Im wondering if it is possible to get change the color of my dash cluster lighting from the stock white illumination, to say blue.. I have had the cluster apart but couldn't tell what/where I needed to look

thanks

 

color LED bulbs. do a search.

 

Since you have a 1998 Maxima, You need #74 LED bulbs. You will need 5-6 of them. 99% sure its 5.

Basically on the back of the cluster there are these **** things you turn and the bulbs pop out, swap the bulbs and put it right back in.

 

same for me if i have a 99?

 

i am wanting to say there are 4 bulbs in the back of a 99, 95% positive its 4
just search it

 

Be careful with the blue ones, i got some crappy blue ones off ebay and they were so blue i couldn't see the needles. I ordered smt leds off of v-leds, and the needles are more visible. You wont have any problem if you decide to sand the orange off the needles to make them clear, I just didn't want to make them clear because I have a white guages.

I have a 97, and I needed 5 bulbs. One behind the gas guage, two behind the mph guage, and two behind the rev/temp guage.

 

I just took my cluster off yesterday to put on the casing I painted blue and I noticed 5 lights for my 96. I ordered some blue leds which should come out good pm me if you want me to send you pics of it finished. If they are good legs then ill send you the link for where I got them from.

 

sure but i believe we have different clusters....the reason why im asking is because my thing is digital....the 99's are digital.....im wondering if a 99'er has done it...?

 

call up a Nissan dealer and ask them or just take it apart and find out for yourself it isn't that hard it take 5 min.

 

i did blue Leds (the hard way, by soldering in some blue leds to the orriginal globe sockets) and i really didn't like the colour to begin with, however it grew on me after a while. But if i could to it again, i would probably go for green or a maybe a red. anyway its up to you really, i was just expecting a nicer colour finish and it just wasn't there.

 

Wrong.

95-97 has 5 194 bulbs.

98-99 has 5 74 bulbs.

Don't bother changing your lighting unless you do real LED's or can figure out a way to secure them in place in the cluster. I've tried twice (once with V-LED led bulbs and once with another brand) and both times the bulbs were lose in the bulb holders and if you hit a bump your lights go out. Not worth it. Do it right, do it once. (This applies to 98's and 99's - I have a 99)

 

what do you mean REAL leds? and are you russian=]? let me know i really want to do it, and it doesnt seem 2 hard to do

 

the led bulbs wont be loose once you take out the bulb from the little **** you get the smallest tiny flat head screw driver and move the 4 connectors inside the **** closer to each other so when you put in the led bulb it wont be loose and shutting off on you

 

Real LED's = LED's you have to solder, not some cheap *** $2 bulbs.

I am Ukrainian.

I personally have the following philosophy: Real LED's or Bust

I have spent $900 on my front end lighting (TL Projector Retro, Bi-Xenon harness, 6000k Headlights, 6000k Helios fog lights), $80 on my LED interior lights and exterior lights, and am getting ready to spend another $500 on LED Turn Signals (front and back), LED Reverse Lights, and LED Brake Lights (all hand made by a friend).

 

i used the vled smt 74 bulbs and just used a dab of silicone on the end to stick em in place. i would probably be one of the "real led or bust" guys if it wasn't for the wide pattern of smt leds. they really are the best option in this case so make em work.

 

I would use the real leds liek everyone is saying and solder them. they also emitt more light at night

 

theres no such thing as "fake leds". where do you get your info.? i have litterally $1k+ worth of leds in all sizes, styles, and colors and the smt vled bulbs are towards the high end of the spectrum especially when compared to 3/5mm.

the bulbs are simply smt leds integrated into bulb bases with the added bonus of having inline resistors and reverse diodes built in. fitment is the only issue but easily fixable. don't fool yourself into thinking that simply because you had to solder them in you got a better product.

brightness isn't a huge issue when dealing with interior lighting. the oem leds/bulbs will easily get outshined by near every modern high power led. the issue with gauge lighting is beam pattern. you want it wide and even to get full illumination and no hotspots. i'l put an smt led against any 3/5mm round anyday for this.

 

They aren't "fake"...they are just cheap and ineffective from my experiences. 2 Maximas and many LED bulbs later, I will eventually solder LED's into where I want them instead of buying cheap *** bulbs that slide in and out of their holders. Actual LED's with legs require more work to get working, but once you get them in, they are phenomenal. Unlike the bulbs.

 

any pix? and what color did u get?

