Day time lighting instrament panel
 

i All,
New here.....
I have a great 2008 ford F-150 stx V8 4.6L engine recently purchased and love it BUT....:eek:.
The instrument panel is VERY difficult to read during the day time hours. As an example you cant see the fuel gauge, etc. An accident ready to happen. Very poorly designed if thats what Ford did. Night driving, no issue.
I have 3 other vehicals and none have this issue.
Without turning on the headlights and driving during daylight hours with the headlights on, is there anything I'm missing?
Thx,,,:glare:

Moved to 2004-2008.

This confuses me. Are you saying you cant see the lights in the instrument panel (which only come on with your park/head lights)? Or are you saying you literally cant see the gas gauge? Don't take offense but if you cant see the gas gauge during the daylight its either not there, the clear plastic is completely fogged over, or you need glasses. Can you take a picture of the problem for us?

Agreed^

Also agree.

I have absolutely no issues seeing any part of the instrument cluster day or night with the lights on or off.

Please post a pic to show what you're speaking of.

Confused *itching head*

My eye site is perfect and there I is no fog on the plastic.
I will post a photo tomorrow.
The gas gauge is located on the left side of the panel. The arms of the other gauges only lite up red when the headlights come on unlike any other vehical's I own.:eek:

So you're saying... you literally just can't see white letters on a black background with a red needle? Also that your other vehicles light up the dash lights (or at least the needles) even when the headlights are off?

I am so confused..... You might have an accident if you cant see your fuel gauge?

Attachment 442574

This is a crappy photo off the Internet of roughly what you have I can read nearly everything on it. If I was sitting 2 foot away I could easily read it all.

From left to right: gas, battery, speedo, temp, and oil....

Correct.
There is no needle or backlighting during daylight hours. Only if I turn on head lamps which makes viewing meters very diffacult. I Evan have to put my hand on the side of the panel to block out any daylight that interferes like to shade the panel.
I'll take a photo and post it tomorrow.
But the feeling I'm getting here is that there is no kind of illumination that ford provided during daylight hours.

See, that has been pulled from a truck that the owner had smashed into a telephone pole while trying to read the fuel gauge. Poor example........:laughing:

Correct. Because it's simply not needed.

While I think it's an interesting idea to light the gauges during the day I've never owned a vehicle that illuminated them during the day. Also I've never once had a problem seeing my gauges during the day and probably won't be able to even tell if the gauges were illuminated during the day. Still hard to believe you have prefect vision and can't see the gauges during the day. Do you live 3 feet from the sun? Lol

It is needed to see the gauges clearly and guickly which can't be done here. Your attention must be focused on them instead of the road.
I'll post a photo for all to see, and I will stop by my local ford dealer to see what their service tech has to say about this. I was hoping to get some quick answers or something that is usual from this forum about this issue. It's real.

I have 3 other vehical's that illuminate during daylight for better visibility... Thier red needles illuminate anytime the ignition is turned on.
Granted, their a bit more pricey then this vehical is, and probably have higher safty standards.

I don't know. I think from 2 feet away if I had textured black background like these with gloss black numbers and needles I could easily see them. I'm beginning to think this is a joke so before I make someone feel bad my last advice is maybe stop by the eye doctor before the dealership. I'll wait for a picture.

:lifted eyebrow:

Thanks for your humor but it must be a eye epidemic going around here in Malibu as 6 others I've shown this to ALL agree....
So it it must be a local eye condition that needs examination.
Maybe the Zica virus is spreading or there are people here that they think they see the panel clearly... LOL

I can see all my gauges just fine during the day without lights on. The best we can do is wait for your photo and hopefully see what you're talking about.

Maybe you're just accustomed to your other cars and need to get used to this. Maybe your cluster has some defect, dunno until I can see it.

Are you saying that our eyebrows that are 6" long should be trimmed.
That's the style here.
Maybe fords shouldn't be sold here?

Can you get on with it and post the picture, please?

I will tomorrow... Thanks for your good advise and good resolve. the truck is not at my home now, it's at my business building garage.

So what are your other 3 more luxurious vehicles while we are waiting for the picture?

3 different Lexus models GS, SC and LX.
All different years

Probably should have bought a Honda Ridgeline and not a F150

You need to get back to your Pokeymon go game now...

Your advise is not needed.

Okay, I will. But just remember, I can see my instrument cluster.

That's the Kind answers I Expected to hear, not sarcasm.

I don't understand? So you can see all your other gauges but the gas gauge? This is what your gauge cluster clocks like right? Sorry for the snake but this is a pov.

This is the first time in all my years on this site that someone has stated they cannot see or "read" their gauges during the day. I can only assume that you drive during a time frame where glare is an issue coming through the side windows.

If that's the case, consider tinting the glass. If glare is not the issue, then I'm as confused as everyone else.

And a picture of your situation would be helpful, so we can see what you're seeing (or not seeing).

Picture yet?

Ok.. Here are some photos taken today... this is petty acurate as to what I see.

