Does anyone have the specs on the ccfl tube that goes behind the guages.. If it is standardized in anyway than it should be replaceable and upgradeable imagine a 5000k tube or a brighter than stock tube! any ideas?

 

Bueler?

 

It only took 2 years for a response, not too bad. I found a post on infinitihelp.com with the following link:

http://www.ccflwarehouse.com/30x27fuspcc.html

The poster says he replaced the bulb and it's back to its original brightness. I just ordered one.

 

I replaced the instrument cluster backlight with the bulb from CCFL Warehouse (previous post) and I can confirm it does work. It also seems much brighter that the original bulb ever was.

There are a few items to be aware of if you plan to attempt this:

1. tjmoney87 has posted a series of pictures that greatly help with disassembly of the cluster. The post can be found here: http://forums.maxima.org/infiniti-i3...strip-how.html

2. It isn't shown clearly in the pictures, but there are 14 silver screws on the back of the circuit board that secure the gauges.

3. The new bulb is not an exact replacement for the OEM bulb. They are exactly the same length, but the original bulb (at least on the 2000 I30) has 4 wires - the new bulb has 2. I wired up the pink and gray wires and taped the two others. The new bulb was so different from the old that I was very surprised when it did work.

4. The OEM bulb is secured toward the center to two electronic components with what looks like clear shrink wrap. Do NOT cut the shrink wrap. Instead desolder the old bulb and slowly slide it out, a little bit at a time. Insert the new one the same way. If you remove the shrink wrap and replace with tape you will likely have discoloration of the tape and adhesive due to time and exposure to the heat from the bulb.

5. The new bulb is a different hue than the OEM. It looks much cooler to me and almost has a purple tinge. I suppose I'll get used to it.

I bought this car new and have always been somewhat dissatisfied with the brightness of the cluster in direct sunlight. With sunglasses on it has always been a bit hard to see. The new bulb makes the cluster clearly visible through sunglasses for the first time.

If your cluster backlight is going out you probably already know that Infiniti wants to replace the whole cluster to fix the light. Last time I priced a new cluster online it was $600. At my local dealership it is probably closer to $800. Total cost for this repair was $15. Repair time was about 2 hours.

Good luck

 

You gotta post some pics!!