LED's in instrument cluster??
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 159
Likes: 0
From: Mansfield Texas
LED's in instrument cluster??
Has anyone upgraded to LED bulbs in the instrument cluster? My cluster is pretty dark and I was thinking of upgrading to LED's. My concern is that they will be as bright as all-get-out and the dimmer will not work because they pull so little current that they will stay ultra-bright even with the dimmer at the lowest setting. Anyone have any experience with converting to LED's??
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 104
Likes: 0
From: Apache Junction Arizona
I have blue LED's in speedo, tack, gauges - everywhere I could change out the dull stock style bulbs, I have the blue LED's. for me, I like the blue as it reflects off the white lettering and numbers of the gauges making them easier to see at night. It also looks rather cool and not "ricey". The dimmer only lowers the intensity a small amount, then the LED's shut off.
I have heard others say that blue is too bright and fuzzy for them. There are several different styles of LED's available; single diode, two, three, four and on for the 194 size bulb. I used the four diode LED's in mine and they are not over bright. I also use a high intensity white four diode LED for my license plate and that works nicely.
I bought my LED's from a Ebay store, I do not remember the name but will try to find it and post it.
As for the stock incandescent bulbs, I think they are dull and dim, even with new stock bulbs.
I have heard others say that blue is too bright and fuzzy for them. There are several different styles of LED's available; single diode, two, three, four and on for the 194 size bulb. I used the four diode LED's in mine and they are not over bright. I also use a high intensity white four diode LED for my license plate and that works nicely.
I bought my LED's from a Ebay store, I do not remember the name but will try to find it and post it.
As for the stock incandescent bulbs, I think they are dull and dim, even with new stock bulbs.
Last edited by worms713; Dec 20, 2008 at 02:04 AM.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
Has anyone upgraded to LED bulbs in the instrument cluster? My cluster is pretty dark and I was thinking of upgrading to LED's. My concern is that they will be as bright as all-get-out and the dimmer will not work because they pull so little current that they will stay ultra-bright even with the dimmer at the lowest setting. Anyone have any experience with converting to LED's??
With more modern multiple SMT LED bulbs they will be plenty bright and with the 'pre '78 speedo and tach clusters I would recommend leaving the stock gauge faces and avoiding any other color bulb but white.
That being said, there are a few bubs you won't want to replace with LEDs. The signal bulbs are a part of the turn signal system and there is resistance needed for it to work properly. The LEDs don't offer near the same resistance and the signals might not work properly.
Also, the GEN light. If you have a GEN light the alternator used this bulb for resistance and putting in an LED would mean that your alternator would never charge properly and it would be a pain to go back and fix all of that.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,239
Likes: 74
From: Palatine, Peoples Republic of Illinois
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-‘18
NCM Sinkhole Donor
I put blue LED's all through my dash with mixed results. I made couple mistakes with mine. First I replaced the gauge faced with faces from Whitegauges.com. These have black lettering and at night when the gauge background is blue from the LED's you end up with black on a blue background. Not easy to read. I also am not happy with the illumination on the smaller gauges. It is not as even as before with bright areas and darker areas. I like the idea that I don't have to change bulbs, but there is a lot to consider.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,449
Likes: 0
hey, Ive been thinking of doing this conversion for a long time now, and am thinking that this christmas will be the time, is there any place that has a kit that would include all the lights interior and exterior for my car? all my gagues are devistatingly low, and I would love to make them 10X brighter, Im thiking something like the 5-6 white bulb ones for pretty much everything interior, MABY somehting more for the spedo and tach, Ive got an electronic blinker fuse and my rear blinkers are alredy LED and they still work, so I just need to find a place that will tell me what size bulbs I need to redo the rest of the car
thanks for your help!
Miles
thanks for your help!
Miles
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
hey, Ive been thinking of doing this conversion for a long time now, and am thinking that this christmas will be the time, is there any place that has a kit that would include all the lights interior and exterior for my car? all my gagues are devistatingly low, and I would love to make them 10X brighter, Im thiking something like the 5-6 white bulb ones for pretty much everything interior, MABY somehting more for the spedo and tach, Ive got an electronic blinker fuse and my rear blinkers are alredy LED and they still work, so I just need to find a place that will tell me what size bulbs I need to redo the rest of the car
thanks for your help!
Miles
thanks for your help!
Miles
SuperbrightLEDs.com has conversion charts to help you look up what bulbs were stock on your car and what LED bulbs that translates into.
I will tip you off, the standard LED bulbs that most sell are NOT brighter than incandescents. However, and do some research, SMT LEDs are very bright and if you can find SMT LED bulbs for all applications then you will experience a nice bright effect.
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Michael S. Palmer
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 5,727
Likes: 39
From: Fremont CA
Doing this conversion for my 70 and your correct that you will no longer have a dimmer function. You could get crafty and build a triac generator light dimmer power supply that uses the dimmer rheostat on the headlamp switch to vary the output, but, I have better things to do with my life. I am using LEDs from super bright and am happy with the pricing and service from them. I am hoping they will last longer than some of the indicator LEDs I have been getting at work as some of these seem to be failing faster than the incandescent bulbs I have been replacing them with (all Chinese sourced parts as we don't build anything in America any more.)
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,449
Likes: 0
I had another question about that chard on superbrightleds.com, it gives me the bulb numbers for everything in the car, but ex: the "instrument-general" section gives me 3 diffrent bulb numbers, the led bulbs Ive found will fit all three, but how will I know how many bulbs I need to get? just pull the panel out and count?
Thanks for helping my cluelessness!
Miles
Thanks for helping my cluelessness!
Miles
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
I had another question about that chard on superbrightleds.com, it gives me the bulb numbers for everything in the car, but ex: the "instrument-general" section gives me 3 diffrent bulb numbers, the led bulbs Ive found will fit all three, but how will I know how many bulbs I need to get? just pull the panel out and count?
Thanks for helping my cluelessness!
Miles
Thanks for helping my cluelessness!
Miles
Your speedo and tach cluster will need 12 bulbs. There are 4 per gauge for light, two signal bulbs, and to warning indicator bulbs for Bright and Brake.
The center gauge cluster will have 1 bulb per gauge, 4 warning indicators if all are present. I think there might be one behind the wiper control but I am not that familiar with that cluster.
That would be a total of 21 bulbs for the gauges. Do you have an AIM? It might give you more specific bulb details.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,449
Likes: 0
Your speedo and tach cluster will need 12 bulbs. There are 4 per gauge for light, two signal bulbs, and to warning indicator bulbs for Bright and Brake.
The center gauge cluster will have 1 bulb per gauge, 4 warning indicators if all are present. I think there might be one behind the wiper control but I am not that familiar with that cluster.
That would be a total of 21 bulbs for the gauges. Do you have an AIM? It might give you more specific bulb details.
The center gauge cluster will have 1 bulb per gauge, 4 warning indicators if all are present. I think there might be one behind the wiper control but I am not that familiar with that cluster.
That would be a total of 21 bulbs for the gauges. Do you have an AIM? It might give you more specific bulb details.
Miles
