Changing My Speedometer Cluster Lights to Hyper White LEDs!

ReaccionReaccion Senior Wagonist
in Electronics, Fueling & Air Conditioning
I started by removing the speedometer cluster. After that, I changed the 194/168 regular light bulbs for T10 LEDs. I got them on eBay. Since I am in USA, I bought the ones on United States to get them quicker. You could shop around at your own convenience. They have many different ones but I tried most of them and the best ones were the following (See Picture 1 below):

1174.jpg

and I found them here (Please shop around at your own convenience):

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=T10%20LED&_sop=15


Then, I changed the other three smaller 74 regular light bulbs for T5 White LED Light bulbs. Check them out (See Picture 2):

1173.jpg

and I found them here:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=T5+LED&_sacat=0&_odkw=T10+LED&_sop=15&_osacat=0&_from=R40


Also, I had to change the speedometer cluster inner top amber needle illuminator panel for a clear blue one from a 1992 Honda Accord one. Of course, it does not fit right up but it would after some modifications. This is a most to give your speedometer cluster a white clean look. Of course, that modification would not be needed if the cluster would have had been changed to hyper amber instead of super white :-) ...

I hope that this post could help any one! Enjoy!

521.jpg

522.jpg

523.jpg
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Comments

  • The_HeadThe_Head familEE
    Looks real nice!
  • slo88crxslo88crx Senior Wagonist
    Looks good! Almost like Look at me I'm goin 55!!
  • turbo_tegturbo_teg Council Member
    wow thats awsome!
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    Man, I was considering an upgrade/cluster swap. But this looks pretty damn good!
  • turbo_tegturbo_teg Council Member
    Charb1618 wrote:
    Man, I was considering an upgrade/cluster swap. But this looks pretty damn good!

    same here im kinda wanting to do a GSR cluster to ditch the dam speedo cable and to have more RPM's and MPH's but this looks awsome....
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    turbo_teg wrote:
    Charb1618 wrote:
    Man, I was considering an upgrade/cluster swap. But this looks pretty damn good!

    same here im kinda wanting to do a GSR cluster to ditch the dam speedo cable and to have more RPM's and MPH's but this looks awsome....

    I'm leaning more towards an SiR or CRV. I miss the bold amber of my EM1...

    Drive to Spokane goddamnit!
  • AlphaxomegaAlphaxomega Senior Wagonist
    what i cant figure out to change the color of the "x1000 min" and the "unleaded fuel only" aswell as the "mph" from the yellowish white to clear white. wich bulb is it to change?
  • ReaccionReaccion Senior Wagonist
    The_Head wrote:
    Looks real nice!

    Thank you very much.
    slo88crx wrote:
    Looks good! Almost like Look at me I'm goin 55!!

    LOL... Yeah, you are right...
    turbo_teg wrote:
    wow thats awsome!

    Thank you!
    Charb1618 wrote:
    Man, I was considering an upgrade/cluster swap. But this looks pretty damn good!

    I did not want to change the OEM look in the inside... So I rather went for the LEDs...

    Charb1618 wrote:
    turbo_teg wrote:
    Charb1618 wrote:
    Man, I was considering an upgrade/cluster swap. But this looks pretty damn good!

    same here im kinda wanting to do a GSR cluster to ditch the dam speedo cable and to have more RPM's and MPH's but this looks awsome....

    I'm leaning more towards an SiR or CRV. I miss the bold amber of my EM1...

    Drive to Spokane goddamnit!

    Yes, the SIR is a great looking speedometer....
    Alphaxomega wrote:
    what i cant figure out to change the color of the "x1000 min" and the "unleaded fuel only" aswell as the "mph" from the yellowish white to clear white. wich bulb is it to change?

