ishootstuf

iTrader: (1)

You are very welcome! Thanks for the props!

I too would like to find a solution to the needles. The ones I did don't look as nice as stock and took a lot of time to do.

96blksc300

This is a great thread man. Thanks for sharing with everyone!! I have a couple of questions though..

1. I would like to do this but with only white in color. Do not really need the color change option. I'm not too experienced with led's but going with a single color setup I should only have a power and ground wire correct?? Any particular places you recommend to get these sources from??

2. Will these work with the dimmer?? NOT really a big deal to me b/c currently my cluster is brighter when my lights are on and dimmer with them off. Dimmer switch still works but seems to be backwards to me lol. I'm not very concerned if the dimmer function is retained.. just curious.

Oh and the reason i want to do the single color (white) is b/c i am running prosport gauges that are white with the amber/red needle and i would like to convert all my other interior lights to white led (buttons/switches.. someday lol). Just like everything to flow well together

Thanks in advance

ishootstuf

iTrader: (1)

If you just want white, then don't get the RGB LED strips, the white isn't a real true bright white. Get the bright white LED strips, and you can ignore the LED controller as well.

I tapped power from the fuse box. You can either buy a special fuse that has a spade connector built in, or solder the tip of a wire and wedge it in with the fuse, but that's not as safe or reliable. There are grounds everywhere. I used a bolt behind the panel to the left of the steering column where I ground the lighting for the boost and AFR gauges.

The dimmer will not work unless you power the LED's from the cluster itself. I have not tried doing this because these clusters are very sensitive to power requirements. My guess is that you could solder power and ground wires directly to the old bulb copper traces and power the LED's that way. If you do, I suggest you power one side with one bulb socket and the other side from another socket on the other side because the left and right sides get their power from different copper traces.

96blksc300

That makes sense. I looked at your eBay link and tries to see if he also sold the strips in white but didn't find any. Looking at superbrightleds.com and they have them.. also have some nice little connector leads for connecting the two strips together and flying lead for power/ground. They are a good bit more expensive but require little to no soldering.

speedmike

NICE! If only I had the courage to pull my cluster out and try this! lol

ishootstuf

iTrader: (1)

I guess if the lengths are correct you won't have to solder...

There are plenty of cool\bright white strips on ebay too.

ebay linkay

SC400DAVE

Its not that hard if you have any mechanical aptitude. This guy is awesome and he owned a SC400. I wish he still owned it and did more how to's like this. I hope after watching this, it gives you the courage to do it!

It really helped put my doubts to rest!

Don't let other people on here try to scare you talk'in about needing to have special skills to do this! This guy is just an average Joe with a Philips/Flat head screw driver! lol


EDIT: SEE PART ONE FIRST TO REMOVE CLUSTER FROM DASH 2 POSTS DOWN # 54


EDIT: THIS IS PART 2 (kind of) lol

jjpark712

iTrader: (1)

I've done 2 clusters so far without soldering. Mainly I was lazy to do it but came out ok.

SC400DAVE

Here is part one to remove cluster from dash!

chrisindub

iTrader: (1)

^^^^^^^^totally agree.

The hardest part is disconnecting the 3 harness connectors at the back, I used a flathead to depress the tabs and pop em out.

I wish I had seen these before pulling mine out. It is not hard. Just a little intimidating.

ishootstuf

iTrader: (1)

My daughter discovered that if you play with the brightness buttons when it's in smooth, flash or stroble mode, you can adjust the speed of the flashing or color changing. I like it cycling through the colors.

6SOARER

iTrader: (20)

HOLY %^%$#&$$%^&, where was this thread a month ago when I replaced all my backlight bulbs .

Cool mod Im going to have to do this someday, thanks for the write up. Any fixes for the BURNT NEEDLES?

8052JZ

iTrader: (13)

I'm in as well and I happen to have a few burnt out bulbs that need to be replaced. Diffidently doing this and ordering the kit now thanks

ishootstuf

iTrader: (1)

Haha... this thread was here 4 months ago! As for the needles, yes, I can fix them, but it takes A LOT of time. You're better off just shelling out the $100 to Lextech. If I find an easy fix, you can be sure I'll post it up. I think the key is a single LED at the base, not a string of them soldered together.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

I have made a lead for power and ground before using the old bulb socket, it works but the tricky part is figuring out which side is power and which side is ground, because its not the same orientation for all the sockets, and hard to test when the cluster is apart. I remember someone had posted a diagram with all the polatirites of the bulb sockets pointed out, that what saved me when I did one of my other SC's. It really only matters with LED's, with the stock bulbs you can stick em in however you want.
really good mod, If my cluster ever has a bulb go out gonna give it a go with the color changing type.