S13 (LED Gauges) DIY ~~~~~

Post by **Duce40sx** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 1:22 am

Hey all,

Here are pictures of my gauge. Many of you have asked, I finally took some pictures. There it is, Blue LED bulbs in the gauge cluster.

This mod is probably the cheapest and easiest thing to do

MATERIALS:

1) 10 LED 194 BULBS. (ANY COLOR YOU WANT) I USED BLUE OBVIOUSLY. 2) BASICAL TOOLS: 10MM, 12MM SOCKET, PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER.

COST: EBAY!!!! 10 BULBS FOR LIKE $12 BUCKS~

PROCESS: ( I hope you can get to the CLuster, these are non-detailed steps)

NOTE: Short cuts::::::::::: USE A CORDLESS DRILL with Phillips bit and socket

Project time: about 20 mins (if you've taken out the cluster before) : i've taken the cluster out about 15 times, so I did it about 5.7 mins! with my 19.2 volt Power Drill.

1. REMOVE STEERING COLUMN PANEL 2. UNFASTEN THE HOOD RELEASE 3. DROP STEERING COLUMN (BY UNFASTEN 2 BOLTS AND 2 NUTS) 4. REMOVE GAUGE CLUSTER HOUSING with disconnect Hazard, pop up light switch, and all switches on the housing.5. UNSCREW 3 SCREWS TO REMOVE GAUGE CLUSTER.6. DISCONNECT THE PIGTAILS

****REPLACE THE 4 TO 5 (194) HALOGEN BULBS WITH YOUR NEW LIGHT EMMITING DIODE( LED) 194'S.

****OUR S13 GAUGE IS GREEN BECAUSE THE HALOGEN BULB IS YELLOW, AND NISSAN PUT A "BLUE CONDOM" COVER ON THE BULB. YELLOW + BLUE = GREEEEEEEEEN

***** MAKE SURE YOU USE THE OEM BLUE"CONDOM" ON YOUR NEW LED BULB TO FILTER OUR THE INTENSE LED RAYS. (IF YOU'RE USING WHTE OR BLUE BULB) YOU CAN SAND/SCUFF DOWN THE LED BULB TO DEFRAGMENT THE RAYS)

BADDDA BING BADDDA BOOM.

===================================================

Modified by Duce40sx at 4:53 AM 8/17/2007

Post by **duffman1278** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 3:11 am

I read that you only need to replace 5 bulbs???

http://club240.com/forums/show...40228

Post by **dickie** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:12 am

this wasn't mentioned, but there ARE wide-angle LED's you should buy when attempting this type of modification.

also, colors like orange or amber will be much easier on your eyes than blue or bright red, which can degrade your vision over time.

Post by **Clawhammer** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:00 am

Red is technically the best color, while blue/green is the worst. This is why they use red on the H.U.D. on jets. Usually I leave it at that in these discussions but I'm feeling informative today.

Your retina contains two types of photoreceptors, rods and cones. Rods are responsible for night vision and do not distinguish color. The cones come in three types: reds, greens, and blues. Reds are the most abundant starting at the center, moving outwards with blue being the least abundant. The rods are least sensitive to red light. This means that at night, while using only your rods, looking down at your cluster it takes less time to adjust to the red light; and when you look back up at the road less time to adjust back. Also, because the red cones are located at the center of your fovea (the focal point on your retina), red is best suited for seeing detail right in front of you.

The Orange-red (amber) clusters that are becoming more and more popular in todays automobiles are simply a compromise for colorblind persons.

That's it for today's lesson kids.

Oh and I did this many moons ago: (phone pic)White: Blue:

P.S. I didn't use the bulb condoms.
Modified by Clawhammer at 10:22 PM 8/17/2007

Post by **Clawhammer** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:06 am

P.P.S. Analog cluster is only 3 bulbs. The two on the far ends don't light your cluster up at all lol. They are for your battery and gas lights I think (the red ones) so don't waste your time or money replacing those.

