I've read the DIYs about repairing the burnt out needles, and have a bad set on the way to try that on --- I figured I'd like to keep needles in the car while I do the repair, because it's a DD for my daughter.

I'm curious if anyone has simply painted the needles, rather than worrying about them being lit. I thought that maybe a little red or white paint would at least make them much easier to see against the black background until I set up some new lighted ones. Now that I have another set one the way, I thought I might do that for a quick, temporary fix. Has anyone tried that, and can you see them? Or will it only help in the daylight?

 

Maybe you could try some phosphorescent paint (glow in the dark paint)
This could help you temporary

 

The previous owner of my car painted the needles, and it was still very hard to see, and I don't think it is worth potentially ruining a set of needles for that personally. I think it would be easier to just take the tinted plastic off the front and drive like that for the time being. Or get a small self powered LED light and put it at the base of the cluster behind the tinted plastic, that may be enough to light up the needles without doing anything permanent.


Thanks,
Rick

 

yeah if you do paint them, I think this would be the best option.

 

lol that glow in the dark idea is great.

im thinking even a nice white would do the trick as well, if not it would definitely help somewhat.

 

Two years later...did anyone ever try this?

 

It doesn't look good and it would be less effort and more reward to just do it correctly.

 

That good, huh?

I've done it on my other car and it was easy and worked great (although, it's been so long, I don't remember what exactly I did), but the illumination system is different. The SC's LED system is way in violation of K.I.S.S. principles...

 

Somebody did this on my previous 92, they were painted orange and worked decent but made it do I couldn't repair them.

 

Makes sense. And for that reason, I employed Plan B: white electrical tape wrapped around the tip of the needle. It will definitely work for daytime driving, but To Be Determined after dark.

I would upload a picture, but I don't seem to have that option. All I can do is imbed a hyperlinked image. Do I not have enough posts yet?

Jason, I'll probably give you a call tomorrow about gauge needles and HVAC LED. Not trying to bypass your services with this question here. Part of the problem is I can't remove my gauge cluster currently. I got the tilt wheel working (the worm gear misalignment issue), but no luck with the telescoping as of yet and that leaves not quite enough room to wiggle the cluster free.

Getting the bottom middle screw off the back of the cluster to free up the tinted lens for removal took some contorting... It looks ugly removed, but I'll leave it that for the time being, at least until seeing if the "fix" works for nighttime driving. The tint will surely be working against me for that.

 

Also I would be careful with the tape, I think are clusters are sensitive to weight on the needles.

I would just check it to make sure the speedometer is still reading correct.

 

Yeah, I considered that. I read in one of the threads that there is counter-balancing to take into account when adding more than 4-5 grams worth of weight. I doubt the small amount of tape exceeds that, but I don't have a scale that reads low enough to be sure. At any rate, a speedo that reads a bit off is better than one with a needle I can't see! Unless someone sells replacement needles, rather than just servicing the existing ones, that's my only option for now.

 

Reporting back on the white electrical tape quick fix...

1) Speedo and tach seem pretty accurate. The tach idles around 600 rpm and the speedo is right around the speed limit for zones ranging from 30 to 55 mph, cruising along with traffic. If either is off as a result of the weighting, it surely isn't by much.

2) Daytime needle visibility is great, but nighttime is only so-so. You can't really see the tape from straight on, but the edges reflect a bit of the backlight so you can at least see where the needle is. With overhead street lights and what not, you can see it just fine.

I may even be brave enough tomorrow to try it with the tinted lens cover back on.

 

white plastidip, not permanent, just peel it off when ur read to fix it fully

 

Send it to tanin. The work you get back is worth twice what you'll pay.