LED (blue) dash conversion... work in progress

[subtledreamer]

Bring on the comments or compliments... but I dig the new look. If it turns out that it hurts my eyes too much or what not, can always change it back. Will also post a where-to-buy/DIY later... so stayed tuned. The ones I've done so far are very simple... absolutely no soldering required. Next plan is the shift gate markers/indicators, as inspired by z3ro's project a while back. I couldn't find the right-sized bulbs for the AC display, sunroof, TCS/cruise, select/reset, dimmer, seat heater buttons... so those are still the stock boring greenish-yellow... bummer. I don't plan on messing with the factory radio... as it's going to be replaced someday & all the lights are soldered in instead of wedge-bulbs! For now, just a couple finished pics: I tried to adjust the camera settings so the exposure/aperture matches as closely to what our eyes would see... so it's pretty close. Yes, turn signals are blue. In case for those of you who don't know... I have the indigo reverse-glow gauges, these are NOT the stock gauges + blue LED's. And notice the odometer... the light is pretty even -- hot spots are not too apparent. clock & AC controls full-view without the AC display & radio on full-view with the AC display & radio on so you can see the brightness/color difference

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[lodoss22]

DAMN this is looking aswesome! I wish I had the mechanical ability to do this project. I'll be waiting for your DIY for this one (perhaps my friend could help me), but would it be different for a Type-S model? Thanks.

[orgnlprankster7]

wow!!!! i am going to do that, where did u find the bulbs? i only need to do the top part since i have a aftermarket head unit.

[PenancE]

no soldering?

[xdxlx]

great post , i'll be waiting for that diy. haha

[joe80055]

The bulbs, did you get them from the website I gave to you?.. by the way, it's looking AWESOME! At least you did alot less work than from what I had to do. lol So tell me, with the reverse glow gauges, how's that blue/green ring in the middle? Does it look nice and not too bothersome at night?... I was always curious about this.

[KevTL-S]

Looks very nice, but why are you still using your tape player???

[subtledreamer]

Originally Posted by lodoss22

DAMN this is looking aswesome! I wish I had the mechanical ability to do this project. I'll be waiting for your DIY for this one (perhaps my friend could help me), but would it be different for a Type-S model? Thanks.

As i mentioned in the first post... everything I have done so far requires NO soldering... It's only bulb-replacements! Also, it would only a bit different from y'all nav peoples (AC controls / clock).

Originally Posted by KevTL-S

Looks very nice, but why are you still using your tape player???

I have a cassette adapter hooked up to my mp3 player It works well and it's really easy to up new songs. Good solution for now before I get a HU

Originally Posted by joe80055

The bulbs, did you get them from the website I gave to you?.. by the way, it's looking AWESOME! At least you did alot less work than from what I had to do. lol So tell me, with the reverse glow gauges, how's that blue/green ring in the middle? Does it look nice and not too bothersome at night?... I was always curious about this.

Yes sir, the 74 LED's.
At first, I thought the center ring was a bit too bright and prehaps even distracting when driving at night. But after a short while... I got used to it and it's been all good since. I think I read from the reverse glow gauge thread that the newer version dont have the dimmer knob as I do, which is a bimmer. I have mine set to about 70-80% brightness. Also, since it is indiglo (think alarm clocks), it's a rather soft glow and doesn't hurt our eyes as much as... for example: these damn blue LED's imo it's a worth-while mod for TL-P's, especially since we are the ones that are used to opening our dashes open anyway.

*i can't help looking down @ my odometer and turn signal lights when driving... it's so cooooooool

[PenancE]

post ur DIY soon! i still cant believe no soldering..........so what u did was pull out the old bulbs out of its plastic socket and put new ones in eh? damn when i did my led mod on my 99, it was a bitch...

[importvizion]

yea we definately gotta see that diy, since we all know soldering is a pain in the butt to deal with.

[Rpappi]

it looks nice but with the green still in there it ruins all the work. still looks awsome. (step by step i know.)

