im going to do a write up how to do a cluster lighting all u need to spend is $25 to get bright cluster led blubs
u can find them at superbrightleds.com
you will need two WLED-XHP5 WEDGE BASE BULB-WLED-BHP5: BLUE and three 74-XHP3, screw driver and rubbing alcohol
i dont have pictures of it with stock light blubs
red circles is for XHP5 the 2 big blubs yellow circles are for 74-XHP33 the 3 small bubs if blubs dont light up dont freak out like i did, they are sensitive u have to make sure they are twisted snugglly tight and look at where metal sit on the blub socket to see where to twist to u will get idea
now take the cluster face out BE CAREFUL with needles it will hurt u lol
now take a look at this
now use rubbing alcohol to take paint thingy off
how it should look like
bright eh? lol
pictures taken with phone lol ill update it later to give more details im NOT FINISHED with cluster yet theres is uneven brightness in them
i want to do a led needle is there any write up of it with da cluster with lexan needles or something theres one i found with dc cluster might be helpful but id like to see it done on a da one
might paint the inside the cluster with glossblack base then coat it with chrome to get more reflections out of it to see if it evens out the brightness around whole cluster
yea thought about getting a led strip too but no money right now to spend i ve spent to much lol wish i thought about strip in the first place and im going to leave it alone for now im tired of pulling cluster out i will re do the cluster with led strip while im doing wiring harness tuck im planning on taking my dash out while im tucking the wires and also clean everything inside the dash dustless, spotless when i first got the car i was seeing if heater works it blows dirt had to get my girlfriend clean it out of my eyes blood sweat and tears :_(
thank u now i know what to do with the needles my cluster dont work anymore my fuel is at empty my temp goes hot i wish i found ur thread before i started on mine
i just ordered 5 meters= 16.4 feet blue led strip off amazon for 12.39 not bad my led blubs went 26 dollars from superbrightleds.com can u show where do i hook strip to? hard to understand from pics sound like u soldiered it up to one of socket can u post a close up pic if u can and more detail with potentiometer how its hooked up flat head screw is where u adjust it correct? i googled what potentiometer means and looked a closer to ur cluster lol
just to make sure cuz i dont know much i don’t want to burn up the leds because when i tried to clean my fuel injectors, i fuked it up coil gets realy hot i gave up trying haha
In this image you can better see the potentiometer as well as the wiring. I soldered the wires drectly to an empty (no light bulb) bulb socket. Make sure the bulb socket you solder into is for the backlighting and not an indicator light. The bulb socket is kind of hard to solder to as there is not a lot of room. I recommend a pencil soldering iron. It also helps to scuff up the contacts so the solder will have better adhesion.
The LEDs come ready for 12V. You don’t “need” the potentiometer, I just found it too bright at full 12V so I needed to drop the voltage. Any 500Ω potentiometer will work. Just make sure to mount it somewhere in the center of the cluster where it won’t interfere with your back lighting. If you wire the LEDs reversed, they just won’t work. Reverse the polarity and they will work fine. It’s pretty easy even for the lamen.
how bright? just as bright as my 5th pic? so soldering is hardest part? i might hook wires to ignition or something would be nice if my yellow driving lights and cluster lights would come on when ignition is on ill try to figure something out:hyper:
suggestion needed: i want the cluster and fog to come on every time i turn the key (on position) im thinking about using my stock dimmer and fog switches i dont want to move fog switches to wiper or defogger like on other thread im thinking about hooking up fog and cluster to radio ignition wire because i wont be using stereo so that way if i want to adjust cluster or turn fog off with stock switches
almost finished with it
a bit SIGHTLY bright but im not going to mess with it im happy thank u so much g2guru
You would need to take the 12V supply wire from the dimmer (input) as well as the switched output wire for the foglights and replace them with an IG power source (Ignition power). There is a spare IG power terminal in your kick panel fuse box or you could just splice into one of the wires under the dash. This would cause the cluster and fogs to come on when the ignition switch is turned on, but still allow dimming of the cluster.
ok ill use kick panel the paint pen arrived today the “paint job” came out ok but light didnt light up the needles as i expected ill use stock needles for now will post pic with orange needles though
a little hard to see teh needles but its there lol
[QUOTE=demolisher;2272108]ok ill use kick panel the paint pen arrived today the “paint job” came out ok but light didnt light up the needles as i expected ill use stock needles for now will post pic with orange needles though
You need the light bar on the top of the cluster to light the needles. They don’t magically glow without any light on them.
yeah didnt have them on cause its out of car is that what it designed for? ill be putting it in the car soon but gotta eat first will be back right after that and ill post it up
sorry took so long and photobucket wont upload the fukkin picture lol good enough for me im done with it so im going to put them back together and figure where to put ground its gonna be awesome eye catcher at night haha
this project was actually fun and easy to do. Learned alot about electrical too thank you g2guru so much i appericate for the help it would of came out really shitty without strip, wiring tuck is next lol need to get some material to do that it will be VERY slow progress on wiring im still reading some others tucks learn a little at a time looking at mine and compare to get ideas lot of headaches going on i hope nothing will go wrong
and more detail with potentiometer how its hooked up flat head screw is where u adjust it correct? i googled what potentiometer means and looked a closer to ur cluster lol
