ES300: Replacing Cluster Backlighting Bulbs

[tuan92129]

Whoa! Your cluster is like...backwards lol..
tach is on the right..gas on the left

[Lexucan]

Originally Posted by tuan92129

Whoa! Your cluster is like...backwards lol..
tach is on the right..gas on the left

LOL...yeah...if I was driving the General's car, I'd be thinking my gas tank is always half full!!

[Parker Gen]

hahaha. Yes it's a crazy world out there! :razz:

[chuckerst]

so how does turning on the parking lights only help? doesn't everything light up the same with the parking lights on?

[tuan92129]

During the day, if you have your parking light off, and the cluster knob on the lowest level, the cluster will light up about 50% intensity. When the parking lights are turned on, the cluster backlighting will be off. I keep my lights either very dim or off, especially since i live in Socal where it is very hot. You are pretty much just turning your lighting down to save the little amount of life it has left.

[chuckerst]

ya learn sumthin every day!-dang it, that woulda been nice to know about 50000 miles ago! -oh well, thank you very much anyway.

[jtsosie]

Again, awesome write-up! Thank you!

Has anyone tried using the UltraViolet LEDs?
Would they make the white numbers glo, and would they solve the burnt out needle problem too; would they make the needles glow red?

Another thing I'd like to do is tint that smoked glass on the instrument cluster so the needles and all are not visible unless the car is on.

Thanks,
Josh

[Lexucan]

Originally Posted by jtsosie

Again, awesome write-up! Thank you!

Has anyone tried using the UltraViolet LEDs?
Would they make the white numbers glo, and would they solve the burnt out needle problem too; would they make the needles glow red?

Another thing I'd like to do is tint that smoked glass on the instrument cluster so the needles and all are not visible unless the car is on.

Thanks,
Josh

You've got a couple of interesting ideas, but doubt that they would work well. Since the backlighting LEDs are behind the face of the cluster, they wouldn't be able to illuminate the burnt out needles, even if they were coated with a flourescent paint.
And tinting the window on the cluster even darker than it already is would probably make the gauges and needles hard to see, even when the car is on.

[yr0169tw]

What a wonderful look!!! I love it.

[yr0169tw]

Originally Posted by Lexucan

The #286, #24, or #74 bulbs should fit.
Diffuser - In my '93 ES300 the original filament bulbs had blue rubber boots over the bulbs, which I suppose would act like a light diffuser of sorts. When I replaced the bulbs with LEDs (which are a different shape to the bulbs) I removed the boots from the old bulbs and put them on the LEDs but because of the different shape they were not a good fit. I tried glueing them in place with Krazy Glue but that did not work well. So, I ended up not using the boots at all. There may be a very slight amount of "spotting" with the LEDs but nothing very noticeable, IMO.

This is the shape of the LEDs I used:



They have a flat top and are designed to spread the beam of light over a wider angle than the normal domed top version.

The leds you should use call t6.5 wedge base, not T5(the one you uses) because it is too small and not bright enough.
I find T6.5 led on Yahoo auction Taiwan, it is us$4.5 per piece.

[NICES300]

Just ordered #286

[lexguy300]

Has anyone had the fuel and water temp needles get stuck they wont move has anyone experience this prob?

[Vooduguru]

Okay stupid question, how do I get the air bag light back off once I didn't follow the instructions and had the key on when I took the cluster off

[Vooduguru]

Anyone????

[lex2001]

I think if you disconnect the battery it will reset. If that doesn't work you should be able to disconnect the cluster and then reconnect it without the key on and it should clear.