unit installed and live with the few dark buttons for now. So the new unit isn't tip-top perfect, but at least it looks much better than the old one did, day or night. (****, it's definitely not the only oddity about my old SHO.)

I just threw out a working bulb that illuminates the the blower speed dial. I'll grab it out of the trash, if you want it. The bulb that illuminates the dial is the same between the hard button and soft button EATC.

 

[TYSHO]

It sounds like you should've bought a new one!

 

[Sidestreet]

Thanks, donut, but don't worry about it. I'm sure I can find the blower dial in the dark!

 

[SHORANGERBIRD]

the F5VY-AA bulbs are the bulb/socket combo. and i dont recall ever having sold any of those to know what the bulb actually is, but the catalog shows the ATC head to use #37 bulbs. old number D4AZ-13466-A or new number now 5C3Z-13466-AA. hope that helps.

 

[kumba]

For the $30 it's going to cost me to get bulbs I can just turn on the reading light if I can't find it in the dark. I'll just keep an eye out for a cheap one in the meantime.

 

[Mike Gallion]

Kumba (and all others with the same issue) take the offending lamp and give it a soaking in some ordinary household vinegar. An hour will do the trick usually. what you are doing is using the slightly acidic vinegar to dissolve corrosion products that tend to build up on the fine wires on these lamps. I have brought more than one lamp back from the "dead" this way. Just make sure you rinse the lamp off with water and allow it to dry off before reinstalling.

BTW I do have a few new lamp sets left....
http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=57134