    You are right, for some reason, the "unleaded fuel only", "mph", and the "x1000 min" did not change even with the LED upgrade. Now that you mentioned, I will double check if there are separated light bulbs for that part... I will let you know...
  • AlphaxomegaAlphaxomega Senior Wagonist
    Reaccion wrote:
    Alphaxomega wrote:
    what i cant figure out to change the color of the "x1000 min" and the "unleaded fuel only" aswell as the "mph" from the yellowish white to clear white. wich bulb is it to change?

    You are right, for some reason, the "unleaded fuel only", "mph", and the "x1000 min" did not change even with the LED upgrade. Now that you mentioned, I will double check if there are separated light bulbs for that part... I will let you know...

    sweet :D
  • leWolfleWolf Senior Wagonist
    Alphaxomega wrote:
    Reaccion wrote:
    Alphaxomega wrote:
    what i cant figure out to change the color of the "x1000 min" and the "unleaded fuel only" aswell as the "mph" from the yellowish white to clear white. wich bulb is it to change?

    You are right, for some reason, the "unleaded fuel only", "mph", and the "x1000 min" did not change even with the LED upgrade. Now that you mentioned, I will double check if there are separated light bulbs for that part... I will let you know...

    sweet :D

    Dont they have colored plastic behind them? It suck pulling it apart but it's totally worth it so you can change all the colors in it. Like I did my last crx with blue plastic from a storage tote. just trimmed it to fit and replace the old color shields. It looked pretty cool!
  • ReaccionReaccion Senior Wagonist
    AlexanderleWolf wrote:
    Alphaxomega wrote:
    Reaccion wrote:
    Alphaxomega wrote:
    what i cant figure out to change the color of the "x1000 min" and the "unleaded fuel only" aswell as the "mph" from the yellowish white to clear white. wich bulb is it to change?

    You are right, for some reason, the "unleaded fuel only", "mph", and the "x1000 min" did not change even with the LED upgrade. Now that you mentioned, I will double check if there are separated light bulbs for that part... I will let you know...

    sweet :D

    Dont they have colored plastic behind them? It suck pulling it apart but it's totally worth it so you can change all the colors in it. Like I did my last crx with blue plastic from a storage tote. just trimmed it to fit and replace the old color shields. It looked pretty cool!

    Yes, I have not had time to get around it but I will check for possible color shields behind the lettering... Thanks.
  • superhatchsuperhatch Moderator
    How many of each did you need to use?
  • ReaccionReaccion Senior Wagonist
    superhatch wrote:
    How many of each did you need to use?

    Yes, I used 3 of each one. Please note that I ordered some light bulbs from sellers outside of the USA and they took almost a month to get it. So please take that in consideration when placing an order.
  • suntrana45suntrana45 Band Wagon
    L.E.D.'s emit a specific color spectrum, for example if you took a "red" L.E.D and put it behind a green lens or filter you probably wouldn't see any illumination on the other side of the filter same with a "green" L.E.D under a red lens or filter. This will cause a lot of grief if and when there are any "shields", lenses or filters between you and the L.E.D. It is a good idea to try one as a test before ordering a batch.....less expensive....
  • bigluelokbigluelok Wagonist
    damn i need to this in my wagon cuz my cluster lights suck
  • ReaccionReaccion Senior Wagonist
    suntrana45 wrote:
    L.E.D.'s emit a specific color spectrum, for example if you took a "red" L.E.D and put it behind a green lens or filter you probably wouldn't see any illumination on the other side of the filter same with a "green" L.E.D under a red lens or filter. This will cause a lot of grief if and when there are any "shields", lenses or filters between you and the L.E.D. It is a good idea to try one as a test before ordering a batch.....less expensive....


    Yes, I agreed... However, what I think that gave the cluster that clean look was that change on the needle ilumination upper panel from orange (original one) to blue one (from a 1993 Honda Accord)...
  • ReaccionReaccion Senior Wagonist
    bigluelok wrote:
    damn i need to this in my wagon cuz my cluster lights suck


    Yeap, I thought the same thing before I did the light bulb swap... and it is not that expensive either...
  • ReaccionReaccion Senior Wagonist
    These look great at night!
  • klumklum Senior Wagonist
    can you still dim the lights?
  • Eagle BeagleEagle Beagle familEE
    throwing cloth over cluster...