[LacViet]

Nice! Can't wait for the DIY. One more mod for me to do

[AcuraKidd]

i definitly need to try this mod, im REALLY looking forward to the DIY, cause my car is ABP, so it would match.

can you just tell me how much the whole project cost you?

[harminder247]

where can i get these leds? and hwo you do the signals?

[lokee99]

no soldering. I gotta try your way.

[VoLLy]

That looks amazing! Even ur dashboard turn signal arrows are blue. I wish they make the reverse glow gauges in KM/H so I can have em too.

[subtledreamer]

Sorry kids, out of town on a business trip at the moment, and more busy then I thought I would be Should be able to post more info up Tuesday or so!!

Thanks for all the comments so far!

[SupaRookie]

Man that's pretty nice. Dont know if I got the balls to do it...but when the times come, I'll look into it.

[phipark]

Very nice...props to you.

[subtledreamer]

First off... disclaimer: in no way am I responsible for any damages done to your car if you are to follow my DIY. This is simply a guide designed to assist 2nd-gen TL/CL owners in replacing light bulbs on the dash. Difficulty level, I would say about 3 out of 10. But it is definitely time consuming. Prepare to spend a good part of the afternoon taking off everything, replacing the bulbs, and putting everything back together (especially if this is your first time taking off the dash/trim). I personally drove with the dash off for a good 2 weeks, because I had the LED's come in on 3 separate orders due to testing different colors and types of bulbs and so forth.

Also, for owners with NAV, your dash will be different from the following. So I guess when it comes to the clock & AC control unit parts, you can just skip those sections and just check out the odometer/turn signals one.

With that said... here goes!

Follow my instructions in removing the dash/trim from the installation of reverse glow gauges DIY: http://files.subtledream.com/TL/reverseGlow/reverse_glow_gauges.htm

Once you've taken off the dash/trim, take it out of the car and remove the clock (held by 2 screws), and AC control unit (4 screws):



Take apart the clock assembly:



On the bottom piece above ^, sandwiched between that glass-like diffuser and the clear plastic surface is a blue filter that you should remove. It's there (as well as everywhere in our car that is lit) to filter the orange-yellowness of the incandescent light bulbs, thus showing the greenish-yellowish light instead.

You can see the bulb in the center, just use a screwdriver and twist it off.

Bulb can be purchased here: http://autolumination.com/74.htm

Scroll down a bit and get the one that is titled: "Neo - Wedge Instrument Panel Bulbs are 10mm (3/8") diameter x 13mm (1/2") high" ($2.99)

Do NOT get the non-LED ones because they are not bright enough at all!

Here it what a white LED would look (with blue filter removed):



And blue LED (with blue filter removed):



After all's set and done, simply reverse the steps and put the clock back together.

Now for the AC...

This is the backside of the AC control unit:



Remove the white plastic cover and the full PCB reveals and gives better more space to work with for the wedge bulbs:



^ The arrows above are the ones that we can replace directly via replacement LED. The other (and smaller) wedge bulbs I haven't had luck finding on the internet yet, so for the time being they'll have to remain stock. But if anyone knows of replacement LED bulbs that are of the same size... please let me know! It's kind of weird having the stock greenish AC display while the rest of the buttons are blue.

Bulbs can be purchased here: http://autolumination.com/74.htm

Scroll down a bit and get the ones that are titled: "Neo - Wedge Instrument Panel Bulbs are 10mm (3/8") diameter x 13mm (1/2") high" ($2.99)

Do NOT get the non-LED ones because they are not bright enough at all!

Now, it's up to you what color you want to go with. Personally, I went with all blue LED's with the exception of the defroster button (1 bulb for both rear & front) which is white (and hence the different colored arrow). The reason is because the front defroster lights up orange and a blue light would cancel out pretty much all of its output with the orange filter. With the white LED for the defrosters, I pretty much retain the orange for front and my rear becomes a lighter sky-blue, which works out well since it distinguishes from the other buttons.

Also... note to everyone... blue is the most harmful color to our eyes (besides violet/purple), so for those of you that may be concerned, I would suggest you go with the white LED's entirely or pick up 1 or 2 of each color first and test it on your dash. Once you've decided order the rest of the bulbs and finish the project. Just an idea!

