Bob2006

One of my cluster bulbs just failed, but my needles are fine so far. When disassembling the cluster is it necessary to remove the needles in order to get access to the backlight bulbs? I have a 93 SC300 and I'm a little concerned about removing and replacing the needles - I've heard they can get a little brittle.

Thanks!

1JZPWRD

iTrader: (59)

Absolutely not.. You DO NOT have to remove the needles to change out the back light bulbs. Just follow my simple steps to remove the cluster from the car, and follow the steps in order to access your bulbs. If one of your backlighting bulbs have failes, such as fuel, temp, mph, rpm, then I would replace all 8 of them. They have a green color plastic housing and they are in a circular motion on the inside. Size 24!

Bob2006

Thanks for your speedy response 1992Lexus. I'll replace all eight bulbs - it'll be my project for next weekend

1JZPWRD

iTrader: (59)

Good luck.. PM me if you have any further questions..

Bob2006

Thanks 1992Lexus - I appreciate it.

Just got back from O'Reilly and they only had 4 #24 bulbs in stock. They'll have 4 more for me tomorrow, so I'll pick those up later this week and rebuild my cluster next weekend.

Amini9

Any update? have you received your needles yet??

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

Dude they just got HERE 3 days ago, how can he have them back......lol.

Amini9

Didn't look at the dates

Sorry haha.

Bob2006

1992Lexus - I couldn't wait till the weekend so I rebuilt my cluster last night. Everything went well - thanks to your excellent instructions - and the finished product looks great. My only slight difficulty was getting those damn cables unplugged from the back of the cluster! Thanks again.

ThomasGS4

iTrader: (19)

did you take some pictures?

Bob2006

No pictures - I didn't think there was really much to add to the excellent pictures posted with the DIY by 1992Lexus.

However, I do have a suggestion about the bulb sockets. 1992Lexus warned to be careful to put the bulbs back in the same way they came out. I just took a black magic marker and put a dot at the top of each socket before removing them. That way there was no confusion about exactly how they were supposed to go back in.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

Uhhhhhhh they're bulbs. It doesn't matter. There's no such thing as polarity in filament.

Amini9

From the man himself! haha


I got the bulbs today, hopefully today or this weekend i wont have too much homework, i can start on it!

Bob2006

Uhhhhhhh - I know there's no polarity in bulbs.

I was referring to the sockets. Some of my bulbs were in very tight and I didn't feel comfortable cranking them out with the sockets still in the circuit board so I removed the sockets from the board before replacing the bulbs.

It was getting dark and I couldn't see the traces well enough to determine whether or not if it was possible to put them back in a way that prevented contact so I marked them to make sure there were no issues.

1JZPWRD

iTrader: (59)

I am glad to see that someone else has posted some comments after the install and letting everyone else know how their progress went. Thanks again for the compliments Bob 2006. The plugs in the back of the cluster are a royal pain in the butt to get out. The more you do it, the easier it gets. Just remember to put a rag down or cloth to keep from scratching the top plastic on the streering collar.

I have been waiting patiencely on the needles everyone.. I will post some new pix of the new ones as soon as I receive them..

I also have been calling my wife everyday at home to see a package from TN has arrived though! I am a patient man.