1998 Mercury GM/GS 4.6 L Headlight Switch Removal

[_Hacksaw]

Dear Forum members;

I have been sooooooooooooooo busy here in California that I have not had time to post any query in a very long time. Briefly, I have been re-bulbing the entire car that now has about 75k original miles on it. What has occurred across time recently is that the very small headlight cluster with dimmer switch at the very top, has gone to near total dark at night and remains very dim. Normally the letters and markings are lit. Tonight at the parts store the fellow told me that there are *small* bulbs that are replaceable behind such clusters and he showed me some that could do the job.

Question # 1. How can I carefully remove this one section or cluster marked Interior / Push etc. with the headlight switch in the center of it and get at these magic lights? Is this done very very carefully using a credit card to wedge in there or are there other tricks?

Questions # 2. Are these special lights or lamps # 94 LL's or is there an exact # that has to be ordered. The great news now: This car is a dream, however I am a bug on those small issues and this is one of them.

Best wishes;

_Hacksaw http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/images/smilies/china.gif

[BlackVic_P71]

It would be these "grain of rice" bulbs, not sure if a parts store actually has those.
You can get the headlight switch out using a flat screwdriver, pry the flat sides around the switch and it will pop out. You will see a bulb holder about the size of a pencil eraser. Many of these holders are burnt or a bit melted, I'm surprised that bulb even works.


Sent while running from the cops using Tapatalk

[_Hacksaw]

Great. Let me get in there and "see" if I can actually remove this module at the very far left of the consol for starters. I was looking at it very carefully to "see" if that live around the entire assembly was 'real' or just a faux indentation. I was told that there *might* be a PC board that these are usual mounted on, so I suspect that you are correct that these may need to be soldered into place if possible. Best to replace that simple switch also during this time as it appears very very simple, though the dealership may attempt to really nail me so I would need to look and research on line for a solid copy of it that is *not* made in India!

What I found wild was that it actually came back on ( these light markings ) 2x in the past 3 months. Maybe something is preventing this PC board from making 101% contact? First things first. Let me see if I can very carefully ease that module out of the dash from the front w/o any damage what so ever. If so I am almost home or at least have a full working space to play with across time. I *may* have caused a short circuit as per the Armor All that I used to cover this front panel to prevent sun damage. I will know more very soon as the story unfolds. Still dim, as the lights are at present, does give me hope as it might be very simple. However when was anything with you car just "simple"?

BTW. Is this the 'correct' forum location to post such issues and more difficult things when they arise or is there a more select Mercury Grand Marquis forum for my posts other than the General or Newbe? I am attempting to set this up for my iPhone so I can at least check on any replies while moving around. Ah, wait here is the answer post reply, so to speak: http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/forum.php

_Hacksaw | 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis GS - at 75k original miles

[_Hacksaw]

I have some new information regarding this "switch" First off here it is and there are about 5 companies who are making copies of it at this time. This is one of them: BDW S9980 Headlight Switch | http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...adlight+switch

I tried to remove this switch and carefully check out the connections as the may have come loose ( or just one of two ) and thus my dim dashboard light at this module.

The lock tab appears to be just above the arrow in the photographs. Has anyone actually removed one of these w/o mangling the switch itself. I have the perfect stainless steel took to get in there but it's not doing much when I just push. Is there are special location / technique to do this and thus release this switch so I can pull it forward?

Sincerely;

_Hacksaw | 1998 Mercury GM/GS

[miamibob]

On my '95 GM, you simply get a THIN flathead screwdriver and carefully pry it out. Unless the '98 is different and I doubt it, that's all there is to it.