Cruise Control Lights

In a 1997 Explorer, I have burned out bulbs in the steerignwheel cruise controls. How do I gain access to the bulbs. Do the covers come off?

Reply to
Timothy Brown
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I don't know the answer but watch out for the air bag. Make sure it is disabled before you try to go into the steering wheel or it could deploy and cause you serious injury.

HTH Steve "Timothy Brown" wrote in message news:ls5Ib.93293$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.nyroc.rr.com... In a 1997 Explorer, I have burned out bulbs in the steerignwheel cruise controls. How do I gain access to the bulbs. Do the covers come off?

Reply to
sehaare

The easiest (and correct) way is to remove the air-bag. Per my Ford Service manual, disconnect the battery and allow to sit for five minutes before disconnecting the air-bag. To remove the air-bag, pop the two plastic screw covers off each side of your steering wheel and remove the two Philips screws. The airbag will then pull right off the front of your steering wheel. You can either set it on top of your steering console or disconnect the connector and put it some place out of the way. Once it is removed, you will see the two small Philips screws on each cruise switch. Remove them and the switch will come out. Pry the rubber cover off the switch and remove the bulb. Put the new one in and assemble in reverse. Some people have had luck by just prying the rubber cover off the switch while it was still in the wheel, but usually they end up complaining that the cover didn't go back on right or took too long to get it back together. I've found that I can remove the air-bag and switches to replace the bulb in less than 10 minutes, even allowing for the 5 minutes after disconnecting the battery. Much less frustrating also. The bulb part number you want is Ford part number E5RY-13466-BA. You will need to salvage the blue/green cover off your old bulb since the new one is clear. The bulb runs less than $4.00 at Ford. Don't tell them what vehicle you want it for if it can be avoided. Instead just give them the part number and ask if they have it. The bulb comes from the Contour and if you tell them you need a bulb for the cruise control on the Explorer, they will look it up and tell you that you have to buy the entire switch (I've been there). If you can't get it from your local Ford dealer, you can also get it from

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for less than $5.00. I've ordered it from them as well but be aware that they have a $7.00 S&H charge. That would still be cheaper than the $40.00 switch from Ford.

Reply to
Alpine

I've got one of these burned out also, and searched for that part number on the

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but got no match for it.

Any idea of how to find it without going to the dealer?

Thanks for the info, that was a great description of the replacement procedure though!

Reply to
Steve Reppucci

Thank you very much for both the part number and the proper technique for gaining access.

Reply to
Timothy Brown

Sometimes the parts are hard to find. If you send an e-mail to Torry at FPN he will let you know how to order it. I found it by searching for bulbs, but can't remember exactly what I typed in to find it. Once I found the part, I sent an e-mail to Torry to confirm that it was the correct part and he confirmed. Once I got it, I found that it was indeed the right part. I tried looking around for the bulb but couldn't locate it and since I can't remember what I used the last time I found it, the quickest way to find it would be to send them an e-mail. They did carry it about 2 years ago when I last ordered one from them and I'm sure somewhere in their 6 million parts they still have it. It is just kind of hard to find.

Reply to
Alpine

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