This isnt my first car that had a shifter illuminater light that either flat-out didn’t work or just worked intermittently. ive gotten so used to it by now that i know what gear im puting it in by muscle memory. it is probably a good thing to have working however, because theres always gonna be this one time. anyway but i decided to try to fix it; lemme tell ya: that was interesting at best. i was also going to try to see what was up with the e-brake sensor, it was coming on and off at random, saying the e-brake was being applied, when it wasnt.
Something to think about:
If you are going to be ripping all of the dash apart, it may be the ideal time to buy a set of LEDs and change the colour of the lights in your dash, guage cluster, and immuminated accessories. like so,
Fair Warning:
to all you mechanic folk who may read this, idk what all the terminoligy used to name the internal trim pieces, so im just going to make them up as i go along,
anyway…
To start, you need to remove the center console. its a bit of a pain, not gonna lie.
you will need a socket set and a socket extension tool. there are 2 bolts in the bottom of the large pocket in the center console, between the seats. there is a felt pad covering the console pocket. mine is loose, i just moved it and accessed the bolts.
down on the side of the console exists 2 screws, one on each side. they are about a inch past the seam where the console piece and dash piece meet. my car had screw holes buy no screws. take them out and then lift and pull the console out of its place, best way is to pull it out towards the back seat, and slide the e-brake handle through it.
grab a flat-head screwdriver and gently pry up the trim insert thats surrounding the shifter assembly. mine is wrapped in tape in the photo.
locate the thumbscrews on the kick panels in the footwells in the corner next to the door and under the dash on either side.
there is one panel on each side. remove or pry back said panel enough to access the sneaky bastard screw behind
there will also be a screw in each footwell under the dash opposite to where the screw that was under the kick plate. remove them.
look under the glove box. there are screws that are holding it in place.
remove them and now the glove box should be loose and come out.
move on to the controls on the dash, above the shifter
remove the ash tray, and take that flat-head, and pry the insert that surrounds the controls and the storage box out.
hopefully you already use the e-brake when parked, but apply the e-brake, and put the car into neutral gear (engine can be off) and remove the screws holding the storage box in-place. you will not be able to get the box out if you dont move the shifter.
undo the screws holding in the climate control cluster in-place, but dont try to pull it out; let it dangle.
On the drivers side, you will need to give the plastic panel under the steering wheel a yank to unclip it, but you only need to unclip the right side.
now you will have to pry the center dash piece out of where it is. make sure all the screws are out. you will have to maneuver that out, it may take a few minutes.
your car should look similar.
now you should have access to the screws holding down the cover for the shifter assembly. remove those and unclip the lighting assembly from the shifter cover.
you now should be able to pull the illuminator out.
the bulb is in this housing. i managed to pry it out with a pair of needle-nose. very tricky, very easy to bust the bulb, and then you will have to dig the broken bulb out of the housing.
looks burnt out to me. i had some extra bulbs that go into the guage cluster that i got at a pick-n-pull, and they are the same. i also pulled off the green plastic cap. this cap changes the colour of the bulbs light, so now its yellowish instead of green.
assembly is easy(er) now that you took it all apart.
i found this to be a good time to install optional LED lights for the asthethic. i had a strand of blue fairy lights from the dollar store that i routed behind it all, about the footwells, and up into the glove box
