Left side of dash lights out in wife's Subaru Outback. Is there a fuse on this? Any clues?

one side of my ranger's dash is out(just the light). when i drive at night i often have to find the flashlight to check the fuel level. but i'm not pulling the dash for a bulb...at least not yet

Well if its like most of the clusters I works with there is a clear plastic circuit board on the back with copper tracers. Most of the time its just a blown bulb(s) or worse yet a bad tracer (cracked). So if its a bad tracer I would just solder a jump wire in...

It's been way too many years. Back before the dawn of time, I recall reaching behind & replacing bulbs in a bayonette socket... I can't imagine pulling a cluster just to change a stupid bulb. The scrapes from changing her headlight bulbs haven't healed yet.My hands must be getting soft... I used to lay over engines, crawl into all sorts of cramped quarters... I never used to get scaped up this much. (Come to think of it, I was a bunch thinner to crawl into those spaces. LOL!)Russ

Funny... I wish... In all my dodges I've always had to pull the cluster out... 77 Dodge Motorhome (Van head), 73 Charger SE, 78 Dodge Magnum XE... All of them require removal... So as for being able to reach up and change a bulb... Never heard of it yet...

If I could remenber what vehicle I did it on, I could give you an era. The actual bulb sat into a knob with 2 flat sides. Easier to get out than back in again. I might even have some remnants in my parts bins? (Pack rat syndrome.)

What does it take to pull an instrument cluster? I'm thinking I don't want to go there... but humor me.

---------- Post added at 01:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:03 AM ----------

I found the following:

http://greensboring.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=9550

http://www.ehow.com/how_5828981_change-dashboard-lights-subaru-forester.html