This post is a listing of all exterior and interior bulb sizes for 1996 - 2004 Pathfinders and QX4s. Do note that this listing is based on a 2001.5 Pathfinder and may not be accurate for your model year. The Sylvania Lamp Replacement Guide is a helpful resource for exterior bulb sizing and some interior bulb sizing.

• Exterior lighting
  • Headlights: 9003 / HB2
  • Fog lights: H3 - 55W
  • Front turn signal / combination lamp: 7443 (try to get bulbs with an amber exterior coating for best results)
  • Tail / brake lamp: 7443
  • Center high mounted stop light: 168
  • Reverse light: 921
  • License plate: 168
• Interior lighting
  • Dome light & cargo area light: DE3175
  • Map lights: BA9s (also known as #57)
  • Instrument cluster: 74
    • 1996 - 2000 QX4: 168
  • Automatic transmission shift indicator: 168
  • Manual HVAC controls: 74
    • Buttons: 12v microlamps from RadioShack
  • Automatic HVAC control buttons: unsure (NEO4-W LED bulbs from SuperBrightLEDs fit here; see this post for more details)
  • Ashtray light: 74
  • Glove box: 74
  • Hazard & rear defroster switches: 12v microlamps from RadioShack

Here are bulbs I used for a complete interior LED conversion, all from SuperBrightLEDs.

• Instrument cluster illumination: 5x 74-CWHP3
  • Do note that post-facelift QX4s (2001 - 2003) have a fluorescent bulb used to illuminate the instrument cluster. You are not able to replace this with an LED.
• Instrument cluster warning / indicator lamps: Various 74-X bulbs
  • Use bulbs that match the indicator's lens; for example, you will want a green LED bulb for the turn signal indicators and the cruise/set indicators.
  • Do note that 2003 - 2004 Pathfinders and 2003 QX4s already have LEDs for the majority of the instrument cluster warning and indicator lamps. The turn signal indicators and high beams indicator are traditional incandescent bulbs and can be replaced. I would replace these with 74-xHP bulbs.
  • Do not use an LED bulb for the "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" indicator, since for some reason there is always a small amount of power fed to that light and it will be dimly lit at night, and it will irritate you.
  • You may wish to use a high power bulb for amber colored indicators (ABS, O/D OFF, etc) because a non-SMD light ends up with a rather dim mustard looking color, which may be difficult to distinguish in bright sunlight.
• Automatic transmission shift indicator: T13-W6
• Manual HVAC controls: 2x 74-CWHP3
  • If you would prefer warmer color temperature, order 74-WWHP3 instead.
• Dome and cargo lights: 2x 3022-CWHP4
• Map lights: 2x BA9s-CWHP6
  • BA9S-WHP9 would likely be a better and brighter choice due to the poor LED layout of the BA9s-CWHP6 bulbs; the lone side LEDs end up pointing down towards the interior, while the 2 side LEDs on each side point toward the sides of the map light housing.
• Ashtray: 74-W
• Glove box: 74-WHP
  • 74-WWHP3 may be a better choice due to more bulbs (for 360 degree light output) and warmer color temperature.

For instructions on accessing the instrument cluster to change out bulbs, see this guide.

It's likely not worth the expense to change the indicator / warning lamps to LEDs, but LEDs for the cluster illumination is certainly worth it as it makes quite a difference over the dim incandescent stock bulbs, and is probably the most beneficial upgrade one can make to interior illumination.

Here are some example photos of my interior LED conversion. Some pictures are out of date, and I really should take some better photos soon.



Map / dome lights:





Manual HVAC controls:



Shifter / ashtray:



Glovebox:



I have also replaced my brake / tail bulbs and license plate bulbs with success. However, the brake bulbs are fairly costly ($25 each). LED brake bulbs have the benefit of instant on / off, which potentially increases other drivers' reaction time (PDF whitepaper on the subject), as well as reduced power consumption, less heat generated, and longer life.

I used these bulbs, again from SuperBrightLEDs:

• Brake / tail bulbs: 2x 7443-R45-T
• License plate bulbs: 2x WLED-WHP5

I have only a single photo of the running lights at night:



The camera makes the license plate lights seem brighter than they truly are; the lights do not overpower the license decal sticker as it may appear in the picture.


I would not purchase LED bulbs from eBay for any exterior lighting, as I'd imagine the quality of cheap bulbs varies wildly and despite looking similar and having as many or even more LED bulbs than ones found on SuperBrightLEDs, they still may not be as bright or work as well when retrofitted in stock housings designed for incandescent bulbs.


Here is the estimated power savings as a result of a complete interior LED conversion. Assume dimmer switch is at maximum. I would include the brake & license plate light conversions wattage numbers too, but SuperBrightLEDs does not publish power consumption values for either the brake bulbs or the license plate bulbs unfortunately.