I can see the fuel gauge just fine. You need fuel.

I also dont understand why people run their vehicles so low on fuel. Fill up at 1/4 tank and you'll never have to worry.

I stopped by the ford dealer today and was asked to come back tomorrow as their instrument panel guy was off today. But the fellow I spoke to said he didn't think the pointers or the panel is illuminated in daylight driving for a 2008, but he wasn't sure.

this is a large ford dealer in the area so I was surprised about the one man only opinion. Haven't dealt with ford before, I have had only one brand for the past 20 yrs and never left with a question unanswered, but every place is different.

That's correct. 04-08 gen do not have any lights on the instrument cluster when your lights aren't on.

Drive with your park lights on if you find it helps.

Honestly, looking at your pics, I don't understand how you can't see it. I can see your fuel gauge perfectly.

Maybe you're just too used to your other cars. I've had my 08 f150 for over 8 years and am totally used to it.

Seems like you need to just give it time. There's nothing you can do, your cluster is normal.

That's strange, try looking while driving....
The side gauges look dark to evryone that has seen them including the Ford tech today, that's why he recommended I come back tomorrow.

Low gas was because I was at a filling station to fill it up and I was checking gas milage, So I let it run very low to get a complete fill up. I know that isnt a good idea, it was just once... It was the 1st fill up vs milage, but you are right.
We never let our tanks go below 1/4

There's nothing wrong with your cluster. Going back will honestly be a waste of time.

"Try looking while driving." Yeah, I have don't that many times in the 8+ years I've had this truck and haven't had a problem seeing the fuel gauge.

How does your cluster look at night? Can you see all the gauges or are there any dark areas?

You may be right, just getting use to it and I am use to my other vehicles...
I'm going to just ask ford if they can alter some electronics to see if they can illuminate with the ignition switch, just for the heck of it.

But thx to all... Love the truck, it's like new..... I've been driving it instead of my other cars for a week now.:thumbsup:

PERFECT at night

Gotcha. You have no issues with the cluster then.

You might want to swap the incandescent bulbs to some brighter LEDs, too. That would brighten up the cluster even more.

Swapped all of mine out.

Attachment 569119

6500k LEDs will make it more of a true green though.

I see the fuel gauge clear as day as to what you say"pretty accurate of what I see" I don't understand how you can't see it. Move your head an inch or two if you can't see it. Move you wheel up or down with the tilt if the wheels blocking it I'm still confused

I am confused here. I can see it just fine. Is this a joke?

I sure hope it's a joke, I see it clear as day and my eyeballs aren't what they used to be...

I am 43 and my eyes are nowhere perfect, but that gas gauge is just as visible as any other gauge on that cluster.

Is it possible that there are scratches/haze on the clear cluster cover, or even dust on the inside? I agree, I see it just fine, but I will say that when I did my Lariat cluster swap, I installed a new clear face and it was much 'brighter' in there and easier to see without the glare...

I'm with ya, I'm 46 and I see it clear as can be. Wondering how this guy passed the dmv eye test...

I agree there's a ton of glare on your cluster. Perhaps window tint would help resolve this issue. I can see the fuel gauge just fine as well, but the middle of the gauge cluster not so much.

Do you drive with really dark sunglasses or anything? Maybe try polarized glasses if this is the case. Any update from the dealer?

If mine looked like yours I'd b thrilled...
I will ask about your great suggestion.
Thanks

The dash does not illuminate without your park/headlights on. Your dash is normal. I highly doubt a Ford dealership will alter your dash like that. Looks perfectly fine to me. Even as a small picture on my phone I can easily see your gauges.

Unfortunately, if you wanted LEDs in your cluster, that would be something you'd have to do yourself. No Ford dealer would ever do something like that.

Well, Didn't get a chance to get back to the dealer today, I will do it on Monday.

But the photos I posted were using the flash.. Here's one without the flash.

I'll get back after hearing what the dearler say's about it... Also, I will examine an aftermarket back-lit whatever.

trying to upload

I have a similar problem. During the day, the instrument panel lights go off. I can not read int 'info' screen. Turning lights on or off has no effect. It appears to have a daylight sensor some where. I would love to disable it and have the dash lights on 24/7. Any ideas. Yes I hav e checked the dimmer switch. At night all the lights are bright and easy to read.

The info screen should be brighter during the day, then dims at night. You more than likely just have a bad bulb.

Is there more than one bulb for the 'info' screen? One for day and another for night? If so, that makes sense. If not, the info screen is bright at night. I thought maybe there was an auto dimmer feature that adjusted for daylight. Turning the headlights on/off does not have an effect on the info screen. During the day it is just very dim.

Nope. There's just one bulb in there. You could put a brighter led in there, but it'll blind you at night.

If you can't see it during the day, the bulb is bad. You are more than likely getting residual illumination from the other instrument lights at night.
It should be this bright during the day:

One thing I have noticed is I have a difficult time reading the message display screen when I wear my sunglasses (they are polarized) so it basically disappears; however, can see fine without my shades.