Now, here is how a white LED would look on the fan control so you can get an idea how it would look if you were to use all white LED's (notice it's the sky-blue I mentioned earlier on my rear defroster button):



And with blue LED:



Also notice... the top right corner is more stock-yellow-ish than the rest... that's because of the small wedge bulbs on the top corner that I haven't found an LED replacement for yet. You can just remove that bulb so you won't get that strange blend of color... but of course light wouldn't be as evenly distributed too. It's up to you. For me I just left the in there.

Another blue & white LED comparison (blue for AUTO/OFF, white for circulation):



One more thing,

You should remove the blue filters that are present underneath the "MODE" and "A/C" buttons.
To do so, remove the PCB from the front cover (remember to pull out the knobs first) as shown below:



Then carefully remove the piece shown below, revealing the blue filter underneath:



Simply use a flathead or something long to poke it out from the inside, like this:



And with all my LED's in place... simply reverse the process and put everything back on the dash/trim.

Finished picture:



Not bad for absolutely no soldering!!

And finally... odometer and turn signals!

With your dash/trim taken out... lose the 4 screws that are holding the gauge cluster. After that, unplug the 3 harnesses on top and take the whole assembly out, like this:



Flip it around and where the arrows are pointed are the LED's we will replace:



^ Top two are for turn signals and bottom 3 are for odometer.

The bulbs for these are of 74 type... you can get them from autolumination.com too but I've found that http://v-leds.com/ is cheaper (thanks to Joe!). They are sold in pairs at v-leds, so pick up 3 pairs if wish to do both turn signals & odometer. For these bulbs, you would need to use the stock twist-bases. Simply pull out the stock bulbs and put in place the new LED's. There is a good possibility that you'll have to apply some force in pushing the LED's in... don't worry it's because they are slightly bigger in diameter. Just don't use too much force and crack the LED.

And again, up to you what color you want to go with. Unfortunately, I do not have any pics of how the odometer looks with white LED's, but image a very similar light sky-blue like the ones above for the AC control unit. As for the turn signals... using white LED's would result not in a sky-blue but more of a super-white (I've tried it myself).

I would also like to add that for the door & trunk open/close display... with the blue LED's installed they are much harder to see due to the canceling of light output (not sure if I am using the right terminology) with the red filter & blue light. Guess we gotta give up something for the nice blueness!

Again with almost every other DIY... reverse the process and put everything back together

Here are the results of our hard work:





And finally a full picture (I better find a way to convert the AC LCD display and get rid of the stock radio too):

[Da_iLLeZt_TL973]

dam man that looks so hot im gonna attack that as well....i have the same gauges as you do but mine are getting dull to the point where you can barely see the numbers anymore at night when they are lit i think im gonna rip them out and purchase the white faced ones.......i have a question for you when you turn on the button with the little car on it does the original color LED come on or did you change that as well???......and if you didnt could it be changed???

oh yea and are you gonna touch up the hotspots or is that just the pics?

[sojue]

Can you help me out? After I changed it to reverse glow trim, the D4 light on the gauges doesn't not light up. All the other gears are showing up but not D4. Do you know what I did wrong?

[lMlRxlFlLUlBlBY]

can i pay u to do mine all i want is the clock to be blue???

[SoCalwarrior]

Looks great......I just ordered everything i need to so this job.....will post pics when complete

[importvizion]

wooohoo thanx for the DIY gonna order it next week since school starts this week I only6 need 4 bulbs since I got the navi I hope it isn't that much harder to do

[dlersch]

are the hot spots really noticeable? I only wanna do this if it looks perfect.

[VoLLy]

Did you try doing the Speedometer lights as well? I know you got a reverse glow gauges in ur speedometer, but can I just replace the speedometer bulbs without any soldiering as well? I hate the stock yellowish color.

[Mp3]

This is how mine turned out, and I did the soldering. It matches my head unit.

