I just recently followed the DIY to install LED's in the guages.
The issue I ran into came in the odometer because my car is Canadian.
The amount of crap behind the odometer is NUTS, and as such I barely got an LED anywhere close, and my trip meter is not working now(no biggie I'll check whatsup when I pull it apart again)
But I did get an LED in there.
Biggest thing I've noticed is a lack of light, I mean its not bad, and it looks awesome, but I find I have to look longer to get readings than I used to and that I dont like.

My questions for those who've done this mod:

1. Have any of you installed more LED's or other lights to increase the light output, if so, how (pics would be awesome if avail.), and how did it work for you?

2. For those with the canadian model guages(if any have done this mod other than me), how did you fare on the odometer? Where did you stuff that LED in there or did you find a better way of doing the install?

Thanks for any replies, this is more a thread to give me some ideas when I pull it apart again to try and rectify my light issue (also gotta find a way to fix the hotspot on the odometer)>
My camera is still busted so I cant post pics right now, but I'd love to see all of yours so post away.

 

i have the perfect pic for you...i also found that i needed more leds: i used the 21 leds as shown plus 4 more (one behind each needle). also some of these leds are 25000mcd and some are 5000mcd. i bought the 25000mcd when the 5000 werent bright enough

 

hey, I have the 96 max. Ive done the led in the guage, all i had to do was chnage the 5 bulbs behind it. I used 194 led wedge from ebay. I bought the inverted led wedge bulbs. They are really bright and they shine all around.

 

or you could do it this way, my way definately took some time but saved money and made me feel proud of the work. end result:

 

maxx...do you have a pic of what it looks like with just replacing the 5 bulbs with some 194 led bulbs?

 

Black max, I got this pic off the maxima.org site, but this is similar to what my gauge looks like. I used the blue 194 wedge inverted bulbs. Mine is more brighter and more bluer but not darker. It gives off that bright blue look. If you want I can send u a pic tomrrow of how mine looks.

 

nah you dont have to, i just wanted to see what it looked like to buy bulbs compared to mine. thanks

 

no prob, i will still post it tomorrow for other to see.

 

thanks boys, I'll have to add some led's where the old bulbs were, I take it thats the best spot?
Black_maxed95 - Is there a reason that there are a couple LED's in your pic that weren't sanded down?
ALSO how does this set up work with white faced guages(mines SE), from the pics yours look like black faced.
From the pics, I can still hopefully achieve better lighting without hotspots (was my worry, even with sanding) sweeeet. Ima have to git a cam, I've got green LED's it suits the car nicely. will post hopefully soon.

 

the unsanded leds are the 5000mcd ones. my first attempt i only used those. then when i realized those werent bright enough i bought 25000mcd leds and before putting those in i sanded them. the first attempt i didnt think about sanding them but i probly should have.

oh ya, i had the analog odo too and i got an led back there. its possible

 

^cool yah im gonna try and cover up one side of the LED i put in the odo, its hotspotting the hell out of the top.
Are your's blackfaced guages though? I'm thinking this may not look near as good on my white faced lights as it may light up the entire guage not just the #'s..... hmmm

 

mine are black faced but it should work on a white faced too. im pretty sure the white is opaque and light wont shine through

 

yea im getting the white inverted in the mail any day now. but my concern is that i got 194s and i have a 97 gle. i was totally sure theyd fit but lately ive been reading that they may not. wats the deal anyone? thanks

 

I just replaced the white bulbs with red ones and it looks just like that. IDK, maybe yours looks better in real life? I'll post pics when I get a chance.

 

eh...yours probably does look similar, i did that mod a while ago before i knew it was possible to buy red led 194 bulbs or anyother bulb besides stock.

but in real life the hot spots/dull spots arent as noticable as in this pic

 

I originally used around 13 bright white 5mm 9000mcd LED's and then added 2 more. I sanded LESS than half of them which gives it the tye dye look (which im verry pleased with). I have a lot of hot spots as they say but it works for me!! I dont have internal pix's to show you but the crap behind the guages does get in the way. The only thing that i would be cautious about is if you use black electrical tape after heating up for a wile it tends to leave behind its stiky residue which might affect the performance of the guage. I definetly recomend this even with the white face it looks sick youll get some compliments out on the road.....

 

I haven't done this personally, but from what i understand 97-99 uses a 74 bulb which is smaller than a 194. I was pretty disappointed when i found this out because it's harder to find 74's than 194's.

 

To eliminate hotspots, sand them into a cone. Like this, except I eventually sanded it to a point.

 

oh im gunna kill 9 babies if that is true! anyone have a 97 and can let me kno who has changed them so innocent babies dont have to die?!