If you have the digital cluster there's 5+ (I don't have one I'd have to look at one but I remember there being a lot from seeing pics.

Post by **dickie** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:24 am

i can verify that for you this weekend.

Post by **srpowered240sx** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:33 am

sweet, im gonna do some bright white one of these days.

Post by **Jookmasta** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:38 am

i was actually thinking about changing my bulbs as my cluster for some reason is sometimes turning off (except for the digital speedo and hud) but perhaps something else is causing that.

and damn your quick at taking out the cluster..........

Post by **duffman1278** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:44 am

srpowered240sx wrote:sweet, im gonna do some bright white one of these days.

I'm doing white also Ordered my bulbs yesterday.

Post by **dickie** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:53 am

i like the cluster in my moms OZ lancer. i cant find pics on the internet, but they are white face and display a nice orange color when lit. from all the reviews i read, this was the most commonly-praised feature of the car which was otherwise pretty bland and forgettable.

Post by **churro** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 6:07 am

Duce40sx wrote:

****OUR S13 GAUGE IS GREEN BECAUSE THE HALOGEN BULB IS YELLOW, AND NISSAN PUT A "BLUE CONDOM" COVER ON THE BULB. YELLOW + BLUE = GREEEEEEEEEN

Light doesn't work that way. Put a filter in front of any color light and it will only let a certain wavelength through. So, if you change to colored LEDs/bulbs just skip the condom.

Post by **cmfireman** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 6:15 am

Clawhammer wrote:Red is technically the best color, while blue/green is the worst. This is why they use red on the H.U.D. on jets. Usually I leave it at that in these discussions but I'm feeling informative today.

You seem well informed on the subject, and it is nice information to know, but go stare at some red, blue, light green and amber lights for a while and let me know which ones you can focus on faster and which ones hurt your eyes after staring at them (assuming equal light output).

IMHO, blue and red (such as in a VW) KILL my eyes, are hard to focus on, and seem to make me sleepy.

Amber gauges, (such as in a BMW) are easy to read and quick to focus.

Green/white (such as in a Honda/Nissan) just seem neutral and are neither pleasing or annoying to look at.

I'm not arguing, just make sure you drive a vehicle with the color gauges you want before you switch them out.

Post by **deuceforty** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 7:50 am

i want to put in black light bulbs O_O

Post by **grmreapr** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 9:31 am

like thesehttp://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW

i wanna try it now to

Post by **Rauland-S13** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 10:02 am

Mr Clawhammer (or do you prefer Sir Rocksalot?)

in your first pic you took with your phone, you said you used plain white LED's? I just want to confirm because that is the look I want to do with my gauge cluster (soft blue with white needles)...however my gauge (digital) currently is a harsh off-white. I admit I havent pulled the cluster out to look at the lights or the cluster...but did your cluster already have a blue filter on it?

many thanks

Post by **Clawhammer** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 10:21 am

Yes I used white white wide angle LED's from superbrightleds.com.

I'm a psych major at UF, one of the classes I took a couple of semesters ago was called Sensory Processes...don't know why it was classified as a psych course but it was. Needless to say we went in depth on each of the senses. We specifically discussed this stuff about the eyes and color, and I retained a lot of it because it obviously peaked my interest the way it relates to this kind of stuff.

Post by **jdotlim** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:21 am

I did this before its pretty cool but was annoying cuz it was super bright maybe if I change the color

Post by **My RB25** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:34 am

Not trying to rain on your parade Duce, but I haveta say it. Those pics look like you just changed the color in a photo editor. The glare and other distinguishable marks are seen in the same spot on every pic. I would have rather seen it with the actual bulbs in it.

Post by **dickie** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:36 am

My RB25 wrote:Not trying to rain on your parade Duce, but I haveta say it. Those pics look like you just changed the color in a photo editor. The glare and other distinguishable marks are seen in the same spot on every pic. I would have rather seen it with the actual bulbs in it.

