So I just read thru 77 pages of OLT's LED lighting thing. I get the jest of it but I can not figure out what the correct bulb size or MCD I need. My climate control is out of the car so is the speedo so i'd like to get this done ASAP. They make 360 degree caps for the LED bulbs list here:

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...7.28470&next=0

Would 18,000 MCD lights with the 360 degree caps be the best choice for my cluster? Are 9,000 MCD for the colored lights going to cut it?

 

There is no correct bulb for the SC'c climate. The size is categorized as "grain of wheat", the voltage is what you'll never get right. Nippendenso designed their own bulb for THAT climate. The rest of the industry used what was out there already.

No plug and play LED will go in the climate cleanly. 100% impossible. 360 deg led's are not 360 deg unfortunately

 

1. The car is a 2nd gen GS. I forgot to mention that.

2. I understand there is no plug and play. What I am asking is will 120 degree perform better or worse then 360? Would 90 be better? Is 7,000MCD the range I want or should it be more like 18,000?

You get what i'm saying?

 

1- same size bulb in every model (1st gen that is)

2- NO plug and play will work any better than the other, they will all spot. Order a few of each one, knock yourself out.... they' all look the same. *BLOTCH*

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2pcs-...QQcmdZViewItem

I've been meaning to try these. Those are the same type inside the climate control.

 

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As noted by O.L.T. "they all will spot," below is a pic of my dash/speedo. I got these on eBay from Warden_jp2002 about 3-4 months ago...10pcs COLOR="Blue"]286 Wide Angle LED (Spark Blue) Dash Wedge Bulbs. I ordered 6 pair (12 LED's) and 12 5MM wedge base to simply plug & play. 8 LED's are needed for instrument panel so I got a few extra just in case. This all was done on my 96 ES300, 2nd generation.

His costs have risen a bit since I made my purchase - about 30% over the past 6-8 weeks - but the total incl. mail from China (He Is Not In The USA) was less than $20 USD. They will not respond to inquiries after a purchase is made (only when they're trying to make you commit to a sale) so I'll try to give a concrete guesstimate on delivery time. I ordered on a Tuesday and they were delivered the next Wed (8 days to N.Y. State). The site you found on eBay looks like a very good cost: 2pcs T3 T4 T5 Neo Wedge Dash LED Bulbs(Blue/White), $1.50 USD. Be sure you get 286 which is a 5mm wedge base bulb. Also be sure to make numerous purchases (2, 3, 4 pair or more) at the same time to avoid excessive/additional freight fees. You can even email the seller a question (warden_jp2002@yahoo.co.jp ) before buying to request they come in same shipment, he had no problem doing that for me.

Climate control is tricky so I just sucked it up and bought 3 new OEM bulbs from Toyota (Part # 8499-60440 SP Bulb, $10.95/ea) to avoid frustration of them not fitting after ordering online from the other side of the world. I know it's kinda absurd to pay that for bulbs, but I knew they would fit and I'd only have to do the R & R once. ps, Lexus didn't know what size or even what these bulbs were for, Toyota had 'em in stock. Yes, climate and instrument cluster are same size.

Photo is at night and you'll see the shadows and the brighter numbers are directly over the LED. Photo on next link is the removed climate control, again, this is 1996 ES300. Good Luck! daytime photo to follow...

 

Climate control pic of backside as promised (96 ES300)

 

Daytime photo. 151,000 miles. Needles are covered with a black felt tip magic marker to leave on end about 1/2" on speedo & tach and about 1/4" on fuel/temp. Speedo & tach are noticeably larger than the other areas. This looks awesome in the dark.

 

Hate to bring up old threads, but couldn't find it posted anywhere on CL with clear information. My a/c control lighting is pretty much all about dead.

#1. What size are the base of the bulbs that provide the lighting to the buttons
#2. Are there different bulbs used for the back lighting in the a/c LCD?

http://autolumination.com/74.htm has a few different options for the base diameter: 8, 10 and 12mm

I see above where it says climate/instrument cluster are the same size, but there are TWO different sizes in the cluster. I'm sure the a/c are the smaller of the two.