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I've got my cluster out, and it's looking like I need a new pcb. I am also going to change out all the bulbs, and I've got blue sockets, black sockets, and green sockets:
Did these correspond to different wattage of bulbs, or was it just random colors? Shop manual and parts catalog don't seem to mention the specifics here. My original thought was to jam 194's into every spot, but now I'm thinking about how heavily compromised my electrical system is, perhaps doing what GM thought was correct might be a wiser approach.
There is a good possibility that the socket colors correspond to the bulb type/wattage. Pull a socket and check the interior of the bulb where the filiment supports go to the base of the bulb. These supports have a small glass bead holding them together.
The color of that bead determines which bulb it actually. is. Even though they are all of the 194 type base (the 'plug in' part).
A blue bead is a T-167
A brown bead is a T-168
A white bead is a 194
The high beam indicator light _may_ have a blue tinted bulb.
Thanks RBob. I had a look at every bulb, and it's pretty clear the different colors do mean different bulbs.
For my cluster, I had:
2x Blue socket had brown bead color bulbs with 168 stamped on them.
6x Black socket had blue bead color bulbs with 161 stamped on them.
11x Green socket had clear or white bead color bulbs with 194 stamped on them.
The high beam socket had a clear 161 bulb in it. Not sure if it's possible for me to tell if these are the factory bulbs or not, I have three varieties of 194 bulb in the cluster so I think someone's been in here before.
All the bulb types and locations are specified in the service manual, maybe even the owner manual.
Where at? I just checked again and failed to find it. I found the diagram of what they're for, how to remove the cluster, and the troubleshooting for the cluster, but not which bulbs go where. I don't have an owner's manual to reference but it certainly could be in there.
Are the sockets specific to the location? I attempted to put led bulbs in my cluster.. and only the engine light one would work.. so I swapped them back out.. now my turn signal bulbs dont work.. (with the regular 194's back in)
09-16-2021, 06:58 PM
