Anyone know how?

[slpr240]

Hey I saw these gauges on cardomain and I was wondering if you could just change the bulbs in the cluster to make it look like this? If not how could you do it? Sorry this seems like a noob ? Thanx for the help!

[slpr240]

or could you just get the needle kit from import intelligance and make the numbers blue too?

[Badfish]

The lighting on those gauges looks very poorly done. See the contrast between the dark and light spots in the cluster?

It reminds me of when I first got my car. One of the previous owners had decided to color the backs of the gauge faces with permanant blue marker. I couldn't properly see all the numbers on the cluster and I had to replace it with a newer one.

[thekawaii]

heyone of our sponsor sell those lightbulbs.http://www.importintelligence.com/index.html

[s13 240]

I used blue LED's and mine look like this:

[teddy]

I used red incadescent bulbs from import intelligence (obviously blue in your case) and they just replace the stock bulbs in the back of the clusters. Just twist and pull the old ones out, then vice versa or the new ones. The bulbs I bought have a better distribution of light than the very first picture you posted. LED's are nice and brighter, incadescents are cheaper tho iirc.

[masticatingcow]

I used blue LED's and mine look like this:

Look! No redline.

[mallbor240SR]

i have the red ones, but my cluster came with the bulbs already, anyway they'll probably look the same

[PantherRacer]

^^^^^^ LOOK! ALL REDLINE!

[240DRFT]

do you guys have any info on how to do it with leds? i would want clear so its just stock but brighter.

[turbo2nr]

mallbor240SR:

what needles did you use and what bulbs? that sh*t look nice.. kinda defi like

btw as anyone done this to a s14 dash? and does the led "bolt up" or do you need to re-wire?

[mallbor240SR]

those are stock needles, i know they look good in the picture, but its probably my digital camera. and for the bulbs i dont know like i said before they came with my cluster, i got it on ebay from a guy that lives in taiwan or china i think .

[turbo2nr]

damm i wish i knew what bulbs those were...

if any one knows of a bulb like that please post it up..

thanks

[mallbor240SR]

they look a lot like the ones http://www.importintelligence.com sells

[masticatingcow]

Red bulbs, located just under the stock replacement bulbs in your neighborhood CSK/Autozone/etc. Part number 194R.
Modified by masticatingcow at 10:59 PM 1/11/2006

[kamikazestorm420]

they are the 194 bulbs ... for your sidemarker and stuff.

i experimented a few colors in the past couple days .. and noticed ..

red is really hard to focus on and got my eyes tired.same with blue.white has some purple ish tint to it .. didnt like it.

right now i drive with orange. its really easy on the eye and not really hard to focus at.

[slpr240]

Thnx for the help guys!

[slpr240]

I used blue LED's and mine look like this:

S13 240; how did you use led's?

[s13 240]

it's actually LED 194 bulbs, I gotta look through my bookmarks for the site where I ordered them, but they are wide angle blue 194 led bulbs, they go in the same way as regular bulbs.

[slpr240]

that would be great if you could find them! are they expensive?

[eds13]

they are the 194 bulbs ... for your sidemarker and stuff.

i experimented a few colors in the past couple days .. and noticed ..

red is really hard to focus on and got my eyes tired.same with blue.white has some purple ish tint to it .. didnt like it.

right now i drive with orange. its really easy on the eye and not really hard to focus at.

bet that was fun having to take the cluster out that many times

[masticatingcow]

Heh, I can drop the steering column in under 2 mins. You do this kind of stuff a couple times with the right tools and its cake.

[angelthepig]

if you are going to buy the LEDs make sure they are the flat topped ones. if you buy the regular dome topped bulbs they will come out in spots like the first post but worst. having the flat topped bulb will distribute the light evenly . for all the bulbs including the clock lighting cost me...$15 more or less

[~4N~]

Could someone please give some tips on taking out the cluster and replacing the bulbs. I've never done that, and I wouldn't want to mess anything up. Thank you.

