FL 70 help

[CJC]

Brand new to the forum. I've searched other threads to avoid redundancy. I hope I didn't miss anything. I have a 2002 FL 70 crew cab. Like many of you, I'm not impressed with the dash, heater, and other cab comforts. I have dash lights out, no dome lights and a poor heater.

My questions are;

Is there a place to buy aftermarket dash / instrument clusters, preferably LED?
If not, how's the best way to change dash lights? Can I buy replacement LED bulbs to cut down on heat?

Same goes for heater and controls that you can actually turn the dials?

Where can I buy owners manuals without paying out the wazoo at dealership?

Thanks in advance for the help and for the website!

 

[greasytshirt]

Brand new to the forum. I've searched other threads to avoid redundancy. I hope I didn't miss anything. I have a 2002 FL 70 crew cab. Like many of you, I'm not impressed with the dash, heater, and other cab comforts. I have dash lights out, no dome lights and a poor heater.

My questions are;

Is there a place to buy aftermarket dash / instrument clusters, preferably LED?
If not, how's the best way to change dash lights? Can I buy replacement LED bulbs to cut down on heat?

Same goes for heater and controls that you can actually turn the dials?

Where can I buy owners manuals without paying out the wazoo at dealership?

Thanks in advance for the help and for the website!

The thing about retrofitting LED lights in a dash cluster is that you're not going to have linear dimming with the dimmer rheostat. But the FL70 will probably never suffer from gauges that are too bright.

I doubt there is any aftermarket parts for this. You may even have to graft LEDs to the bulb's old bases. Keep in mind that LEDs are diodes and can only be hooked up one way.

Superbrightleds.com is one source.

Heater controls: you can try lubing the cables and mechanisms with something like a silicone spray. The entire control mechanism isn't too awfully hard to replace, and if yours is mangled I'd consider that. If you've got a heater control valve that's hard to move, I'd replace that before mangling new controls attached to it.

Check eBay for manuals. They will be hard to find and expensive. If your local repair shop has Mitchell 1, and you have a good rapport with them, they can print off whatever info you need.

Sent from my XT1585 using EO Forums mobile app

 

[greasytshirt]

For janky heaters, you'll have to ensure that the cabin air filter (if equipped) and heater core fins are cleaned regularly. You may have to remove the core and blow it out/replace it if it's really bad. Depending on the construction of the heater core, previous mixing of incompatible coolants in the cooling system can clog up the innards bad enough that no heat will transfer though it. Plate and fin cores are susceptible to clogging like this.

Sent from my XT1585 using EO Forums mobile app

 

[greasytshirt]

Also, blower motors have a finite lifespan. When they start using more juice, the blower switch, blower motor resistor, and various connectors are all susceptible to meltdown.

Sent from my XT1585 using EO Forums mobile app

 

[Joe Mavrik]

My cousin has a 2001 Freightliner semi, not sure the model.... His gauges took 194 bulbs. His were individual gauges not a cluster.

Those are easily replaceable with LED's found in most any part stores.

If you can post a pic of your dash I'm sure I can find you replacement bulbs.