Question On Instrument Cluster lights.

[miamiheat3332]

Ok i did the instrument cluster mod that slickroger posted way back, i did mine probably a week after he posted it, but i decided its too much of a hassle to match all my interior lights to blue.

So what i have decided to do is get green and white LEDS to match the current interior.

now the question is, hopefully pwnin can help here, is how many, and which bulbs do i need to do what i want in the picture below that i took from my path.

I would appreciate how many bulbs i need, part #'s from autolumination i think the website was, and sizes. Thanks





In that picture states what im looking to do.


Thanks.

[Towncivilian]

The numbers have a slight blue filter applied already, so even when using white LEDs there is a slight blue tint. Here is my dash (old pic, uneven lighting which has since been fixed) with white LEDs in the gauge spots as well as the odometer. It looks white in the picture, but in reality there is a blue tint. I guess the crappy cell phone pic only picked up white.

I don't know how to change the color of the needles.

I'm not sure whether green gauges would be practical. The human eye is most sensitive to green light, and it would likely ruin your night vision and be an annoyance. But if you're insistent, you can try getting tri-LED green bulbs and see the results. I think it'd still end up green as long as the LEDs are bright enough despite the slight blue tint of the text.

[miamiheat3332]

correct me if im wrong, but at night isnt the human eye more sensitive to red light. If you look around, red lights are used to mark high points on buildings etc for planes and stuff, so i think you are wrong about the green.

[Towncivilian]

correct me if im wrong, but at night isnt the human eye more sensitive to red light. If you look around, red lights are used to mark high points on buildings etc for planes and stuff, so i think you are wrong about the green.

I might be mixing red and green up (at least when talking about nighttime), I'm not sure.

[Pwnin O'Brien]

Unfortunately the cluster isn't that customizable. Our cluster only has three bulbs which light up three sections of the cluster; the speedometer and the fuel gauge, the tachometer and the temp gauge, and the odometer. The bulb that lights the cluster numbers/notches is the same that lights the needles, so without serious custom work you can't have different colors for the needles and the numbers/notches. Another thing that is really crappy is that on my pictures, my odometer LED is super white, but the odometer came out very blue. Also, like towncivilian pointed out, there is a blue coating on the back of the cluster face which will give any bulb color a blue tint.

The three bulbs are all #74, if I remember correctly.

[miamiheat3332]

hmm, i swear when i took it apart to change the bulbs to blue , that there where like bulbs in the middle for needles. but i guess not.

Damn well you said the bulbs for the numbers and stuff light up the needles? How is that possible if they are orange/red? so i assume theres a orange/red bulb behind?

[Pwnin O'Brien]

The only bulbs you can replace are the odometer, speedo/fuel, tacho/temp, left turn, right turn, and brights. The rest of the bulbs (warning lamps) are LED's. The needles have an orange backing, it's a common mod to sand off the paint to change the color of the needles but it's a real PITA because removing the needles takes serious precision. Here's a diagram showing the location of the bulbs on the rear of the cluster...

[miamiheat3332]

hmm ok, then i guess im going with the tri-led white for the numbers and stuff and then the needles stay orange/red which is common color in most cars.

Do i need a 3rd tri-led thing for the odo screen? is it still #74?

[Towncivilian]

The rest of the bulbs (warning lamps) are LED's.

My warning lights were all incandescent bulbs, and I replaced them all with #74 LEDs of the same color as the filter to maintain their original color (or white LEDs in the case of the amber lamps [an amber LED produced a nasty brownish color], and for the SES light a high-power red #74 LED so it is blindingly red instead of dull amber). I suppose 2003+ R50s switched to LEDs for the warning lamps.

Didn't somebody replace the needles with those from a Maxima and end up with white needles?

miamiheat3332, the odometer light is a #74 bulb and I would advise getting a tri-LED otherwise the lighting may be uneven (the odometer's bulb is on one side of the actual display).

[wiseguy]

correct me if im wrong, but at night isnt the human eye more sensitive to red light. If you look around, red lights are used to mark high points on buildings etc for planes and stuff, so i think you are wrong about the green.

I might be mixing red and green up (at least when talking about nighttime), I'm not sure.

the human eye can distinguish most different shades of green (reason why night-vision goggles, if u ever have seen one, project a green image) eye sensitivity to light has nothing to do with color, red wavelength is used in warning applications because red travels furthest so we can distinguish it from all over lighting around it from further distance... as for the question of would green cluster be annoying... to me yes because the majority of cars have always used tints of green for clusters (i personally did red and blue combo and currently white and red) if u do like green, yellow or red they will actually be less stress on the eye because the intensity of those LEDs is lower than other LED colors.

[miamiheat3332]

doesnt matter anymore, already put in the white leds today and i like it.

[Innovazn]

doesnt matter anymore, already put in the white leds today and i like it.

pics or it never happened

[jpedderson]

Which LED's did you use? Do you have a Link/Specs?

74 base? Same bulb for all or brighter for position B in the diagram?

Thanks!

[Towncivilian]

Which LED's did you use? Do you have a Link/Specs?

74 base? Same bulb for all or brighter for position B in the diagram?

Thanks!

I used #74 single-LED (not high-power) with matched coloring for all of the non-gauge illumination lights (except SES; used a high-power red #74 for it, and used white single-LED non-HP for the other amber colored lights), and used white tri-LED #74 for the gauge illumination and odometer bulb (which took 5 bulbs total in my case). I'd assume miamiheat3332 used similar tri-LED bulbs for the gauges (using any other bulb would not be a good idea as they do not have 360 degree beams). No idea whether he replaced any of the non-gauge bulbs with LEDs.

[miamiheat3332]

order from

http://autolumination.com/74.htm


they are 74,

i recommend getting the twist on cap things.


Ive had the stock color, blue, and now white.

White makes it look the most high end to me at least, and matches the other stuff.

Get the tri-led ones,

[jpedderson]

Holy crap there are a lot of choices.

Any ones to avoid? Any too bright or too dim?

[miamiheat3332]

find this text down that page:

Matrix 3 led x brighter than than conventional single #74 leds

3x leds emit light in all directions

once you find that, those are the ones that are the best for me, and i definetly recommend the white ones for a sleek and clean look.

Get 3 of those, 2 for all the lettering, and 1 will be for the odometer display.

Get 3 $.29 cent twist lock bases too.

You should be good then.

also obviously keep the old ones in a safe place, in case an LED burns out or something and then you dont have the display lit

[Towncivilian]

Get 3 $.29 cent twist lock bases too.

Why? I reused the original twist bases. I just removed the bulbs carefully to avoid shattering them. I shattered one accidentally, but that's not a big deal.

[miamiheat3332]

because the white ones for some reason are skinnier than the blue ones and they dont stick in the factory holder for me, which is 1 reason i didnt put in my 3rd LED for the odometer cause i only ordered 2 twist lock bases.

[Towncivilian]

because the white ones for some reason are skinnier than the blue ones and they dont stick in the factory holder for me, which is 1 reason i didnt put in my 3rd LED for the odometer cause i only ordered 2 twist lock bases.

I just tried different bases until one fit well enough to maintain electrical contact. For the other LEDs that had leads, I bent the leads a bit so they would stay in the bases.

[miamiheat3332]

eh, i still recommend getting the bases for easy & fast install, and also they are only 25 cents each so he might as well get them.