[Mp3]

[VoLLy]

Originally Posted by Mp3

Nice! You did the speedometer as well! No soldiering for that part right? Are those LEd brighter than the stock bulbs? Your picture looks like it has been brightened or contrasted to make the cluster look clear.

[Mp3]

the ones for the speedometer didnt require soldering. the reason the picture looks like it does is b/c i took it w/ my phone and also b/c i don't have the brightness turned all the way up. they're brigher than the factory bulbs

[joe80055]

Awesome DIY, cheers to making another AZ member proud

[VoLLy]

Originally Posted by Mp3

the ones for the speedometer didnt require soldering. the reason the picture looks like it does is b/c i took it w/ my phone and also b/c i don't have the brightness turned all the way up. they're brigher than the factory bulbs

Nice!

And did you get the LED bulbs for the cluster from http://autolumination.com/74.htm as well?

[Mp3]

i got all mine from ledautomotive.com

[VoLLy]

Nice thanks! I gotta give this a try.

[subtledreamer]

Originally Posted by lodoss22

DAMN this is looking aswesome! I wish I had the mechanical ability to do this project. I'll be waiting for your DIY for this one (perhaps my friend could help me), but would it be different for a Type-S model? Thanks.

I don't see why Type-S would be any different

Originally Posted by Gamezilla

i definitly need to try this mod, im REALLY looking forward to the DIY, cause my car is ABP, so it would match.

can you just tell me how much the whole project cost you?

wedge LED bulb: $2.99 each * 6 (clock, fan spd, temp, auto/off, circulation, defrosters) = $17.94

74-type LED bulb: $2.59 for a pair * 3 (odometer & turn signals) = $7.77

shipping & handling... $8.79

Total: $34.5

Originally Posted by Da_iLLeZt_TL973

dam man that looks so hot im gonna attack that as well....i have the same gauges as you do but mine are getting dull to the point where you can barely see the numbers anymore at night when they are lit i think im gonna rip them out and purchase the white faced ones.......i have a question for you when you turn on the button with the little car on it does the original color LED come on or did you change that as well???......and if you didnt could it be changed???

oh yea and are you gonna touch up the hotspots or is that just the pics?

mine are still fine
the original amber led still comes on for cirulation. that led on the pcb is soldered in and would be time consuming (and risky) to rip it out and put a new one in. im gonna just leave it as is

the "hotspots" are barely noticable, don't bother me at all

[subtledreamer]

Originally Posted by VoLLy_1llusioNz

Did you try doing the Speedometer lights as well? I know you got a reverse glow gauges in ur speedometer, but can I just replace the speedometer bulbs without any soldiering as well? I hate the stock yellowish color.

You can, but with blue LED's they are definitely NOT bright enough (i've tried and took a peek under my reverse glow gauges). On the other hand, white might be bright enough... but the resulting color would again be a light sky-blue. You would want 6 of those 74-type bulbs (in addition to odo/signals)... be a pioneer and give it a shot.

Originally Posted by joe80055

Awesome DIY, cheers to making another AZ member proud

Gotta give it up for u man, thx for the help again!
I think I might need to bug you later about the rest of them though, hope you don't mind

[Mp3]

just don't use the excuse the gauges were too bright if you get in an accident

[VoLLy]

Originally Posted by subtledreamer

You can, but with blue LED's they are definitely NOT bright enough (i've tried and took a peek under my reverse glow gauges). On the other hand, white might be bright enough... but the resulting color would again be a light sky-blue. You would want 6 of those 74-type bulbs (in addition to odo/signals)... be a pioneer and give it a shot.

Gotta give it up for u man, thx for the help again!
I think I might need to bug you later about the rest of them though, hope you don't mind

Which of the bulbs fit in the instrument panel cluster again? What is it called in that http://autolumination.com/74.htm website?

[VoLLy]

Oh, and one more question! What does the cluster look like after the blue/white LED conversion in the day time? Would this look any more noticeable from the stock in broad daylight? Pics would be great Mp3 or subtledreamer!

EDIT: Acutally, what does the whole instrumetal panel (including clock and climate controls) look like in the daytime?