[Robert]

You may have to unscrew the dash and get to it .. mine the top cover just pulls up for easy access , I had mine out the other day to change light bulbs , some of the gauges are a little darker than others , but the bulbs where working , did not check to see if the ones that are brighter had same bulbs as the ones that are a little darker… But easy to get to if you take a bulb out of the brighter one you can try that , In the darker one see if the makes it brighter ,they don’t work when you pull socket out of gauge on the speedometer , but when you touch it to gauge like you where going to put it back in the bulb works , I think it’s gets its ground from the gauge , at least mine does…. Hope that helps..:). Just went out to bus and my air gauges are a little dimmer than the others too couple others are like that too does not bother me.

[Alvie]

sounds like weak grounds

[Rick & Denise]

It is the three air gauges that are just a little darker than the others , not by much

[Archived]

The dash gauge lights are lousy. They are too dim for old eyes and the bulbs do fail.

You have to pull the dash, tip it toward you and you will see on the side of each gauge is a bulb you can pull out and replace. I have gotten the bulbs from Prevost and WW Grainger. It is not difficult, but more of an annoyance given the number of times I have had to replace bulbs over the years.

[Peter]

Make sure your dimmer is cranked all the way up.

[Peter]

My dimmer is all the way up , I am going to replace mine with blue digital gauges easier to see should look cool and put in temp gauge for inside temp and outside temp had them in my Peterbilt way easier to see

[Bob]

” I am going to replace mine with blue digital gauges easier to see should look cool and put in temp gauge for inside temp and outside temp had them in my Peterbilt way easier to see”

Please tell us the story when you do this. What make/model of gauges are you going to use?

[Mike]

“I sure will what year are you looking for , a 40 footer or 45 footer”

45. 97 to 99. IFS.

[Michael]

Here’s another trick you can use if you don’t want to change out the gauges. I had dim lighting on my 97 Marathon, so I removed all the 24 volt gauge mini bulbs and replaced with 12v. Now before you go nuts thinking I lost my mind, it’s a simple matter of turning the dimmer all the way down and then ease it back up until you get 13 -14 volts and then mark the setting on the knob. Lights were nice and bright, made a big difference. Of course if you sell the bus, better tell the buyer not to crank up the dimmer.:)

Those little tiny bulbs are 12 or 24.

[Bob]

Thanks for the tips. The dimness does not bother me much but I do not want it dark.

DKO

[Peter]

[Archived]

I was just wondering if you repaced you analog guages with the digital ones? I want to do the same on my 97 Angola but don’t know where to buy them or if its possible. Thanks for the help.

Jason

[Archived]

I had to replace a lot of my gauge lights last week too. About half of them were burnt out. Once I tipped the dash panel forward and started pulling the light sockets, I found that most of them were kinda melted. I replaced the bulbs and put it all back together. When I went to test them, it didn’t take long till I started smelling plastic.

I like the idea of the 12v bulbs not turned up all the way. Are there other options? Like LEDs that don’t get as hot? Are all the coach lights 24v? My outside marker lights have been converted to LED but some of them are burned out, and others are dim. I need to figure out what to buy to replace them. Thanks.

[Bob]

The gauges on XL coaches (I am not sure about early H models) look like they could be replaced with some digital gauges. I say some because not all are electric. The air pressure gauges have an air line to them. The speedo might be specific to the coach, Another problem might be the fuel gauge and the fact the voltage is 24.

Some folks have created a digital dash using Silverleaf and an ipad (I think). That might be the way to go. The question is if it is worth the $$$$$$$.

[Dale]

If you watch the NASCAR races on TV, especially the night races, you’ll see that most of the teams have gone from mechanical gauges to fancy electronic gauges with stepper motors and technology that changes the color and causes them to flash depending how each individual gauge is programmed. Something like that would probably look pretty slick on the dash of a prevost. In addition to the analog display, you can also get digital readout and probalby memory to give you maximum reading since the last reset.

Or … if you’re into steam punk … you can go down that route.