actually, the bulbs for the ignition light work in the dash, i put them in, and i have to say, they are the coolest color i have ever seen for gauge lights!!

 

That's what the gauge light size is?!?!? I was gonna sell the extra one I just got but I guess I'm keepin it.

 

How do you open up the cluster to get to the bulbs?

 

yeah, well, actually, there are 4 bulbs at the corners of the gauge cluster, so you'd have to get a couple more. i just ordered six from the guy, and broke one during the install, so it worked out perfect.


1) Take the steering wheel cover off by unscrewing the 3 screws (for Gen 5.5) or 5 screws (for Gen 5.0)
2) Lower steering wheel as far as possible to provide easier access
3) Unscrew the 2 screw in the upper plastic housing that hold/protect the gauge cluster
4) Gently disconnect dimmer switch, power mirror switch, and in-cabin microfilter. The microfilter is hard to do, so first get the dimmer and mirror switches, then use a very small handled phillips to get at the microfilter. You'll see what I mean once you get there.
5) Unscrew the 3 screws holding the actual gauge cluster in at the left, right, and above the cluster. Be careful to not drop these screws.
6) Manipulate the cluster so that you can gently pull it out, and disconnect the three sets of wiring running into it.
7) Now that you have the gauge cluster all of the way out, look for 4 similar black pieces at the 4 corners of the backside of the cluster. DO ONLY THE BLACK ONES. You need to twist them in a counterclockwise motion 1/4 of a turn, and they should slide out.
8) This is the trickiest part. The bulbs fit pretty snug, so what you need to do is get a firm grasp on the bulb with a needle nosed pliers, and gently pull out. DO NOT SQUEEZE MORE TIGHTLY WHEN YOU ARE PULLING OR YOU WILL BREAK THE BULB. Once you have all 4 bulbs out, feel free to put the new ones in. NOTE: The actual bulbs themselves are not the same size, but they still fit in and work well. I have had mine in for 2 weeks now and they look great.
9) Put everything back in backwards order, and you should be on your way to having a great looking gauge cluster.

A couple of notes here: The gauge lights may or may not light up before you reconnect the dimmer switch, so don't curse your work until you have reconnected it and turned up the dimmer switch. With the blue bulbs that I used, the needles aren't nearly as bright anymore, so you might want to get a needle kit...You don't need it, mut I am going to do one, and it would have saved me a lot of time had I known this before. And have fun putting the microfilter back in, it is a straight up b*itch, and will have you cursing. Good Luck!

 

Thanks! Prob. won't try this for a while though. Anybody know what size the bulbs in the gauges are?

 

Very carefully.