Fix one problem only to cause another...

[yammahamma]

Well I bought a new SI board and installed it last night. $120 is a little steep just to get the inpection light to turn off, but it sure does feel good to look at that dash and not see that danged light on....

but now the bulb that lights the left half of the cluster doesn't like to turn on...unless you give you a little "love tap" with a knuckle....I made sure the bulb was tight in it's socket...so I'm wondering if a connection has been lost at another point in the cluster. Do you think the bulb might just be going bad? The light behind my OBC did this for a few months before it stopped working comletley and had to be replaced...now she works like a champ.

Any ideas?

[Aether]

Originally Posted by yammahamma

Fix one problem only to cause another...

You own an E30, this is how they roll.

First of all, electrical tape will cover that inspection light right up. Mine's been on for the last ten thousand miles. Now about the light going out, if slapping it is fixing the problem and it's firmly in its socket, then it makes sense to say that it's either a connection on one end of that socket or it's the socket itself. I say take it apart and wire some simple series LEDs in and be done with it for a few years.

[yammahamma]

I would have done the electrical tape this but the mpg gauge was also having problems....new SI board fixed alot of things....

I'm going to try pulling the light out and monkeying with it...

the bulb looks like this:

[bucks]

You mean the inspection light stays on even after you reset the service lights?

[Starmavin]

Originally Posted by Aether

You own an E30, this is how they roll.

100% of cars and trucks "roll" like this, some more than others. I have found the E30s to be the lesser of cars that need constant work.

[Aether]

Yeah?
Well that's good to know, I must've just caught the nasty end of mine. Previous owners aren't always as vigilant as they ought to be.

[yammahamma]

Originally Posted by bucks

You mean the inspection light stays on even after you reset the service lights?

No, that WAS the problem but a new SI board (or new batteries) fixed that.

Now, after pulling out the cluster, the light that lights the speedo has a hard time turning on sometimes....so my cluster is only half lit...

I think what I'll try is switching the two cluster lights (the one on the other side is the same as the one that is giving me trouble) and see if the same side still gives me problems...if the the problem follows the bulb then I'll know it's the bulb...

unless any one has a better way of testing it?

[mosyslack]

I had the same issues, and believe it or not...replacing the bulbs fixed it. There was no obvious signs of corrosion or bad connection, and how much does a bulb cost?

[yammahamma]

I'm not sure if that pic I posted earlier was the exact bulb...it's very very close though.....the bulb I posted cost around $6 from bav auto..I'm sure I can find it cheaper somewhere...so yea after some simple test I'll just buy new ones...