pastaben

I have a 2001 GLE with what I think are really dim instrument gauge. I have the one with 20 regular bulbs, not counting the one with the blue twist holder. I did take it apart and took out the bulbs to take a look and see if I could identify anything. Nothing obvious. However, I'm not sure if I had to put the bulbs back in a certain direction? I know the LED bulbs need to be put in right polarity. Do the regular halogens also have to be placed in correct direction?

Related: How can I tell if all the bulbs are working, especially for the warning lights? Is there any way to make all the lights go on? I know on cold start up, the lights are supposed to light up. Do all the bulbs light up upon start up? Or, are there some that only light up when there's an actual issue?

Thanks.

TallTom

halogen bulbs don't have polarity issues. As for lighting them up, I think they all come on when turning the key to the ignition on setting.

pastaben

Thank you TallTom. I went through opening trunk, door, cruise control, etc. According to the User's Manual, all my bulbs are accounted for. I was hoping for an easier way, but it worked. My lighting is so dim that it's really hard to see the needle on the gauges at night. I'll have to try either new halogens or LEDs.

TallTom

My guess is there is an issue with the dimmer **** or you have a poor ground connection at the battery. With 5 year old halogen bulbs, my dash is bright.

pastaben

Thanks. I bought and installed a refurbished dimmer, and no difference. Had not thought to check battery connection. I'll check that after work. Didn't think of battery connection because the rest of the car seems to run well, starts in a second even on cold day, but I'll check battery and update.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

There are more ground connections than just the battery cable. The main ground connection to the chassis is under the battery tray. After that, there are many secondary ground connections. The instrument cluster uses the ground connection M25 under the dash. See page EL-19 in the following link.

All the warning lights should light up when the ignition key is first turned to the ON position before you start the car. Some of the lights will go off after a few seconds, others will stay on. See page EL-113 in the following link for the instrument cluster. It shows the location of all the lamps.

http://boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/2001/EL.pdf

You can also try unplugging and replugging the 3 connectors on the back of the instrument cluster 2 or 3 times. Sometimes the connections get tarnished and this will clean that.

pastaben

DennisMik, Thanks for the tip! That's very helpful.

pastaben

My main ground and the M25 ground are very clean. I did open up the cluster and saw that there are two kinds of bulbs there (thanks to the link to the manual above--1.5 watt and 3 watt. The 1.5s light up the warning lights and the 3 watts provide the illumination of the cluster in general. The 3 watts in mine, I found, while still functioning, had their lenses blackened over 17 yrs of use, which I believe, and hope, are why my dials seem so dim. Here's the bad news:

I ordered halogen replacements off eBay - don't work. The bulbs are too small to fit the original Toshiba sockets. The new bulbs fit the sockets which came with the bulbs, but they did not work in the cluster. Just won't turn on. Don't know if its the socket or bulb. All 20 bulbs don't work. I did same with eBay no name LED bulbs. Same deal--don't work. Yes, I installed one at a time to make sure I got polarity right for the LEDs. Don't work.

I found the original part number from Nissan:
Part No:24860-C9900
Lookup code: 24860PA
by the way, the 1.5 watt for the warning lights is 24860P
Problem is that these bulbs are $22+ each! Cheapest is from nissanpartsdeal for $15 and change.
If the dealers around me had them on hand, I might have bit the bullet, but they did not, and had to order...

So, I saw somewhere else on this forum that superbrightleds work, so I just ordered 4 of the 74-xHP3 bulbs and hope they'll be simple plug-and-play. If these also do not work, then I'll just have to order the OEM parts. They come with bulb and socket, but I can't see spending $15+shipping for ONE bulb. that'll be 60+ for 4 bulbs.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

at http://www.newautoparts.com/oem-part...ssy-24860c9900

3 watt bulb # 24860-C9900 is $14.13 Shipping is $8.26 for one lamp, $10.84 for 10 lamps.
1.5 watt bulb $ 24860-C9910 is $8.92 Shipping is $8.19 for one lamp, $9.80 for 10 lamps.

maxiiiboy

Have you tried the 3W lamp from Rockauto?
Here: https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...ght+bulb,11730 .
It's only $3, plus shipping.

pastaben

I have not tried these. Have you? I was hesitant to try non OEM parts because I already tried two types, and neither worked.

Odd thing is that I had purchased off eBay regular incandescent / halogen 3w bulbs which came with their own holders. All the bulbs work if I light up with a 12v battery. However, when I attach to the cluster, they do not light up.

I also purchased off eBay LED bulbs. Out of 20, 9 were non-functional. Of the functioning LEDs, when I install into the cluster, they do not light up, and yes, I flip for the polarity.

What would make a bulb work outside the cluster with a battery, but not work in the cluster?

I will look into the Rockauto bulbs. However, for four bulbs, it may be just as easy to get the OEM bulbs.

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

Did you turn on your headlights first?

maxiiiboy

Well, time to find out what's the difference.
Pull out your voltmeter and measure the voltage the cluster provides.

pastaben

Haha. Yes, I turned on the lights. Parking light and head light. Unless you mean something different.

For troubleshooting purposes, I only have one bulb I am testing now. All the others are the original bulbs. They light up, and I see the one dark spot where I am testing out the new bulbs.

pastaben

The voltage gives me 12V, thereabouts. I don't have digital one.

Odd thing. I tried again the halogen eBay bulbs with the sockets that came with them. None worked.
I tried the LED bulbs with their sockets, and none worked. I tried AGAIN, and half-untwisted, and pressed, and it turned on. It flickered, but if I simulate bouncing road, the light would go out. Only ONE bulb did this. The other bulbs and sockets, pressing, testing multiple positions, none flickered or turned on. Leads me to suspect bad design of the sockets. I put the LED bulb in the OEM Toshiba socket. Seems to fit, but didn't turn on. Truly odd that so many bulbs in one lot do not work.

So, I'm just going to wait for the superbrightleds.com bulbs to come in and hope they work.

One bummer I found out--the one LED bulb which did turn on for a moment made the dial look blue. I realized that some here have said that the Maxima clusters are tinted Blue. I guess I should have ordered amber lights if I wanted it to appear stock (green?). Oh well. I'll try to live with it.

If the superbrightleds don't work, then I am going to have to settle for the OEM halogens.

Theslaking

I have super bright led's. They work.

pastaben

with old, blackened halogen bulbs

SuperBrightLED cool whites
Got my SuperBrightLEDs today. Worked when I installed them (odd thing...of four bulbs I installed, how come EACH one I had to flip to get the polarity right? None worked on the first shot. What are the odds?)

To the naked eye, they made the dials brighter, but my problem is that the needles are still on the dim side. My pics before and after don't really show much difference. You be the judge. I'll try to live with it for awhile.

Anyone know if the needles actually have different light source? The numbers are noticeably brighter, but the needles are not. I've thought of painting the needles white to get better visibility, but from appearances, they look red through and through, not something I can just scrape off a layer of paint and repaint.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

When you install a led into a Nissan, you will usually have to swap polarity because of how Nissan wires a lamp socket. It tends to be the reverse of everyone else.

If you ever try to replace the map lights (up by the rear view mirror) with LED, you may have to re-wire the lamp sockets.

pastaben

All I meant was that I shouldn't gamble. There's only a right way or wrong direction to install the LED bulbs. Each initial attempt was wrong, meaning I had to flip each bulb.

I will not be replacing other bulbs that don't require replacing.