[Chezedik]

Still interested in the LEDs, how does it work? Do you just get leds and turn the leads?

[masticatingcow]

GAUGE CLUSTER REMOVAL (S13)aka masticatingcow's 12-Step Plan to a New and Better Cluster!

1. Open driver's side door.

2. Using a Philips head screwdriver, unscrew the plastic screws holding the lower door trim in place and remove the trim.

3. Remove driver's side kick panel. There are 3 Philips bolts holding it in: one in the door frame (exposed by the open door), one behind the pedals (hard to miss) and one more on the interior side of the nearest corner of the panel (also hard to miss.)

4. Now under the steering column, unscrew the two screws holding the hood release in place. Let the release handle fall back into the trim. Next, there are a bunch of screws along the top seam of the trim. Unscrew these. Also, there are two other screws holding the trim in place: one that was revealed by removing the kick plate and another pretty much exactly opposite it down by the transmission tunnel. Pull these out as well.

5. Next, time to drop the steering column. You will need a deep-socket 14mm wrench with an extension to get at the first two bolts. They are up and under the instrument cluster bezel... look for them to be on either side of the steering wheel. Pop those suckers out.

6. There are two nuts holding the steering column in place closer to the firewall. You do not have to pull them off, but loosen them as much as you are comfortable doing.

7. Notice anything? Your steering column should have dropped WAY out of the way of the cluster bezel. If it has not, double check that your wheel tilt is as low as is possible and that you've loosened the bolts and nuts mentioned in step 6. Take a breath and read CAREFULLY through step 8.

8. Pull the buttons out of the bezel (hazard lights, pop-up controller, rear glass defog, etc). Just pull... they come right out. Unplug them from the harness. The dimmer control and the others in the lower part of the bezel can be tricky, but just get your fingers back there and start pushing them out. Alternatively, you could just feel around for the tab to unplug the connectors to these switches without removing them from the bezel, but it's up to you. Take your time either way.

9. There are two screws holding the bezel in place. They are at the top of the cluster - you can't miss them. Take them out. The bezel should slip right out. If you're having a hard time getting it past the steering wheel assembly, go back to those bolts and nuts mentioned in step 6.

10. There are three screws holding the cluster in place - one on top and one on each lower corner. You know what to do with these.

11. YAY! The cluster is free... almost. Unplug the harness at the cluster. Now it's free.

12. Turn it over. If you're bewildered by the printed circuit, know that you only have to replace 5 bulbs (if you have an analog cluster) or 4 (if you have a digital). Find the line on the circuit called "ILLUM" and trace it to each red-socketed bulb. THOSE are the ones you want to replace. (Edit: There are two brown ones that are the same size. These actually don't light up the cluster... they actually light up the warning lights.) Replacements are Sylvania Bulb #194. To get the bulbs out, just twist the connectors out of the cluster and pull the bulbs out. You may need some pliers or something to get a good grip on them, but they don't require very much force to remove.

Reassemble in reverse order and make sure EVERYTHING gets connected. Don't be the douche that forgets to plug in his dimmer switch!

Search keywords: instrument cluster removal take out s13 240sx bulbs bezel


Modified by masticatingcow at 9:20 AM 1/13/2006

[Joeygsxr]

since im bored and for some reason i dont know how to search the forums and get nervous about asking questions for fear of flaming, i will share info......http://autolumination.com/194.htm they have some kool stuff

[masticatingcow]

Nice find.

[240DRFT]

so do we want this one



how do u think the ultra violent one would be? says it creats the blacklight effect.

edit: all this is from that site, autolumination

[Joeygsxr]

Nice find.

and cheap as hell almost worth it just to try them out,,,thinking of getting the UV 194 for the dash, and if u keep looking u can see all the 1157 led's they have for the stop lamps, signal front and back, the inside dome light and map light, **** u could have all those LED in the UV color and have a strip club in the car...lol...but i like the flashing stop lamps...everyone shoud check it out