02 Ranger Steering Wheel Speed Control Button Lights?
 

Good Evening,

I have an 02 Ranger XLT 4x4 that I got used back in February. We quite like the truck. We chose it after test driving Toyota's and Nissan's and not thinking much of them. Never thought I'd be getting a Ranger, but I'm glad I did now.

My question is about the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel. On mine, the on/off buttons illuminate in the dark when the lights are on, but the coast / accel / set buttons on the other side of the wheel do not light up at all, and I wish they did. So the question is, does anyone know if they are supposed to light up and maybe the bulb died? Or if they just don't light up and that's the way it is.

Thanks in advance,
-Jeff

Yes, they are supposed to light up, for sure. It's a crappy little bulb that is very unreliable. If you're so minded, I have a how-to on my cardomain site on converting them to LED's (in the color of your choice, lol -- mine are blue now).

Here's a link: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/296394/23

They may have copied that how-to onto the board here as well. I gave them permission, but I don't know if they got to it.

Here's a picture of how my dash looks these days, more or less. The 6CD radio is blue now also, but not in the picture.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...4_217_full.jpg

I dont know for sure if there is actually a bulb back behind it.


This should give you an idea of whats back there.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/296394/23

Welcome to the site, and GOOD LUCK!



EDIT: Posted the same time as John... dang

my 02 cruise control buttons are out like that too. :006: ,It dont bother me bad enough to mess with though.

Same here, my on/off CC buttons do not illuminate......Cheap ass bulbs!

"Great minds think alike" -- ??

Oooo, that ought to scare ya'... :crazy:

Same Problem
 

Do you know what kind of blub it takes and where to buy them??

A Ford dealer is the only source of bulbs to my knowledge and I'm not sure you can even buy them -- the bulb is integrated into a twist-lock base that may be proprietary for all I know. They're a pain to get apart (the pods) without breaking them internally, but it can be worked around and isn't a big deal.

The nice thing about the LED's is you don't have to worry about changing them anymore.

How bout that....Your about 20 minutes from me!

Thanks to all for your reponses. I kind of felt like it wasn't worth messing with either. I know where the buttons are so I never really noticed. The Mrs. noticed they were out because she doesn't use the cruise control as often and wasn't sure what button was what. I think I would like to fix it now. I will wait until next weekend to mess with it though. I need to use the truck this week, so don't want to cause any problems. I have to clean the leaves out of the heater fan again too, so I'll have a couple projects next weekend. Anyone know how to keep them out? Seem to go in by the windshield wipers.

If anyone has any advise on where to find standard replacement bulbs, let me know. The LED's look really cool, but I'm not feeling motivated enough to try them ;-)

Thanks,
-Jeff