Hey everyone, new to the forums, I have an 85 maxima GL, silver. My question is, has anyome changed the color of their dashlights? Besides going for the indiglo setup? I'd love to change them to either blue or red, but I think the green is actually in the gauge faces and not bulb filters.

 

Well unfortunately, the only way to really go blue or red is with the indiglo's. The green in the stock gauges is actually in the backing of the gauges. There is also a green filter on the light in the dash. You can probably try some custom work the change it, but it's probably not worth the time.

S

 

Ive checked out some of my dash lights and is all they are are little bulbs with green condom looking rubbery like sleeves on them. Im sure you can change the sleeves to give a different color or change the whole bulb for a new one.

 

you can get them little condom looking things at wal-mart,i just wish you could change the color of the digital dash?!?

 

Yeah, I know it has the green bulb filters in the instrument cluster, But I know for sure that the heater panel is tinted green, so the instument panel probably is as well. I might still give it a go and see what happpens. Maybe some ultrabright led's will overpower the green tint. I could also try the clear heater panel from a Pathfinder, then it's just the instruments to worry about. I'm just so sick of the green!

 

Wylie-C
what I did on my 87 max was to remove the cover off of the heater controls (the black piece with all the pictures showing you the fan speed and where the air is blowing from, etc) If you take it off there is a clear lens behind it. The backing on the cover has the green tint on it and the light bulb is clear. I spliced a blue LED light into the 2 wires for the existing light bulb socket. I pushed the LED through where the old light bulb and used something to hold it in place. The end result was the whole clear lens lights up blue.

http://www.importintelligence.com/FM...stID=USA&-Edit

What I was going to do then is get this overlay from the above link and see if I could put it on the clear lens. When you look at it I know it says its for a sentra but its the only one that had the same set up as our cars. Right now mine is just clear but it looks good cause the clear lens has a nice pattern on it and as long as you remember what does what you are good to go. If you go to my page on cardomain and look at picture #2. The lights in the air diffusers are what I used behind the lens. Hope it gives you an idea, also image that picture without the black piece,clear lens glowing blue. I will try to update my page today to give you a better idea. Jose

www.cardomain.com/id/maximumrideus

 

Well guys, I did it and now have cool red dashlights. The only difficult part was the instrument cluster, other than that it was easy. Here's a rundown of how I did it.

Shifter, ashtray and lighter - These simply have the bulb filters ( or condoms ). I couldn't find red bulbs in that size so they got painted with transparent red nailpolish.

Heater controls - The back of the panel is painted green. Simply snap the translucent peice out and replace it with one from an 87-88 Pathfinder. They are exactly the same, but the Pathfinder has orange illumination. There is a diffuser on the back of it, simply peel it off to let a bit more light through. Paint the bulb red and you're set.

Instrument cluster - Here's the tricky part. I tried changing the bulbs for red ones, 194's are readily available in many colors. It worked, but was pinkish and dim. If any of you have had it apart, or changed a bulb, there are little plastic domes where the bulbs go. They are sort of a bluish green. So I dismantled the cluster, note the position of the needles and removed them. They come off fairly easy. Next I pulled the gauge faces and then I could remove the offending plastic domes. Reassemble everything, check the guage operation, and install three red 194 bulbs and paint the two small ones.

Voila! Red dashlights. It looks so much better than the irritating green. I'll try to get a decent pic for you guys this evening of the new look. I think the next project will be changing the keyless entry illumination to something more appealing.

 

Here are some pics, It's hard to get a good pic of them but oh well. They look sweet though and the pics just don't do them justice.
www3.telus.net/vhead/DCP01800.JPG
www3.telus.net/vhead/DCP01801.JPG
www3.telus.net/vhead/DCP01802.JPG
www3.telus.net/vhead/DCP01803.JPG
www3.telus.net/vhead/DCP01804.JPG

 

Nice mod you got there. I like that. Red may irritate my eyes after awhile so Id have to go with a different color. I was once long ago looking into getting the volkswagon Jetta bulbs. They are like a purple bluish color. Pretty sweet lookin. But the indiglos came out so now I have those

 

The Performance parts sticky has been updated with this info

 

Thanks for the props! I did try out blue bulbs and purple too. The blue bulbs simply made the illumination darker green, and purple made it a slightly pinkish red. So I went with red because it was the only thing that would work. I think I'll put one of the blue bulbs in the glovebox.

A note about the Pathfinder heater inlay - The illumination on them is orange, but the inlay looks clear, ie: should go any color you want. But when I tried a blue bulb on it went green. Red is fine though.

 

did you find a replacement bulb for the heater inlay? I had to replace mine, but I couldn't find the bulb without spending too much for it. So I got a could mini led's from radio shack. Lemme know.

S

 

Come to think of it, I saw them at Canadian Tire for something like $2 a pair, but that's not much help to you. Any auto parts place should have them, like a Napa or something should have them for cheap. Or hit up a wrecker and grab a few.