2001 continental

[Soundmonkey]

I recently purchased a 2001 continental. 150k miles, great body, etc. Drives great, but the Service Engine Soon light does not illuminate when I start the car, so I am unable to pass inspection so I can get a tag.

Is there a dedicated fuse for the MIL? Or could the lamp just be out,or worse?

If it were the lamp, how would i go about pulling the instrument cluster out? I had the dash pulled apart, but could barely get the cluster to move, due to the steering column being in the way.

I have extensively googled this, with little to no help... Every result is either a site reviewing the car or trying to sell parts.

Time is ticking down to get it registered and I'd rather not go to a shop if I can help it...

Thanks!
JB
The Soundmonkey

 

[continental randy]

I dont know about a fuse for the check engine light, but if you have the dash almost out then check the bulb. It could be a LED bulb, some are soldered in and rarely burn out. You need to drop the steering column down to remove the cluster safely without breaking parts. Its easy to do, remove cover below column remove two 13mm headed nuts and lower column down. If you have column shift be careful not to break the cable that goes from shifter to the dash. This little cable can be easily broken so lower column slowly .

 

[Soundmonkey]

Thanks, Randy.
The lamps are little #39 lamps. The sockets are connected to a PC board that also drives all of the gauges. I'm going to try to find LED's to fit, there are about 10 warning lamps in the cluster, I think it would be worth it to swap those out, so I never have to worry about it again.
I also swapped some of the gear indicator lights that had burned out while I had the cluster taken apart.
I was a little skittish about messing with the steering column, I'm kinda gun-shy with the airbags... But once I saw the mechanics of lowering the column it all made sense.

Unfortunately I started a bit too late this evening, and the sun went down and I ran out of light, so I'll have to ride the motorcycle to work in the morning, but I've never been known to complain about that.