 

im pretty positive its true, ive heard it before too but im not sure as i have a 95 and 96

 

OK I sent out a few emails to some LED company's, and this is what I got.
I was sent this site twice actually but I think its wrong.....

http://www.besthongkong.com/index.php?cPath=10_61



I think what they ment to send out was actually this site:

http://www.besthongkong.com/index.ph...d38d67a448942b



Now my dash uses 194 bulbs so I cant compare either web site result's with the stock 74 bulbs from the 97-99's. If either site is wrong please bare with me, and leave some feedback.
HOPE THIS HELPS

 

so if anyone cares i got my LEDs in tonight and here is the product.

before


after




i need some red celophane so i can white the climate display. then im done with this project. next is install the illuminas/pro kit

 

did you put an led behind the needles as well? they all look pretty much lit up except the speedo. and did you have to sand down you're needles? i thought the SE's came w/ red needles

 

I actually started with the temp guage and put a led specificaly for that needle. Then I got boared and decided to stop. The other three guages just have leds soldered to the stock socket, but pointing at the clear reflector pice that lites up the needles. I also spread a few more out around each gauge to eaven out the glow.
I purposely DID NOT sand most of my LED's. Everyone keeps teling me how to sand them and that I should have done it. Bla bla I chose not to so I could have a stronger glow and so that it wouldnt be one flat, uninterupted color. I sanded like 2 of the 16 or so that I used, but the ones that are for the needles were definetly not sanded.
I believe that only the 99 SE's or maybe the 99 SE Limiteds have red needles. My dash was orange.....

 

You can use the 194's in the dash for 98-99. You just have to make the hole a little bigger till the 194 fits in then just solder the two wires onto the contacts. Im just waiting for mine to come in so i can do it.

 

my 97 SE guages are a 194 bulb that just inserts into the twist in housing.
can't say about the other trims though as IIRC they're black faced and possibly different.
I'm gonna just replace them with green 194's and see how that looks with the LED's under the needles and grn 194s. Hope to post pics soon though.

 

no i was asking if you sanded your needles, b/c they look clear, and you have an SE. i said red, but regardless, did your needles come orange or clear?

 

blue 194's from oreilly's worked great for me, and to make the clock blue you use red celophane?? what about the manual climate control, how do you make it blue or white?

 

Yes I did sand them I thought you knew that.. I didnt think the orange needles would contrast well with the super white and blue LED's throught the car. I Figured U were just asking if they were either: A-orange painted on the bottom, or B-a red plastic needle

There definetly sanded. Fine grit, and paitents... The red ones cant B sanded there actually red plastic

 

http://www.importcarpartsplus.com/

Check out this site!!!!!!!!!! It might B the best solution for those of us who would rather not mount LED's on there guages.
On the lower blue border there is "INTELLIGLOW NEEDLES" click there....

They have HYPER RED, GREEN, YELLOW, & BLUE for 89' to 97'
HYPER RED only for 98-99 due to the solid red needles
its $79 for the kit and and $129 if you want whit faces

Ps: I dont know these people, and have never seen or tried this product. I also don't have the slightest clue if the kit will burn out like the indiglow guages do!!

 

hmmm, 80-130$ plus shipping....
or...
a little patience and a couple dollars with close to same/better results(IMO)
i choose the latter, just my .02

 

I just did the 194 bulbs into my 98 cluster and im personally not happy with it, well other then my trip meter doesnt have light, from 0-3000RPM is like barely light up and the needles are very dim. Im trying to figure out if there is another way to put another 194 bulb behind there?

would it be safe to tap off one of the other bulbs power to run another bulb?

thanks

 

anybody w/ the analog gauges have any success with doing their own LED needles and getting the speedo to turn out okay?

 

No check the site before commenting..
$79 shipped (2 large, 2 small needles)
$129 shipped (2 large ,2 small needles with white face backround)

Thanks 4 ur opinin though!!!!! If you would check up the thread a bit you would see that I DID use patients and spent less than $20 to custom LED my guages.
I posted this web site on this thread as a way to give OTHERS a chance to custom THERE car even if they dont have the soldering skills or want to crack open there guages. I could care less if they do or dont modify there car but if I can HELP than I will. I think ur .02 cents might deter some people from doing a modification and thats not nice!



96blkonblkse
It would not be un safe to tap off an existing light to install another one. As long as you hook them up in parallel. The only thing I would be concerned with is wheather the new light would heat up and melt any plastic near by. But besides that go for it!!!!



Can some one tell me how to double and triple "quote" as you see i have to manually insert.....ancient i know

 

yeah I suppose you're right, i can definately see how someone would rather pay for it than do it themselves, it is a little finniky and frustrating.
^

 

Nice... I like the way that look

 

is it me or the after pics show the dash lights less bright then the original?

 

i got a 97 with 194's in it, tried the led thing a couple of times for me it was too much of a hassle they looked good for a bit then started gettin hotspots and some were starting to fade more than others, so i just got some really bright 194's and its plug and play

 

my understanding is if you get the intelliglow needle kit you still have to take out your gauge cluster. in my opinion if you can do that and know how to solder, making your own led needles isn't much more difficult.

 

i went cheap on it and used some red 194s on it, took em couple months, F***erz faded out.