ezee63

Hi all, New Lexus owner (93 ES300) and forum user here. I too have the old burnt out needles syndrome except for the tach. Not ready to try the DIY led fix yet but i came up with a real simple way for me to see .. how fast i was going, what my temp is and how much gas i have left !!
I bought a roll of Reflective Chrome Pin Striping Tape (TrimBrite T0914 Chrome 1/4") from the local auto parts store. I cut a length and spit it down the middle. I managed to remove the plastic cover from the from of the instrument cluster without removing the whole thing. I gently applied the tape to the dead needles. Seems to work fine for a visual reference. Im not saying it looks great, but its a temporary fix. I noticed that someone had removed the cluster before.. missing screws, broken tabs. So that leads me to a question.,, what position should the temp guage read at normal So Cal driving conditions and again under normal conditons what should my speed be at 2600 RPMS freeway driving ? Im concerned that the previous owner has offset the needles ?
Thanks !
e.

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Pretty unique for thinking out of the box. How is it at night?

ezee63

It is useless at night. Sorry i posted so quickly !

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

LOL. Well, its all good. Give the LED needles a shot, otherwise try to tap into the power for the dash and have an LED strip right at the top of the cluster facing down (where you unscrew the cluster). That way it wont shine at your eyes and it'll make the reflective tape do its duty perfectly I think