LED Dash Lights
05-02-2013, 09:26 PM
#162
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wow this mod took me the whole day. mainly because i had to look and try around different tools. the 12mm nuts holding the actual steering column are torqued really tight and there is little room to find leverage. tip: use a telescopic 12mm socket to your hand can clear the forest of wires and you can put some decent torque on the nut!
yeah this mod was a major PITA i must say. ended up dropping nuts inside the dash and had to look for em, ended up having a few LEDs not light up so had to pull em out to switch polarity. at the end of it all my volume knob still intermittently goes on and off independent of road/driving conditions. might be a fuse. also the LEDs are not as bright as I thought they were going to be. I got them from autolumination.com, they were the base-type LED and not the fancier/brighter ones they carry. now I kind of wish I got the brighter ones but i also would rather not do this mod again for a while such a PITA haha
here are some pics, also changed the plate no lights:
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r...emo/photo3.jpg
so all were orange typeA bulbs and the A/C side got 4 white typeB bulbs. i have no idea why its not fully illuminating the A/C vent selector.
yeah this mod was a major PITA i must say. ended up dropping nuts inside the dash and had to look for em, ended up having a few LEDs not light up so had to pull em out to switch polarity. at the end of it all my volume knob still intermittently goes on and off independent of road/driving conditions. might be a fuse. also the LEDs are not as bright as I thought they were going to be. I got them from autolumination.com, they were the base-type LED and not the fancier/brighter ones they carry. now I kind of wish I got the brighter ones but i also would rather not do this mod again for a while such a PITA haha
here are some pics, also changed the plate no lights:
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r...emo/photo3.jpg
so all were orange typeA bulbs and the A/C side got 4 white typeB bulbs. i have no idea why its not fully illuminating the A/C vent selector.
03-11-2015, 12:13 PM
#163
I just ordered LEDs for this. I'll post up when complete.
I want to point out Modifry's excellent instructions for removing the dash bezel while installing his Dash Bracket product. Some good tips here:
http://www.modifry.com/old/product/m...%20Bracket.pdf
I want to point out Modifry's excellent instructions for removing the dash bezel while installing his Dash Bracket product. Some good tips here:
http://www.modifry.com/old/product/m...%20Bracket.pdf
03-14-2015, 11:46 PM
#164
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Please write that post. It will help me. Haha! Half of the A/C and VSA "!", in the cluster, are out. I swear I don't remember the "Engine Start" Button having a light. Wowsers! Great job with the thread, everyone.
04-20-2015, 05:59 AM
#165
I had limited results with my install, mostly due to my miscounting the number and type of bulbs needed. The installation instructions linked at the beginning of this thread were spot on!
Install tips:
1) Do this inside a garage or similar. My driveway in the middle of the afternoon proved to be a PITA to confirm the bulbs were working.
2) LEDs are polarized, meaning they can only be installed one way in order to work properly. When I first installed the bulbs, I used a Sharpie to mark the orientation. If I had to turn the bulb around, it made it easier knowing how it was originally oriented.
3) Test each bulb as you install them by plugging the switch in and turning on the lights. I found that removing the modules from the dash panel itself made things much easier.
4) The Cruise Control switch has an illumination bulb (I need amber to replace) and a green indicator bulb. The indicator bulb is a standard bulb with a green plastic condom on it. Mine was blown, so I used a known good bulb and swapped the condom over.
5) While you have the dash panel off, take the time to clean everything---outside edges of speedometer, dash vents, etc. Clean both the dash panel itself and the stuff underneath the did not come off with the panel.
I chose to stick with the amber theme the OEM lights have. I opted to use a red LED for the Hazard switch and white for the Start button (although I may switch to white in the Hazard button). Once I had things apart, I realized I ordered the 4 Type B long bulbs in amber, when it should have been 3 amber and 1 white (for the A/C temp button). I also had trouble getting a bulb to work in the Cruise Control button. I wound up putting everything back together using the OEM bulbs in those locations. I will go back and order some more bulbs in the correct colors and sizes and finish the job later.
However, I am very impressed with the left hand side of the dash which I was able to complete.
Some pics for reference:
Left side dash panel
Left side panel + OEM Cruise Control bulb (note color and brightness difference)
OEM A/C panel. Looks like I used a blown bulb in the fan selector. I need 3 amber and 1 white Type B Long bulbs for this location.
Install tips:
1) Do this inside a garage or similar. My driveway in the middle of the afternoon proved to be a PITA to confirm the bulbs were working.
