My guages on my 1994 Es are dark at places! i'm assuming some of the bulbs are worn out. I read some of the stuff here (and on line) and new guage cluster costs close to 800 bucks! My needles are alright, its just the other parts are dark. I'm not attemption to do it as a diy job. Do you believe any local shop could replace bulbs and make it work?? any idea on cost for those bulbs? Thanks in advance..

 

i was actually wondering of something like that.
when i look at my tach, the red portion of the guage seems not to be lit during the day. at night, it's no problem, i can see it just fine.
is it soppose to be like that?
i swear i remember it being lit up like the rest of the tach when i first got the car.

 

bulbs are NOT too expensive, what's really expensive is the labor.
It is NOT complicated, trust me, all you need to be is really organize and take your time.

I would do it myself

 

I was told that I needed replace the whole instrument panel, not just the light bulbs... does anyone know if this is factual?

 

My dad has the 2001 es 300 and the instrument light are bright white, I wonder if you can replace the blubs on the 96 and before models to make the dispaly whiter? Has anyone changed out those bulbs?

 

I have a 95 that had some dim spots. I pulled out the instrument cluster and tested all the bulbs with a 12 volt power supply. I had 4 burned out bulbs.

Here's the kicker. I went to the dealership and the bulbs are $9 each! :eek: I paid almost $40 just to get my lights back!

Does anyone know where to get these bulbs for cheaper???


Oh, the picture. It's a picture of the back of a 92-96 cluster and the bulb locations. There are 9 backlight bulbs (red circles) and 7 bulbs for the gears (blue circles). Those are the $9 bulbs. They have a blue rubber cover over them. If you take the blue covers off, your backlight will look more amber.

All the other bulbs (yellow circles) are for the warning signal and other stuff. They are smaller bulbs that are size #2721. You should be able to find them at any auto parts store for 50 cents a piece.

awhiteguy