Chevrolet Caprice Seat Belt Warning Bulb Size

Additional Notes

• The seat belt warning bulb position in the Chevrolet Caprice draws from three distinct bulb types across its model year range: the 194, the 168, and the PC161.
• All three bulb types share the T10 miniature wedge form factor and operate on a 12V circuit, conforming to ANSI standards recognized in both the United States and Canada.
• The 168 bulb is rated at 4.9W, making it the highest-wattage option among the three types specified for this application.
• The 194 bulb carries a lower rating of 3.78W. Although it shares the same T10 wedge base as the 168, the wattage difference means the two types are not electrically interchangeable without affecting circuit load.
• The PC161 is a variant of the T10 wedge family fitted with a printed circuit board twist-lock socket, a design intended specifically for instrument cluster assemblies that use PCB-mounted sockets rather than conventional wiring harness connectors.
• The Chevrolet Caprice used the 194 bulb for the seat belt warning indicator across the 1973-1977 model years, then again in 1979-1980 and 1984.
• The 168 bulb was specified for the 1978 model year, then continuously from 1981-1983 and again from 1985-1990, representing the most frequently recurring bulb type across this application.
• The PC161 replaced the 168 in the 1991-1992 model years, reflecting a shift to a printed circuit board socket configuration in the instrument cluster for those years.
• Because the PC161 uses a twist-lock PCB socket, it is physically distinct from the standard 168 wedge base used in the preceding model years, and the two types are not directly interchangeable despite sharing the T10 wedge profile.
• The 1984 model year stands as an isolated instance of the 194 bulb within an otherwise uninterrupted run of 168 bulbs spanning the surrounding years, indicating a year-specific fitment that differs from adjacent model years.