2) LEDs are polarized, meaning they can only be installed one way in order to work properly. When I first installed the bulbs, I used a Sharpie to mark the orientation. If I had to turn the bulb around, it made it easier knowing how it was originally oriented.
3) Test each bulb as you install them by plugging the switch in and turning on the lights. I found that removing the modules from the dash panel itself made things much easier.
4) The Cruise Control switch has an illumination bulb (I need amber to replace) and a green indicator bulb. The indicator bulb is a standard bulb with a green plastic condom on it. Mine was blown, so I used a known good bulb and swapped the condom over.
5) While you have the dash panel off, take the time to clean everything---outside edges of speedometer, dash vents, etc. Clean both the dash panel itself and the stuff underneath the did not come off with the panel.
I chose to stick with the amber theme the OEM lights have. I opted to use a red LED for the Hazard switch and white for the Start button (although I may switch to white in the Hazard button). Once I had things apart, I realized I ordered the 4 Type B long bulbs in amber, when it should have been 3 amber and 1 white (for the A/C temp button). I also had trouble getting a bulb to work in the Cruise Control button. I wound up putting everything back together using the OEM bulbs in those locations. I will go back and order some more bulbs in the correct colors and sizes and finish the job later.
However, I am very impressed with the left hand side of the dash which I was able to complete.
Some pics for reference:
Left side dash panel
Left side panel + OEM Cruise Control bulb (note color and brightness difference)
OEM A/C panel. Looks like I used a blown bulb in the fan selector. I need 3 amber and 1 white Type B Long bulbs for this location.
05-05-2016, 04:22 AM
#167
Just updating this thread since I replaced a bunch of these bulbs with neo wedge SMD LEDs from superbrightleds.com
https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...panel-led/221/
I replaced all mine with the cool white color. I only replaced the back lighting for the buttons and not the indicator of whether the acc was on or not if it had it.
This for an AP2
ITEM (BULB COUNT, SIZE, NOTES)
-Radio controls (5x, 3mm)
-Start Button (1x, 3mm)
-Climate Control (4x, 4mm)
-Cruise Control Button (1x, 3mm, Due to the orientation of the bulb it does not light up the letters evenly and I could not find non SMD neo wedge bulbs in white. Does not really bother me since the button sits behind the steering wheel)
-VSC Button (1x, 3mm, Due to the orientation of the bulb it does not light up the letters evenly and I could not find non SMD neo bulbs in white. Does not really bother me since the button sits behind the steering wheel)
-Roof Button (1x, 3mm)
-Hazard Button (1x, 3mm)
-Defrost Button (1x, 3mm, This thing has a weird bulb for the back lighting and there is an orange filter in it that you will want to take out if you want it to be completely white. In order to get a LED in there i had to take apart the neo wedge led bulb, drill out the hole where the bulb goes a little bit, and solder the leads to the post)
https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...panel-led/221/
I replaced all mine with the cool white color. I only replaced the back lighting for the buttons and not the indicator of whether the acc was on or not if it had it.
This for an AP2
ITEM (BULB COUNT, SIZE, NOTES)
-Radio controls (5x, 3mm)
-Start Button (1x, 3mm)
-Climate Control (4x, 4mm)
-Cruise Control Button (1x, 3mm, Due to the orientation of the bulb it does not light up the letters evenly and I could not find non SMD neo wedge bulbs in white. Does not really bother me since the button sits behind the steering wheel)
-VSC Button (1x, 3mm, Due to the orientation of the bulb it does not light up the letters evenly and I could not find non SMD neo bulbs in white. Does not really bother me since the button sits behind the steering wheel)
-Roof Button (1x, 3mm)
-Hazard Button (1x, 3mm)
-Defrost Button (1x, 3mm, This thing has a weird bulb for the back lighting and there is an orange filter in it that you will want to take out if you want it to be completely white. In order to get a LED in there i had to take apart the neo wedge led bulb, drill out the hole where the bulb goes a little bit, and solder the leads to the post)
10-11-2017, 12:43 PM
#168
Hi,
I am really confused which LEDs are the right ones to buy.
I have some burnt bulbs and I would like to replace them (and all the other ones) with LEDs for better durability.
Which LEDs are the best ones if I want to keep it as close as possible to the original (color, brightness, illumination uniformity)?
Thank you for your help.
JagoBlitz
I am really confused which LEDs are the right ones to buy.
I have some burnt bulbs and I would like to replace them (and all the other ones) with LEDs for better durability.
Which LEDs are the best ones if I want to keep it as close as possible to the original (color, brightness, illumination uniformity)?
Thank you for your help.
JagoBlitz
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