. there is hardly enough info here to warrant creation of an article.

Post by **My RB25** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 12:04 pm

Good to know I'm not going crazy. If you want pics, send me all different colors bulbs, I'll give ya all the pics ya want.

Post by **Dammitboy** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 1:24 pm

I used white wedge head leds for this one. Also stuck a UV one for the odometer for ****s & giggles.

Post by **Duce40sx** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 9:43 pm

Oh come on GUYS:

1. Use a condom! Sure, if you use red, yellow led's the blue condom isn't necessary. I used the condoms because it makes me feel safe. =)

2. Lets not get too technical about the specticles. Blue, yellow, red, green, it's personal preference, and blue shouldn't make you blind. In addition, we all have that "Dimmer" switch. (Heck, being on NICO board all day and night on the computer will get your blinder quicker anyway)

3. YES, Only 5 bulbs are needed. I bought 10 and replace my coupe Trunk light and my glove box light. (Noq I have 3 extra).

4. I really want to do the CLIMATE CONTROL blue, which I saw before but i forgot which RESISTORS ......

5. Anyone have that link on the CLIMATE Control bulb mod ?

Post by **Drift Motion** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 10:03 pm

only 3 is needed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3!THREE!

unless u want ur gas light to come on all the time

Post by **Clawhammer** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 5:38 am

Duce40sx wrote:3. YES, Only 5 bulbs are needed. I bought 10 and replace my coupe Trunk light and my glove box light. (Noq I have 3 extra).

5. Anyone have that link on the CLIMATE Control bulb mod ?

Clawhammer wrote:P.P.S. Analog cluster is only 3 bulbs. The two on the far ends don't light your cluster up at all lol. They are for your battery and gas lights I think (the red ones) so don't waste your time or money replacing those.

Search button is your friend:zerothread?id=223981http://forums.nicoc ... ?id=174340

Post by **Clawhammer** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 5:45 am

Oh and please remove the photoshopped colors...they're doing more harm than good.

I always wanted to do red or amber in my cluster, but the backing on the guages is blue. When I put the white bulbs in the guages came out with a bluish/purple tint. I had fears that if I put red in it'd come out purple. So I went with blue because I knew it'd come out a true color. It's soft on my eyes, but brightness isn't the problem, as I explained earlier.

Anyway, if people who have done red or amber want to post pics, that would be helpful.

Post by **Driftless240** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 5:57 am

If you want to spend the money:

http://autolumination.com/194.htm

(Scroll down right away.)

I contacted them a while ago, and based on the bulb chart for S13's, the Instrument takes bulb number 194, which is listed above...It comes with a price, but they're high powered and with multiple LED's per "Bulb" you will get full light covered, no bright/dim patches throughout the panel. I will be doing it shortly...

Post by **nissan789** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 7:12 am

how much are the bulbs?

Post by **Clawhammer** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 3:09 pm

http://www.superbrightleds.com

Post by **a_ahmed** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 3:19 pm

Dammitboy wrote:I used white wedge head leds for this one. Also stuck a UV one for the odometer for ****s & giggles.

More info on your setup?

Did you tape the LED to the transmission glass plastic so that it glows the needle a specific color?

I like it, could be tiny bit brighter though.

Post by **Clawhammer** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 3:30 pm

Looks like he colored the needle with a sharpie or nail polish to me...

S13 (LED Gauges) DIY ~~~~~

S13 (LED Gauges) DIY ~~~~~

Re: (d!ck)

Re: (d!ck)

Re: (srpowered240sx)

Re: S13 (LED Gauges) DIY ~~~~~ (Duce40sx)

Re: (Clawhammer)

Re: (deuceforty)

Re: (Clawhammer)

Re: (Rauland-S13)

Re: (Clawhammer)

Re: S13 (LED Gauges) DIY ~~~~~ (Duce40sx)

Re: S13 (My RB25)

Re: S13 (d!ck)

Re: S13 (My RB25)

Re: (Clawhammer)

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