Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Fixed clock backlight in 5 minutes flat!

Thanks to the article's pointer, I finally decided to fix the clock backlight in my '96 LX.

However, I wasn't very handy with a soldering iron (BSEE degree notwithstanding), so I headed down to my local Ford dealer (I needed to pickup some small parts any way).

The clock assembly itself costs abotu $60. However, a quick check of the computer shows that the light bulb can be purchased separately to the tune of $5.75.

So I popped the corner piece off, then slide the clock module out of the dash, and disconnect the socket. I then use a snall socket wrench to turn the bulb to disengage it, put in the new one, reconnect the socket, fit the module back, pop the corner piece back, and adjust the clock.

Total time elapsed: less than five minutes.

you say you not too good at soldering??? well i am pretty good at soldering and find it impossible to solder a light bulb to the small aluminum part that holds the light bulb in... you think that is why they used alum. so you had to buy a new bulb that should cost 50 cents and pay over $5.00 for it.....

When my light to my clock blow. I took out the light blub went to my local Advance Auto Parts they did not have the same blub as a needed at the time. So i purchased a blub the was just a little bit bigger but it worked when I put it in. The light costed my less than $1.00 at the time which was like 2yrs ago. I did not use any tools since it was a little bigger it fit right in and it does not fall out.

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96 Contour GL

The problem I had when I tried soldering a bulb to the clock is that the bulb's leads would not take solder. The solder would simply not stick to them.

Thanks for posting this , I read it earlier today and went out and picked up the bulb from a local Linc-Merc dealer for about $4.50 and a few minutes later I could read my clock again!

i did the same thing but went to autozone and got two bulbs for $2.00. it lasted for about 4 months... then tried the other bulb.. i could not bend the wires on the bulb and get it to stay in place.... i then tried to solder the wires to the bulb like the original setup, but discovered that the metal inside the light cover was aluminum, not steel so i could not solder it....seems that when the setup is made its welded onto the alum. metal.. i cold not duplicate that and just broke down and got the $5.00 bulb.. probably the last one i will ever have to get....

When, i changed mine to and LED, it soddered to the pieces just fine. took a while though. If I can find some pics, I will post them.