• Incandescent bulb power usage
  • Instrument cluster bulbs, illumination: 4x 3W bulbs, 1x 2W bulb = 14W total
  • Instrument cluster bulbs, indicator / warning: 18x 1.4W bulbs total and 1x 3W bulb
    • Of course, not all of these will be constantly lit at once, otherwise you have some major problems! Let's assume a typical case of 2 bulbs lit most of the time; CRUISE and SET, which are 1.4W bulbs. Thus, power usage is only 2.8W.
    • The 3W bulb is the "battery" warning indicator lamp.
  • Ashtray, glove box, manual HVAC controls: 4x 1.4W = 5.6W total (figure of 1.4W each obtained from Sylvania 74 LL bulb)
  • Automatic transmission shift indicator: 4.9W (figure obtained from Sylvania 168 LL bulb)
• Incandescent bulb wattage total: 27.3 watts

• LED bulb power usage
  • Instrument cluster bulbs, illumination: 5x 0.4W = 2W total
  • Instrument cluster bulbs, indicator / warning: 19x 0.2W bulbs
    • Once again assuming only the CRUISE and SET are lit, power usage is 0.4W.
  • Ashtray, glove box, manual HVAC controls: 3x 0.4W (HVAC + glove box; high-power tri-LED bulbs) + 0.2W (ashtray) = 1.4W total
  • Automatic transmission shift indicator: 0.4W
• LED bulb wattage total: 4.2 watts

The difference isn't anything to sneeze at - you saved 23.1 watts of constant power usage. Less heat is generated, so there is less possibility of melting an instrument cluster twist base (I've seen several begin to melt), and LEDs should last effectively forever as well.

I hope this thread sheds some light about lighting and LED conversions on our Pathfinders and QX4s.

Nice post on the LED bulb info. I have a 2001 Infiniti QX4 4x4 and just replaced the Center dome and rear cargo area dome lamp (same bulb). I bought my bulbs from www.vleds.com I was searching for the bulb # in the map lights because its not listed in the owners manual.

BA9s (as listed above)

Welcome to NICO!

Yea i noticed the odd bulb number (BA9s) looks as if it also goes by bulb # 57 = 1895 ba9s bayonet base bulb 53, 182, 257, 363, 1445, 1893, 6253, 64111

http://www.v-leds.com/57-LED/c516538-1-2/

Vled's has a heck of a selection, ive always got my bulbs from them. I went with the 5K white in the dome area's, they are a crisp white without that blue tint. I think my instrument cluster might be factory led's inside them? Its a 2001.

Yes, your instrument cluster has a factory fluorescent bulb from the factory. You cannot replace the illumination with LEDs as a result, though you can replace individual warning lamp / indicator bulbs with LEDs if you wish. Necessary information is in the first post.

That bulb you linked to looks like a BA9s bulb, correct.

The cool white bulbs I purchased from SuperBrightLEDs do have a slight blue tint, but regardless they are a nice upgrade over the incandescent lighting. Perhaps I should have purchased warm white bulbs if they were available, but I am still happy with the LEDs I purchased.

i am trying to find/replace if there is a bulb for the ignition keyway. i dont see one (took the covers off) but there may be one hidden somewhere in it. my truck is an 01 qx4

There isn't one there unfortunately.

Hi i'm new here and I bought a used QX4 2001 and wanted to swap leds in my auto hvac I have read the first post and the link to it but I am still not sure exactly what leds bulbs goes in there. If anyone can confirm the leds bulbs # that goes in the auto hvac it would be pretty much appreciated thanks.

I assume all the others bulbs are the same on the Path and the QX4?

(Sorry for my english).

wrx wrote:Hi i'm new here and I bought a used QX4 2001 and wanted to swap leds in my auto hvac I have read the first post and the link to it but I am still not sure exactly what leds bulbs goes in there. If anyone can confirm the leds bulbs # that goes in the auto hvac it would be pretty much appreciated thanks.

I assume all the others bulbs are the same on the Path and the QX4?

(Sorry for my english).

NEO4-W are a direct fit.

Thanks, but how many leds bulbs do I need for the hvac? (digital)

Oh and which one? 3mm, 4mm or 5mm?

NEO4 indicates 4mm size. As far as I can tell from the photos, there are four bulbs. NEO4-W bulbs come with twist bases already, so it is a simple, direct swap.

Thanks, I need something brighter in there anyway btw, do you know if we can swap in leds in the clocks(qx4 one)?

I have no idea, sorry. I've never seen a QX4 analog clock disassembled.

are you able to dim the LED lights? or is it one unadjustable level once they are on?

They are dimmable. They may flicker or buzz, though.

