WTF? is this thing

[dammitmitchell]

hey guys
i was diggin through my dash and found a random bulb hanging on what appeared to be a cable connected to my ashtray coin tray area
well said cable was basic plastic version of fiber cable, it took the light from the bulb and put it into the coin tray
is this like a sneaky way of making sure that people are not just hiding the check engine light?
i still have the bulb holder and cable if you need pictures..
but what in the world is it?

[Square84]

my 84 has it it just uses the light from the dash to light up the ash tray so you know where to ash at

[dammitmitchell]

Originally Posted by Square84

my 84 has it it just uses the light from the dash to light up the ash tray so you know where to ash at

ahh well crap on me ha ha ha, i guess i need to put it back in =-)
thought it was somethign else whoops retard me..
thank you

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

LOL ha yea sounds just like a light for your ashtray to me.

[babyJay]

If you leave it out, Cheech and Chong won't be able to raid your ashtray for roaches.

[Motodrew]

How much light does this put out? I don't even see a bulb...

[motornut]

if thats a fiber optic cable then follow it back to the bulb it gets it light from

[tucsonjwt]

It is a fiber optic light connected to the back of one of the instrument panel lights. You have to look real close to see the small amount of light it provides for the ash tray. I don't see how it has any value, since you can barely see the light - if you need to use it for your cigarette/cigar ashes I guess it might help some. Some vehicles in the 60s -80s had an actual courtesy light controlled by a switch in the center of the dash which could double as a map light which I think made a lot more sense.

[Motodrew]

Strange. It has a black tip. I don't understand how light passes through it. I'll check it out in pure darkness sometime.

[68Timber]

I had an 83 once that had the light still working and I was smoking in the car back then. It worked well.

[motornut]

it would dim with the dash lights too
very faint but see-able(if thats a word lol) at night
if the glass of the bulb is burnt,or burnt out it will be darkish
but you can take it out, and try it,holding it to any light,and the light will bend threw the "tube" of "glass".
these days the high tec fibre optics is ajusted for best light/signal coming threw
back then it just went "in the hole"

[motornut]

not a good shot just happened to find the source for that "light" in my 89
and it turns into the cluster

[grs]

Originally Posted by Motodrew

Strange. It has a black tip. I don't understand how light passes through it. I'll check it out in pure darkness sometime.

If the tip is black take some sand paper and sand the tip til it is clean. That should help.

[TKCR]

I know this is an old thread, but i have this thing hanging lose with no bulb. Where in the cluster does this go?
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1318465812

[bradford]

yep. the fiber optic cable that almost everybody asks about. Even me. I thought it was a cut wire at first.

[jetmech85]

I believe it goes into a socket behind the fuel gauge. Picks up power from the circuit board. I removed mine when I installed LED's.

[TKCR]

I'm putting in LED's also and adding a clock. I got the whole cluster out and then I found that just hanging there.

So I'll put an LED in it and reattach to the cluster when I put it back together.

[grs]

My 87 had one. It went to a bulb in the dash, and then to the shift indicator.

[jetmech85]

I was thinking the LED's I used were sort of "directional" and the fiber optic wouldn't pick up any light from the side of the bulb so I just left if out. May add a small LED for the ash tray in the future.

[motornut]

It's usually stuck in a top right cluster hole
and over to a small square hole over the ashtray

[jjzepplin]

It might be black on the end from someone hitting it with a cigarette.

[chengny]

You should try it, you might be surprised. They actually work pretty good - give a nice, low level illumination to the ashtray area.

Not really sure of their purpose however - maybe to help guide your smoke to the ashtray when it was time to flick the ashes off. Never needed it, I always used the vent window for ash flicking.

[Just call me Sean]

That fiber optic cable stuff is pretty cool. My Cadillac had them on the fender markers and above the rear window, so you can tell if bulbs or headlights are blown out from the drivers seat.