    ! there !
    yep, one of my bad jokes...
    one day you will discover...
    :mrgreen:
  • ReaccionReaccion Senior Wagonist
    klum wrote:
    can you still dim the lights?

    Yes, I could still dim the lights....
  • ReaccionReaccion Senior Wagonist
    Eagle Beagle wrote:
    throwing cloth over cluster...

    ! there !
    yep, one of my bad jokes...
    one day you will discover...
    :mrgreen:

    LOL... Very funny man!!
  • MOD_MAN_EXTREMEMOD_MAN_EXTREME Wagonist
    Now I really dig this, but I've got a question. Do those LED bulbs get hot at all?

    I want to make my tach, speedo and gas/temp gauges green, purple and orange respectively. But I'm concerned about heat and the fact that I can't get a hold of any hyper or single bulb purple LED's. After all, I don't want to burn out my bulbs constantly or start a fire by burning the plastic in the cluster.
  • ReaccionReaccion Senior Wagonist
    MOD_MAN_EXTREME wrote:
    Now I really dig this, but I've got a question. Do those LED bulbs get hot at all?

    I want to make my tach, speedo and gas/temp gauges green, purple and orange respectively. But I'm concerned about heat and the fact that I can't get a hold of any hyper or single bulb purple LED's. After all, I don't want to burn out my bulbs constantly or start a fire by burning the plastic in the cluster.

    I have not felt any temperature change in my dash... They are not hot at all. These LED burned quickly though. I have two burned LEDs now. I may have bought very cheap ones.... I do not know... Do not worry about heat.... :-)
  • 3rd4ce3rd4ce Council Member
    :idea:
    Reaccion ive been getting all my leds for all my project from
    http://autolumination.com/74.htm
    give them a try.. they also have multiple color leds within a single replacement ..
  • ReaccionReaccion Senior Wagonist
    3rd4ce wrote:
    :idea:
    Reaccion ive been getting all my leds for all my project from
    http://autolumination.com/74.htm
    give them a try.. they also have multiple color leds within a single replacement ..

    Yeah, I may given them a try! Thanks man!
  • ReaccionReaccion Senior Wagonist
    knottyy wrote:
    I got the idea of changing over my dash lights to LED lights from reading a couple threads that you posted in. Awesome of you to put up pics and instructions! I purchased the bulbs you recommended off of eBay, and they arrived but when I went to got put them in I noticed that the ones that come out have a special round plastic base that twist screws in like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-T3-T4-T5-N ... 322wt_1396

    This seems to be the same for both the big bulbs and the small bulbs. So I was wondering, did you purchase special bulbs that came in the round plastic housing or did you find a way to attach the new bulbs to the screw in housings? I just can't seem to figure out how to get the bulbs I bought to work, or if I need to purchase some like the ones linked above.

    Thank you so much for any help you can provide. I was really looking forward to having my dash look all nice and bright like yours!

    knottyy

    I am glad that you liked my thread. I was looking at the light bulbs in the link that you sent me. I am actually surprised that I did not see any type of light bulbs like the ones you sent me in the main cluster. I noticed some of those in the rear window defroster switch. However, I could not find them on the dash. Please let me know if those light bulbs with plastic base are located in the speedometer cluster or somewhere else in the dashboard. I hope that I could help.
  • ReaccionReaccion Senior Wagonist
    knottyy wrote:
    Thanks for writing! Those small lights in the round housings come from the very top of the dash. There is a small white strip that screws into the top that holds two of those little lights that illuminate the gauge cluster area from above. There's an amber strip of plastic that sits below it to filter the light. I just now realized that I can pull the big brown plugs with the blue lights and pull out the blue lights, replacing them with the large LED bulbs I got. They work, and seem to be lighting up the tach and speedometer from the outer sides. Thinking the inside is lit by a smaller LED as it's still yellowish......guess those would be the 74 sized bulbs that go into the black round screw in housings in the back of the cluster. So far I haven't been able to get the bulbs out of those black housings from the rear to replace with the 74 sized LEDs I have.