So if you do the conversion it is really designed to be run at full power?

Yes. Depending on the dimmer setting, my bulbs buzz and at lower settings flicker visibly. Otherwise, some flicker is noticeable at any setting other than full power when moving my eyes. However, I never dim my interior, so it's not a big deal for me.

maybe you can come to the site http://www.ledlightshub.com to get more LED lights.

Verified that this is the case in a 2001 QX4. I'll let others verify compatibility with other applications:

Analog clock:
2 x https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... l-led/219/

4WD/2WD selector switch:
3 x https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... l-led/220/ - 3mm

Note: To install the 3mm LEDs into the 4WD/2WD selector switch:
- Remove the old bulbs.
- The middle one installs no problem
- Using a 3/16 or 5/32 drill bit, insert the bit into the 2 outer bulb openings and drill a half inch or so of material out. The LEDs go down a bit farther into the switch than the old bulbs did, and the clear material that disperses the light to the front doesn't give you enough clearance.

Be careful and minimize the amount of circuit board you hit while doing this, naturally! The bulbs take a little force to get them in the socket because their base is a touch oversized, but you shouldn't have to (and shouldn't) hammer the LEDs in.

Also note that the lights on the selector switch (and I'm pretty sure the clock) are polarized, so if they don't work at first, rotate the bulbs 180 degrees.

They look gorgeous after installing the new bulbs though; totally worth it!

Has anyone put in replaced the stock H3 Fog light bulbs with H3 LED bulbs for the Fog Lights? Specifically for QX4?

I just replaced the speedo and tach lights with Super Bright LEDs, Inc. part number 74-BHP3: Blue. For only $3.49 each plus $2.99 shipping, this is the most awesome upgrade for the money I have made to my Pathfinder. The old lifeless instrument panel "pops" with a calming yet vibrant blue illumination. At less than $10 and twenty minutes spent installing them, I am very pleased with the way this now looks.

I have a 2001 Pathfinder and one of my instrument panel lights went out. I came across the original post about converting to LEDs and thought I would give it a go. Instructions were excellent and everything was looking good. I got the triple LEDs for the backlight on my instrument cluster and found that they were loose fitting in the base. I thought I read somewhere on this forum about somebody putting tinfoil around the base of the light to take up the space. Well, I tried it, but the lights did not work. I took off the foil and just adjusted the fittings in the base itself. Lights still did not work. I tried reversing the lights due to the polarity issue with no change. Any ideas? Did I short out the lights with the foil?

Check the "TAIL" fuse in the passenger side fuse box in the engine bay. The foil may have inadvertently caused a short, yes.

I find that the two outermost gauges (fuel/coolant temp) will occasionally go out. I need to bang on the dashboard area around the cluster a couple times to get the tri-LED bulbs to "seat" again in their holders. It's rather irritating. I will consider adding some solder to the contacts.

Thank you Towncivilian, problem solved! It's amazing how much time I spent for a simple fuse, but it's done!!

Glad to hear it! If you are still having trouble with intermittent or no contact with the tri-LED bulbs, adding some solder to each contact point should be fairly quick and painless to do.

What LED is used for the brake light bar on top of rear window?

Same as license plate bulbs, just red of course.

Hi all, brand new to the Nissan owners club. I bought a 2012 Nissan Pathfinder SV and so far I really love the truck. I've been playing around a little with minor mods, so far I did HID bi-xenon upgrade on the headlights and it's amazing.

I'm looking to upgrade the fogs and other brake and turn signals to LED and have a couple questions I am hoping one of you can help me with. I heard that when upgrading to LED you normally want to upgrade the flasher unit to avoid the fast turn signal and such. My problem is two fold....I cannot locate said flasher to swap it out and I was told by the guy at Advance Auto when trying to find the proper sized flasher unit that since my truck is a 2012 I shouldn't have to upgrade the flasher module since it should be a new model and able to handle LED like the tridon flasher I was looking at purchasing.

Is this indeed the case? I hate to spend all this money on LEDs and find out I need a flasher. And if I do need to replace flasher can someone tell me where it is located? So far I've checked the fuse boxes under hood and cannot locate it under left side near hood release.

Thanks in advance!
Rob

I believe the flasher should already be an electronic unit, yes. Even if it isn't, a flasher unit is fairly inexpensive. I would wait and see before replacing the flasher unit.

I would suggest buying LED bulbs from SuperBrightLEDs. Just match the bulb number using the Sylvania bulb guide and ensure you match the color (i.e. brake bulbs get red LED bulbs). It's better to go with bulbs that have more LEDs - i.e. the ones I use in my Pathfinder have 45 high-power SMD LEDs. They were $25 each, but they work quite well.

Welcome to NICO!