Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Whats Up With My Clock and Cruise buttons?

Here's the dealio:

My clock randomly lights up. Sometimes its on somtimes its not.

My cruise buttons don't light up. They never have so I'm not sure if this is normal or what.

I apologize if these are common problems, the search isn't up and I already checked the FAQ.

Thanks for the help guys.

There are no lights on the cruise control buttons. That would be a neat mod, though

For the clock, there is a replaceable bulb that you can get from http://www.partsexpress.com. Sorry, but I don't know which bulb to get since I haven't had one die on me yet. If its not the bulb you can try swiping a clock from a junked Contour or Mystique at the local salvage yard.

Interesting that the cruise controls don't light up... I've had quite a few fords and this is the first one that doesn't have illumination there.

As far as the clock, I'm pretty sure its not a bulb. I mean it does light up every once in a while and it stays on for a good amount of time. Usually about a day.

Ahh, I see what you're saying. Have you pulled the clock out of the dash yet? I'd suspect a bad wire or something. You may be able to get away with some solder and a small length of wire.

The clock bulb is about $5 at the Ford dealer...

Look closely at the contacts for the bulb in the clock - they get weak with time. As for the cruise buttons, several ford products don't have illuminated buttons - for instance ragners with dealer installed cruise. Don't worry about the 12V feed through the clock spring. What do you think the horn and cruise buttons operate on?