I want to change the dim bulbs behind my dash gauges in my '98 gle to something brighter. I was thinking Polarg Hyperwhites (194) because of good reviews, but are there any other brands that are just as bright and white that i can find at a local store like pepboys, autozone, etc?? Also, does anyone know how many bulbs total i need to replace and what wattage is needed. When i asked pepboys they said they could only tell me the type of bulb used and that i had to open up the dash and look at the bulbs to find out the wattage. Thanks!

 

I don't think a 98 max uses the 194 for the dash.

 

I dunno, i called up pepboys and i think autozone, and they both looked up them up in their computers and both said they were 194s.

 

My Haynes manual shows a rear view picture of the gauge cluster. It doesn't say how many bulbs, but it has 15 arrows pointing at bulbs so I think total are 15 bulbs.

 

15? I know for the 95/96 and 97 I think, there are only 5 for the gauges. 15 might be the number of bulbs for the idiot lights.

And I'm pretty sure there are only 5 for the 99... I only took one apart once and forget how many there are for the gauges... but it's not 15 and they weren't 194s.

 

i'm not complete sure but i think i read in a post somewhere that the '99 models have a different type of gauge bulb than the earlier models. i tried searching for it again but couldn't find it. anyone know?

 

The picture in Haynes manual shows 15 arrows total but 11 arrows are on the bottom, one side (left side if viewed from front of gauge) has 6 and the other side (right side if from front) has 5. Now I guess they are the warning light bulbs? In the middle on the top, there are 4 arrows but they could still be warning light bulbs? I never took gauge out so know nothing but reading Haynes book, on page 12-13, under "Instrument cluster illumination". The book call them "instrument cluster light bulb". Now page 12-42 has a schematic, in it there are 2 bulbs for "combination meter". Not sure if that's the bulbs.

 

If you have a 96, then you have 5 194 bulbs for the gauges. I'm 125% positive about that.

 

Thanks clee130 for the info. Yes mine is 96. I don't know why Haynes book does not have enough info on that.

 

i guess i'll just open up the dash to make sure i buy the right number and type of bulb.

 

yeah, 99 are different, it's a real pain in the *** to find replacements, cause there are none, but the 98's i'm pretty sure are 194/168 polarg's are really good, if you want a slight bluish tinge, then go for the piaa xtreme white, they're a little more expensive though try lightlens.com or autobulbdepot.com