I was about to find replacement bulbs made by Sylvania for the instrustment cluster applications. However, the bulbs appear sealed. Any advice on how to make the contacts necessary within the small black/blue buld housings?

 

Answering my own post...

The 2721 Sylvania bulbs do have leads that are flush against the base of the glass. You will need to run your finger along the side as if you might be feeling for a small thorn in your skin. Peel back the wire leads so that they are perpendicular to the bulb. You may have read elsewhere that you will have to solder these wires to the connectors in the small plastic housing. I did not because it appears that the wires coming from the replacement bulbs is actually thicker and more robust than the originals.

I carefully snipped the old wire off of the connector and cleaned it. I then re-inserted the them into the plastic holder until the barbs engaged (without the bulb). Repeat for the second side. Now, with the connectors in place in the holder, I *SLOWLY* pushed the new bulb into place in the plastic holder. Remember, the new bulb has the wire out perpendicularly and it will fold back toward the bulb, flaring toward the top. This is enough to have the bulb make a positive connection in the close quarters of that housing. It is essentially a press fit. I checked the contacts and re-installed as normal. After power up, all light came on and work fine.

I hope this helps.

 

Thank you for posting this.
I only ever heard about the soldering way as well.

 

Sounds like the same thing I did to the bulbs in my head unit one time too.