es808

iTrader: (32)

Great write up! This is a DIY that is difficult. If you have any hesitation about taking apart your dash or soldering in small LEDs, then you may want to pay someone to do this. It's very time consuming but looks great when you finish.

I would suggest testing the LEDs ahead of time before you solder them in. I got a bunch of bad LEDs that wouldn't light up. I used a small 2-AA battery holder that I purchased from Radio Shack to test them ahead of time:


The black wire from the Radio Shack tester will go on the negative lead and the red wire goes to the opposite side. If it doesn't light up, make sure by switching the wires just to double check. There's nothing worse than soldering something in and finding out it doesn't work and have to redo it. This is where purchasing extra LEDs comes in handy. And not to mention eliminating any wait time for the new LEDs to come in...which I had to do twice. Having your dash apart while you wait 2-3 days sucks too.

For the small 0603 LEDs, the ones I got had a small green arrow on the back pointing to the negative lead on the LED. You can see how small the LEDs are. I actually used tweezers to help me handle these, especially when soldering them in.


On the board, the orientation of the LED is marked with a negative symbol (white line).

In this picture, the LEDs are vertical with the negative side on the bottom and the positive directly above it. If you have excess solder left on the board, I heated it until the solder was molten, held on to the board, and quickly swung the board from face up to face down (like you were removing water from the top of the board). The molten solder will splash on the ground so be careful and don't do this over carpet. I have tile so it just easily swept up.

And do not overhead the LED or the tracers on the board. Overheating the LED will cause it to fail and overheating the tracer will cause it to lift from the board. Both of which are not good. If you damage a trace, you can repair it with a thin wire. Just follow the trace and solder the wire where the trace goes from one end to the opposite end, on the LED. This is a quick, inexpensive fix.

Good luck to all!

Vibes63

iTrader: (2)

Looks amazing. I want to do this mod one.

dorkacho

iTrader: (5)

looks awesome !! my next mod

DKnight350

I am ordering parts to do this, but am confused about the 0603 LEDs. IS it a bulb or something else?

Should it be this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-x-SMD-SM...#ht_2410wt_902

Or this:
http://www.unique-leds.com/index.php...roduct_id=1734

Seems to me it should be like this, but this website does not even list 0603 as a part:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...-2000-mcd/305/

chi123

iTrader: (12)

It's not a bulbs, it's both the first two that are 0603.

skullkandy

Pretty keen on doing this as i hate the peasant looking green lights on the head unit.

I don't really like bright LEDs in the car aswell....sooooo is there such things as "low light" leds?

Yinzer

so I really want to do this, I've done a good bit of soldering before but never to circuit boards and stuff that requires this precision. I'm sure I could rise o the occasion but what do y'all think?

I just got my IS with a 3 year warranty cause it's certified preowned, any warranty issues I should worry about/ is it worth it?

brociouz

iTrader: (65)

I'm not sure what you're asking, but if you manage to mess something up when soldering it will only void the warranty for that specific thing you messed up. They can't say your soldering mistake voids your transmission warranty, for instance.

pmanliu

iTrader: (4)

Does anyone have a picture of the circuit boards? preferably for a non nav? Trying to plot out what LED colors to order.

Thanks!

ASILVER

there is a pic above of the circuit board, however, if you're trying to figure out what colors to use, the board isn't going to help as much as looking at the buttons, I think if you saw the boards you'd understand what I mean.

do NOT try this on your own....the leds are as small as the tip of the soldering iron with a fine tip...and there's 2 sides on each LED that have to be soldered...it's really really small...if you hand on too long or slip, you can quickly burn through the circuit board's tracer lines, then you'd have to try to repair that, it's not worth it, the guy that does this charges next to nothing for all the work he does, I recommend just paying him...just make sure to insure you box both ways, UPS lost my box with all the contents...which thankfully was found about 10 days later.


the leds on the GS do Dim with the dimmer switch....mine are too bright at max so I just turn down the dimmer switch and they are perfect.

SICK350

iTrader: (1)

I'm also doing this mod and I have a question. I have the climate control unit out and there seems to be LEDs behind the screen but there is about 20 different pins connected to the board. My question is , is there a way to get at the LEDs behind the screen without desoldering the 20 pins connected to the board?

Also the clock does it have LEDs in it?

I supplied a picture of the pins that connect the LCD screen and the clock to the board.

SICK350

iTrader: (1)

Here's a birds eye view of the board.

SICK350

iTrader: (1)

A little closer

ASILVER

I don't have the IS but in the GS the clock remains green, you can't change it unless you were to find a replacement made in the color you want.


you only change the individual LED lights

iNfectious

iTrader: (6)

On http://www.unique-leds.com, is the white LED 800MCD too bright? What mcd are you guys using?

Just wondering before I make a purchase.