Gauge cluster bulbs - LED replacements?

soarer.jzz30

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soarer.jzz30

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Light up needles. This is really not worth the time, but no one else has it and looks stock
 

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EvilStig

New member
I just went off the deep end and am making my own LED bulbs to stand in for the neo wedge ones. Wish me luck.

I'll post pictures when I'm done, but I went with amber for the cluster backlight since I think it'll shine through the yellow and orange needles well, while not burning my retinas at night.
 

EvilStig

New member
So what did y'all do about the rear defrost button?

GQ1OYgH.png


5mm LED for scale
 

underscore

Well-known member
Since this still seems to be a (somewhat) active thread, has anyone else got a car with no light dimmer knob? There's a hole for it in the dash with a blanking plate over it, and the lights all seem to be stuck at half brightness (compared to my GTS which does have a dimmer). The result being everything looks hideous at night, and I can't see a darn thing. I assume there's something hidden somewhere that's dimming everything but I can't find any trace of it in the parts diagrams. I want to find it and remove it so I get full brightness.
 

Mty Mous

New member
EvilStig":3dj31r5l said:
So what did y'all do about the rear defrost button?

GQ1OYgH.png


5mm LED for scale


So it looks like a good option might be the T3, T4 or T5 LED's from SuperBrightLED's ... but you will need to do some leg work on your end by taking some measurements of the base and bulb's dimensions to find the right one.

The link below is for the different sized T3 LED NEO replacements...
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... l-led/221/

-Thuwa
 

r-town

Member
EvilStig":3honb41d said:
So what did y'all do about the rear defrost button?

GQ1OYgH.png


5mm LED for scale

Maybe this is off topic, but how does one take apart the hvac control unit without damaging the button covers? I want to change the bulbs as well.
 

FC Zach

Active member
r-town":3ql8km34 said:
Maybe this is off topic, but how does one take apart the hvac control unit without damaging the button covers? I want to change the bulbs as well.

I had one break into pieces and I wasn't even trying to take it apart, I think I was just removing it from the bezel. . . or maybe I was (I don't remember for certain) but regardless, I can say the buttons are delicate. I ended up gluing it back together.
 

Mty Mous

New member
Yup, my Re-circ button fell off as I was taking it off of the bezel as well.
need to figure out how to pull that Rear Defrost switch like in the pic above.
 

aus jd 2703

New member
has anyone found a way to use an LED globe for the fuel warning light?

might always dimmly glows since going to led. have tested with standard globes and works as it should just something to do with the LED's
 

EvilStig

New member
r-town":3rqsu3bv said:
Maybe this is off topic, but how does one take apart the hvac control unit without damaging the button covers? I want to change the bulbs as well.

very carefully.

It all disassembles from the back. You need to pull the dash and unscrew everything on the back end, and there are some plastic clips holding certain parts in which may take some delicate manipulation to avoid breaking them.



Here's how mine turned out. The hvac buttons didn't come out great since despite my best efforts I just couldn't get even light distribution using the LEDs that I could fit in the back of the panel.

Hardest part by far though was the cigarette lighter socket. Had to completely dismantle and desolder the OEM bulb and replace the internals with the LED, and find a way to angle the LED at the little window in the corner of its socket.
 

Mty Mous

New member
Wow that looks great! I didn't have as much luck with my climate control module, but I got my gauge cluster exactly how I wanted … so climate control module will have to be a project for later this year.

Seeing yours gives me motivation to tackle it again.
 

EvilStig

New member
Mty Mous":17nh6s31 said:
Wow that looks great! I didn't have as much luck with my climate control module, but I got my gauge cluster exactly how I wanted … so climate control module will have to be a project for later this year.

Seeing yours gives me motivation to tackle it again.

if you have any questions let me know. The tricky thing with a lot of them was the bulbs being too tiny to put in a good replacement, and/or having sockets which were odd enough nobody sold a unit made for it. I got most of my parts from superbrightleds.com and assembled the smaller bulbs by soldering together a through-hole LED and resistor in series, then threading the free ends of the contacts into the socket. They're non-reversible so required some trial and error.
 

r-town

Member
FC Zach":1dzgmw0l said:
r-town":1dzgmw0l said:
Maybe this is off topic, but how does one take apart the hvac control unit without damaging the button covers? I want to change the bulbs as well.

I had one break into pieces and I wasn't even trying to take it apart, I think I was just removing it from the bezel. . . or maybe I was (I don't remember for certain) but regardless, I can say the buttons are delicate. I ended up gluing it back together.

I tried to put back a re-circulation button and the little white tabs on the HVAC unit gave up, broken into pieces. I simply used some glue to hold it back together. Given the age of the car, everything that I try to remove or reinstall, something break... :cry:
 

underscore

Well-known member
EvilStig":287v0ntu said:
It all disassembles from the back. You need to pull the dash and unscrew everything on the back end, and there are some plastic clips holding certain parts in which may take some delicate manipulation to avoid breaking them.

Which clips do I need to undo? I'm just trying to swap the backlight bulbs but the glass for one is stuck in there somehow so I need to get the board out to retrieve it.

I've got all the screws I can find out, the bulb behind the blue holder if the messed up one.

GFG2JmW.jpg
 

underscore

Well-known member
I got it sorted, the buttons for the fan speed and the position selector need to come off for the board to come out. The clips holding the buttons on are fairly fragile so be careful. As for the stuck bulb, it somehow melted the plastic diffuser piece around itself when it blew.
 
aus jd 2703":r17yazv3 said:
has anyone found a way to use an LED globe for the fuel warning light?

might always dimmly glows since going to led. have tested with standard globes and works as it should just something to do with the LED's
Sorry for the nearly year-late response...but I just changed all my lighting to LED and my fuel warning glows fully after switching. I think it may have something to do with the resistance on the circuit from the fuel level sender, similar to what Simba mentions about the Air Bag and Battery warning lights on page 2. May just have to live with a standard bulb for this one :shrug:
 
I guess you can't upload an Excel spreadsheet here?

Here is a list of all the bulbs in an ST165:
I just changed all my bulbs to LED...

ST165 LED Bulb List.JPG
 
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