How to replace the LED light bulb in a 90’s Ford

After driving the farm truck around not knowing what station the radio was on or worse - what time it was, I started to look into how to fix the display on the radio.  I first looked at the Ford website to get the part number for the radio www.fordparts.com – part # 18806.  And if you looked it up, yes that is correct, it is over $400 new through Ford.

I then checked Ebay “ford radio 18806” and you can find some more reasonable options available for replacement.  I found one bulb replacement item that looked like it would help for my situation of the LED not lighting up.  It was a couple bucks so I bought this and it was delivered with some simple instructions which I will go over shortly.  It didn’t mention this, but it would help if you had the radio out already.

Before starting, my advice for getting the radio out would be to pick up one of these at Amazon or a local auto store “ford radio removal tool”.  They are a couple of bucks and well worth it.

This tool locks in and releases the tabs so that the radio can be taken out.  I’ve seen some sites where others used coat hangers for this purpose but they didn’t seem to work too well for me.  Maybe even made it worse if the tabs get bent.  These go in about 1/4 inch and lock.

Once the radio is out, you can unplug the antenna and other connections and you are ready to replace the bulb.

There is one tab on the back that needs to be opened and then the top of the radio slides off with a little prying.  Once open, you can see the where the bulb housing is and you can simply turn it counterclockwise and it will release and you can remove the bulb

Here is the old bulb vs the new bulb.

Reverse the procedure for install (insert new bulb, clockwise into housing, slide cover back on, reapply tab).

I found it best to take out the install tools at this point with a flat screwdriver before installing it back into the truck.  Reconnect your connections.  On the dash, there is a rail that the radio slides on so that needs to be lined up properly and the radio slides back in.

If you did all of this, you should have a bright new display.  And now I can clearly see…that the LED panel is all messed up so I at least know half of the station I am on.