 

how is a $2 led bulb cheap when compared to a loose led that cost pennies? the fitment isnt great i'll admit but the performance is definitely there if you take the extra steps to make it work. i've tested several different styles from several different manufacturers and they all have the same fitment issues to some extent.

theres nothing keeping you from soldering the leads of the bulb type to the board. did you use the smt type bulbs or the regular/inverted leds? i can understand if you were trying the regular/inverted you would probably be right and it would not be worth the trouble but the smt out preform loose leds by far in gauge applications (i use loose leds everywhere else).

heres mine installed. the low spots are over-emphasized.

 

ur pix didnt work

 

yeah it did.

 

V-Leds no longer sells SMT 74's in blue? I only see green and amber.

What is this gel you put on to hold them in place? Care to explain how exactly you did it.

I WAS using the inverted ones, and they completely sucked. I like your setup. How did you keep the needles so red?

 

your mileage isn't lit up

 

you just have to keep an eye on vleds.com. they sell out from time to time. you can also get them here. i checked out the single and 3x smt led from there also. the 3x was a little better but i had already done mine and it wasn't drastic enough to justify redoing it.

to hold them in place i simply dabbed the end in clear rtv silicone, inserted them, and let them dry over night. worked like a charm.

i didn't do anything special to the needles, thats just how they turned out.

nice catch. that is powered out of the car and the odometer is on a different circuit than the rest.

 

so the smt 194 LEDs don't even light up the mileage area a little bit at all?
i still have some white incandescent bulbs behind my cluster and thought about switching over to the leds but if thats the case, then nevermind.

 

Looks like he didn't change the mileage area. I forgot to change mine, so I had to go back and do that. Made a huge difference. By the way, love the auto gear selector led mod. My next mod to do!!!!!

 

They do. His car is a 98-99 so it's a 74 bulb and the odometer has it's own dedicated bulb. That bulb only turns on when the car is in ACC mode or started. I know this because I have a 99.

 

thanks man. hope it goes well. let me know if you have any questions

 

oh ok ok ok. i see. yehhhh i have a 97 some ummm dunno how thats gonna work

 

they said it right... all bulbs have been changed (including warning lights, blinkers, etc.. everything that was green/blue is now blue, everything that was orange/red is now red).

 

This is Kevlo's car. He has a sick cluster. He used SMT LEDs if I can recall correctly. He did a nice job, I was trying to search for his post on them but this is all I could find at the moment.

 

so what do u guys think, blue ones? or white ones? i dont knwo why his picture isnt working for me...all other ones are......


and what do u think about the http://autolumination.com/74.htm ntroducing the Tri-Power 3LED Bulb, "#74 too small?.....#194 too big?.....This is your bulb" what do you guys think abou this

 

I had white leds in my SE cluster a while back, the fit 100%, but the shined blue, because there is blue tint in the cluster

 

i bought one of those just to see what size it was. it will not fit.

 

superbrightleds.com. direct fit. no soldering needed. wide variety of colors.

 

It's going to work simple. The 95-97 Maxima's odometer gets it's lights from the other gauge lights...so you still need 5. Once you put in 5, you'll have the same color odometer as the rest of the speedometer.

I had a 97 before this 99...so I know both speedometers and how they turn on/work.

Here is my 97 with VLED 194 LED bulbs (inverted):

 

i ordered some leds...will upload when i get them installed...

 

so Ilyak i want blue lighting for my 95SE. i understand im going to need 5 bulbs but which bulb would i need? id like it to pretty much look like the pic u posted... and is there a writeup on how to remove gauge cluster and install? id like the ones that dont require soldering?

 

Here is a quick version (I'm about to leave town for a wedding)

-- You will need 5 of the 194 size bulbs (you will probably have to buy 6 since they usually come in pairs)
-- No soldering required

To remove cluster:

-- Remove the steering wheel covers (total of 6 screws on the bottom of the covers behind the actual steering wheel - run your hands in that area and you'll find the holes - or just look)
-- Lower the steering wheel to it's lowest setting
-- Remove the two screws holding the speedometer trim (located on the underside of the highest part of the dash (the big hump))
-- Pop the speedometer trim off
-- Remove screw in top center for the top part of the speedometer, then the lower right corner one and the lower left corner one.
-- Give speedometer a good tug to remove it from the car
-- The bulbs should be in blue bulb holders...there should be five of them

I do not take responsibility if you break your car.

Good luck.