**this is not my instrument cluster. Just one I found on google***

i searched around the forum with no luck but I recently got my IS and I recently noticed the gauge needles for the speed and RPM are dim and sometimes even seem like they are flickering. At first I thought this was some dusk sensing feature but then I noticed the other needles are lit just fine.

How would I go on about fixing this so they are bright and shining like the other “needles”? Thanks

 

Most likely the LEDs in the needles are starting to fail.

DIY repair isn't easy, but discussed in this thread: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...g-needles.html

Also can be repaired professionally: https://www.taninautoelectronix.com/...luster-repair/

 

did you try to adjust the dimmer setting dealy bob?

 

where do I do that?

 

It's a **** on the left of the steering wheel and has a light bulb graphic. It's probably not the dimming setting since the other needle is fine.

 

Plus one on the dimmer. The LEDs on the gage cluster do not die that quick. Report what you find out, bet you it is the dimmer.

 

One of my LED needles died after only 3 years.

 

It happens, not much you can do about it.

My speed needle has been half dim for about 2 years now. I've been meaning to just send it in to Tanin (a vendor here on CL), just haven't gotten around to taking it out of the car.

 

Hi, I have the very same issue with my 92 SC400. I ran it by a couple of friends of mine and both said it is likely a bad connection somewhere.
It happens after the car warms up and the only thing I know that rids the problem is to drive with the parking lights on all the time.

 

Your leds doesn’t sound like they’re burned out if they work sometimes.

 

Each needle had 4 LEDs. If one of the 4 go out, then the perceived light will be dimmer. Over time the LEDs will go out. In my case, Most of my LEDs went out so I went to a computer repair shop and asked them to resolder new LEDs on the needles, and it worked out well.

I just got my LEDs replaced "good enough to see" at a small computer repair shop in Philadelphia, PA (Mega CompuTech) that was willing to take on the task. All this shop did was resolder replacement LEDs for me, and I took apart the instrument gauge cluster and pulled out the needles. I first attempted to solder the LEDs myself and gave up after many hours of research and a few hours of soldering failure. My IS250 is 13 years old and not worth much, and although TaninAuto's work looks excellent and their dash disassembly instruction was great, I decided to attempt to get the needle's LEDs fixed at a small shop for cheap before committing to buying replacement needles from TaninAuto. I'm sharing because the tech/owner Manuel was nice enough to give it a shot, and since he's in Philly on the East Coast, it might be beneficial for some of us. I wrote a good review on Google since I was pretty happy with the repair. Call a nearby computer shop that can do soldering, show them some pics to see if they're willing to try, then good luck! YMMV.

 

Thank you for your reply. If it's the needles them selves Im not sure if I'll go by the way of changing them out.
Being that they only go dim in the middle of the needle after the car warms up and then when I turn on the parking lights the problem goes away. That is why I was wondering if cause of the problem could be elsewhere.

 

If you decide to send the cluster out to Tanin, their link and email is below:
https://www.taninauto.com/
taninautocontact@gmail.com

They also do LED color swaps for the gauges and needles- Check out the transformation they did for my 12' 350ISC! It takes a couple weeks but is worth it.
-Jim