    Okay, I understand. In my case, I changed the whole upper part for a clear blue one from a 1992 Honda Accord one. Of course, it does not fit right up but it would after some modifications. This is a most to give your speedometer cluster a white clean look. Of course, that modification would not be needed if the cluster would have had been changed to hyper amber instead of super white!!
  • ReaccionReaccion Senior Wagonist
    knottyy wrote:
    I can't thank you enough for your help on this! I really suck at all this car stuff, but I am trying my hardest. Sometimes it can be frustrating and it makes my head spin lol. So thank you again for taking the time to help me and others, that is truly nice of you. I really hope that I'm not bothering you with these repeated messages.

    Ok, so just to make sure I understand this correctly I'm going to drop some pictures because that always makes things easier. I believe you are saying that you took the plastic amber strip out from the top that the two smallest bulbs shine through to illuminate the gauge panel from above and replaced it with a blue strip from a '92 Accord. Here's the amber strip: 590.jpg

    And here is a picture of the two small lights on the top of the gauge panel that light it up from above:
    591.jpg

    Did you change those bulbs out? Neither of the bulbs that I purchased work there. I think I may have to get ones like this? http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-T3-T4-T5-N ... 324wt_1396

    I know you said that you changed 6 bulbs total, 3 of each. Tried to find a picture of the rear of our gauge cluster online but couldn't so I just went and took mine back apart and took a picture. In it I've circled in red the bulbs that I believe are the ones to change....they are in brown plastic housings. Does this seem correct?
    592.jpg

    There seems to be two different bulb sizes that come from the smaller brown housings, and I'm not sure if the same bulb will work in both instances. From left to right - Bigger blue bulb came from bottom most small brown housing. Smaller blue bulb came from the other two brown housings, above and above right of the bottom larger blue bulb. The third white bulb is the replacement 74 bulbs that I bought, and lastly is the brown housing showing the replacement 74 bulb seated.
    593.jpg

    Sorry for the long message. Hopefully it all makes sense....I tried hard to make everything very visual as that's how I work best. For now, the gauges themselves look nice and white (more so on the outer sides) but the overhead lighting is still warm in hue, so it looks strange with the mix of warm/cool light in my cluster. Just need to figure out those top lights and things should be good to go. I have read about a sized 24 bulb that is supposed to work? Thinking I probably don't need to mess with any of the other bulbs (oil, battery, brake, etc..). Or maybe I just need a blue strip from an Accord like you?

    Again, thank you so much for your help on this. I really appreciate your time. By the way I read through your whole build thread...even watched some of your YouTube videos (the guy humping the other guy in the kitchen cracked me up). Amazing how much better things looked after you handled that rust! Funny to see how much stuff you haul with your wagon as well. What a sweet little do-it-all ride.

    knottyy

    LOL, it is not a problem. I am glad that I could actually help. Yes, that strip was the one I changed for the 92 Accord. I cut it up nicely to make fit.

    590.jpg

    Since the 92 Accord strip is slightly blue, I used the same factory bulbs to light up the needles. So, I did not use a different bulb for those. I used the same factory light bulbs.

    591.jpg
  • knottyyknottyy Wagonist
    Thanks for clearing that up for me. Hopefully the pictures help someone else in the future. I ended up just ordering some small white LED lights for the upper most white panel. I believe they are typeB (T4) bulbs and they come in the little plastic quarter turn housings. I ordered ones that weren't as strong as others as I will be removing that amber strip which holds back some of the light. I was going to try blue LEDs but read what suntrana45 said about the LED's specific color spectrum and them not working with filters. I ended up ordering all new LEDs from autolumination.com in hopes that they'll not burn out quickly like the eBay ones I have in now. They should be arriving shortly and I'll be sure to take shots of everything and post it up.
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