Speedo light won't come on (Fiesta mk6)

[KingViv]

Last night, when driving home, the light on my speedometer and rev meter would not come on when I turned my headlight on. 

I checked the fusebox in the glove box and all the fuses labeled with a bulb or picture of a speedo were intact. 

The lights for fuel and temp were fine.

Any ideas? 

[dezwez]

bulb gone maybe

[zain611]

You could try this diagnostic test. See if the light is able to come on there. I can't remember exactly however if the light comes on for the speedo for the LED test. 

 

[isetta]

is the car mk6 or mk6.5?  mk6 has indicators in top of headlamps, mk6.5 has indicators in  bottom of headlamps.  The pic shown above for test is a mk6.5 dash. Mk6 is different style of dash - I do not know if it was lit by LEDs soldered to circuit board or traditional light bulbs.   Do you have a dimmer knob for dash illumination. have you tried adjusting it?

[KingViv]

Thank all, 

Mine's the 6, not the 6.5

I've not spotted a dimmer, and Googling has not revealed one. 

If it's a bulb that needs replacing... I've tried Googling for where to get a replacement, but failed so far! 

There is a list somewhere on here of bulb IDs, but does not include the dash

[isetta]

I can't recall if mk6 had a dimmer. The Fords I recall with a dimmer have it next to the main sidelight/headlamp switch I think. But looking at pics on internet it looks like it might not have one.

I do not know if mk6 would be lit by LEDs soldered to the circuit board inside the speedo cluster or by changeable light bulbs. But on cars that had light bulbs there would normally be more than one bulb, maybe 2 in speedo plus 2 in rev counter and it is unlikely they would all go at once.

I would probably start hitting it and see if that fixes it (I know that's not very helpful but on my previous Fiesta that's what was needed now and then to make the heater control lights work)

 

 

[KingViv]

So, hitting it did nothing!

So, I took the panel off, using the below video as a guide...

Yes, it does have two bulbs, not LEDs, but they are not removable. 

Perhaps something about the panel is broken? Replacing is, physically easy, and the part is only £40*. But...apparently, replacing will require re-doing the immobiliser, and so actually it will cost more hundreds! (as in, more then I paid for the car!)

I certainly can't afford that, nor afford to be a replacement car. 

 

*"only" £40! that's a lot for me, but not much compared to the re-programming cost!

 

[isetta]

ummm…. watched video, that does look tricky.  and in case you did not know, it will fail the MOT if no illumination.

If it was mine, I would remove the console as per video, plug it back in, turn lights on and see if their is voltage (with a voltmeter) at the bulb terminals. if there is voltage there, then I assume the bulbs have failed. it must be possible to instal new bulbs with a bit more dismantling and soldering. If you can't solder and are not good an improvisation then it may need you to pay someone else to do it. eg. an electrical goods repair person.  if you really wanted to bodge it - although if done right it would work- get long nose pliers and destroy bulbs   connect some wire to light switch, run the wire up into speedo console, solder new bulbs on end of wires, wedge the bulbs into the relevant positions. make sure connector insulated to ensure no short circuits, but you need to do in such a way that the hot bulb surface does not melt anything. might not be a good idea if you really don't know what you're doing. DISCLAIMER - AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

[KingViv]

That was the solution i was starting to think about...

Until I realised that I am a forgetful idiot!

I 'knew' it was not a fuse problem as I had already checked all the fuses that were present. 

But...I forgot that I had moved a fuse to check a different issue, and not put it back. 

 

Thank you everyone for your help and sorry for wasting peoples time 😞

 

[zain611]

12 hours ago, KingViv said:

That was the solution i was starting to think about...

Until I realised that I am a forgetful idiot!

I 'knew' it was not a fuse problem as I had already checked all the fuses that were present. 

But...I forgot that I had moved a fuse to check a different issue, and not put it back. 

 

Thank you everyone for your help and sorry for wasting peoples time 😞

 

At least you found the problem 👍