Hello, new to the forums and the Maximas. Saw one for sale took it for a spin and instantly fell in love.

The problem: I think stock dash lighting is poor. So i decided to do the Gauge lighting mod. The guide posted here was for a 1996 Maxima. I figured it was all the same so I went for it. To my surprise the 1999's didn't use 194's bulbs in the dash, instead they use a similar looking bulb but smaller wich i dont knwo what number it is.

I have done some research and I think it is a T1.5 bulb; but I'm not really sure. Have anyone encounter similar bulb while doing this mod on 1999's Maximas?.

I see that www.superbrightleds.com has a replacement for this bulb. The http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/74_t15.htm
I want to be sure that this is the rigth replacement before I order.

Anyone?

 

most just drill out the hole to fit the 194 size bulb in and then solder them in. I put the 194 in from the front then soldered them in.

 

If you want it right, you need to contact "Wariow3". He is realy good. He did mine, I should have the pictures by tommarow night. I'll make a post for it.

He did not drill any hole, or made them bigger, there is a way to do it. And that is why I recommend him.

 

just some advice but dont order the #74s from superbrightleds, they are much to dim to light our instrument clusters, it will end up looking 1/4 as bright as they are stock (barely visible) your better off going with the 194 mod.

 

Thanks for the replies; CystumMax if you can find those pics I'd really apriciated.

 

It says that he can't be found and I guess is no longer a member, atleast under that name?

 

I'll have that for you tommarow night, I have to get back my digital camera from my sister.

 

I think he change his name to Wariow now. I'm talking to him over PM's. Thanks for all the advice.

 

yes no problem, I deftnitly have the pictures by tommarow,

 

How many bulbs are there total in the guage.

 

I'm pretty sure it goes 95-96 Max are 5 Wedge LEDs and 97-99 are 6 Wedge LEDs and all 4th Gen I30's are 5 Wedge LEDs.

 

5 for ilumination

 

IMHO, the 194 bulb mod is only good for white since all other colors will fade over time. I would recommend that you solder on LEDs to the back of the gauges. Check my sig for an example. I'm using 61 red 12000mcd LEDs to light my gauges and clear needles to give the glow effect. Lots of work but the results are worth it. Happy modding.

 

Finally I got my digital camera back from my sister. She dropped my Digital camera and now it takes bad pictures.
First of I want to thank my good friend Wariow to hook me up with the cluster, Climate control, Switches and every other led light in my car, I am going to take more pictures with my friend digital camera. This camera is shot.





16 5mm Led's 7000mcd it glows the whole car, I just need a good digital camera to take good picture.

 

Looks very nice. What is the LED by the door handle ? Seems like it'd be blinding while driving.

And your gauges are whitish greenish ? Is it the camera ?

 

Thank you, Yes i know they are blinding me at night time, i have learned not to look at them, I am going to relocate those led’s, they are 5mm 5000mcd I think. yes the digital camera is all messed up, my sister has to buy me one.
The gauges are white with bluish tint into it. Once I use my friend digital camera it will show better.

 

I really want the look of the new accord gauge. I came close with red LED needles and hyper white 194's but i am still not pleased. Its not bright enough....looks similar to stock brightness.

Has anyone figured a good way to mount LEDs behind the gauges to light them up really bright? I mean like many individual LEDs circling the guages.

 

anyone ever look into using other auto manufacturers bulbs? new hondas are a vivid white (not the instrument cluster) , aviator/navigator interior illumination is nice also.

 

i need to do the gauge cluster in my 99SE...where DID u get the LED's for cluster and how hard was it to mod to make fit???

 

Cystum, are those Gauges White or Black Face?

 

Will I mess with the odometer if I take off the cluster, or will it keep it in memory somehow??? I really like the red, which by studies is best for the eyes... BMW uses red, and my car is red, so that would be really good for me. In the auto climate control is there a way to make the fan and people in it all red??? Wonder. Anyone know? I am getting a little too excited about this.

 

You can make all the switches, buttons, gauges and everything red, white, blue, whatever you want. Just get the appropriate color LED's. I did my whole car in bright white. I did the gauges, door lights and dome light in red. I was going to do the gauges in white but they turned out about as bright as stock. So I did them in red and it came out nice. I'll post up some pics later if you want.

 

Just saw your homepage and it looks good. I think I may go for the bright white if I can't make the images on the auto climate control to be red also. Will see. I also need to look at brighter stuff for my 2000 GLE Max...It needs some help also.

 

couldn't you control the brightness with the dash dimmer?

 

Anyone wanna make some money doing my gauges?? willing to pay for them to be superwhite like the ones in the picks above...i'm too lazy to do it myself..will pay generously

 

I'm take up on that offer, shoot me a PM. Look at sig for results

 

Wariow or Meanbeam how do you guys made your needles clear?
They look awsome with that glow effect.
I did my cluster ligths alredy, looks awesome, if I could just turn the needles clear...

 

you do NOT need to drill holes into the gauges, just put the leads in from the front of the bulb and solder on light that.

 

for 99's your needles are red throughout so they CANNOT be cleared.

 

I beg to defer with you. My 99 gauge needles are only painted on the bottom of the needles. Rauffant, just use 300-200 grit sand paper to take off the paint and get the needles to a nice smooth but somewhat cloudly look on the bottom. I originally used 2000 grit to just remove the paint and the needles were super clear but would not refract the light from the LED so they would hardly light up. Once I went to work on them with a lower grit sand paper they finally started "glowing" like what I wanted. FYI, I used 6 LEDs on each of the needles.

 

I bought those gauges from ebay. They came out of 98 SE. I paid 85 bucks shipped, it had wrong milage on it, so I had to swap out the Speed ODM from my gauge. Any other question contact me Via Email or Aim.

 

Here are some pics of my gauges in red so you have an idea what they'll look like.

 

duh! read my post. I put them in from the front silly

 

i think SEL are the only full red needles in a 4th gen

 

red looks a little dimmer compare to your center panel. since you had your gauges in white at a time, did you take any pic?

 

I didn't take any pictures, I had tried using 5mm LED's from the group deal. In order for them to look really bright white, I would have had to add a bunch of LED's, like an arch all around the gauges. Even when sanded, they weren't dispersing light enough. I used red 5 LED 194's from superbrightleds.com They were out of the white version and I didn't want to wait a month. The dash is dimmer compared to the center and I think I would prefer the white but I like the red too. I may try the white later on but for now it'll stay red. It isn't as dim as it looks in the picture in real life.

It looks pretty good and I'm going to do some red floor lighting in front and back so they'll complement each other.

 

thanks for the clear-ups bout the needles, so SEL's are full red's.

 

Igobuk, do you think the brightness of 194 LED bulb is equivalent or compatible to individual LED that if you have installed is 400mcd or is it higher?

Are you able to control the dimmer after installing those LEDs?

 

I think the 194 LED bulb would probably light up the gauges a little better than an individual LED that you would solder in place. The problem with LED's is that they're very focused. They don't disperse light well at all. For a display as small as the A/C controls, I had to sand them to get them to light it up properly.

I used the 5 LED bulb from superbrightleds.com It has one LED pointed forward and 4 LED's mounted sideways under that to light up all around. I'm still able to use the dimmer controls with no problems. I wanted the same bulbs in white but they were out of stock for a month and I didn't want to wait.

I'm going to try some hyperwhite regular glass bulbs in there next and see how it looks but if I have to stick with the red/white theme, it still looks good.

 

good info. thanks.