Just a thought, I was looking in the LS forums, do their needles burn out like ours? One of my needles is a little... wacked 20% of the time... if theirs don't burn out couldn't we replace our reds with their whites?

 

The needles don't usually start to burn out until after about 8-10 years. If you were to replace the SC needles with the original stock needles that it is supposed to use, then you'll be good to go for another 8-10 years. I wouldn't bother with the LS needles, unless you know for certain that you will have your car for another 8-10 years.

By the way, what's with that dancing banana thing? Kind of annoying...

 

Lol....a dancing banana....

White needles would look nice on an SC, as far as compatability I dont know, they would definitely be easier to come by around here than SC needles though so Ill look into it if I go to the salvage yard sometime soon phoenix. Good idea.

 

how about fiting only the needles of the 99-00 model ones? arent they supposed to be fixed by that year?

Dont tell me you havent seen the 'ITS PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME' song/video yet??? tsk tsk shame on you just do a search on yahoo and you will find it

hehehehe

 

FIXED?? there is nothing wrong with them. of course they will burn out eventually just like every other light.

 

The newer needles are cold-cathode... the reason the old needles burned out was that they were made out of LEDs and it the array was rated for 12 volts... constatly running them at 14.4v while the engine running causes them to burn out.

The new cold-cathode versions will not burn out since it fixes a flaw with the old design.

 

Hmmmm......... so does anybody know if we CAN use the needles from the newer model SC's in our pre-95 models? That would be awesome, then we wouldnt have to worry about another replacement....ever....

 

I think that is a 50/50 shot....if you read this thread, there are other possible factors in the failure of the needles lighting. It would be nice to have a quick and easy fix....but you know the saying.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=62216

 

i'm sorry but that HAS to be the stupidest thing i have read on CL. lol. the people who designed the car are not that stupid to leave out such a simple mistake. most LED's don't run on 12v anways. they run on like 3v

 

Actually It's true; to a point, though its not that simple. And LEDs run on all types of voltages, you just buy what you need, they aren't universal, they are voltage specific.

I think the underlying problem is in the dimmer switch. Its ultimate output is at the max voltage of the LED's, thus wearing them out pre-maturely, and unedexpectatly(reality: 14.4 volt vs 14.7 volts ). A technical design flaw which has been corrected with the cold cathode. There were pending lawsuits against Toyota to have a re-call performed, but none was ever issued since it could not be proven, heres why: The problem was the seperation of a flaw and a wear item. The LED's were considered a wear item due to the timeline of the failure. Toyota admited a problem (they had to, specs are specs) but since the failures didn't occur for such an extended period of time, they were protected by law. So basically, Toyota built such a quality system, that a failure was delayed due to extreme craftmanship. BS I say, since I was trying to get in on the lawsuit. But I guess we cant b!tch too much. Look at the quality of a Ford or Chevy after 10+ years, and compare it to our cars. Yea, the burnt out light on the needle isn't too bad compared to falling headliners, rattling parts, and 3 failed transmissions........get the hint. I chalk it up to not being greedy. Our cars are old, and we can't expect to have our cars be like new for 10 years.

This info is what I remember from back in 2000. I don't have any of the e-mails from the people who I was speaking to. I do remember that they were in England. Ive since upgraded computers and lost all my old info and don't have any info other than this. Sorry-

The only knowledge gleamed form this is to not crank the dimmer to full brightness. 2 of my LEDs in my Tach have come back on line from constant flickering, but one more still only works when its cold. Oh well. The car is 11 years old- I can't complain too much. Aside from the A/C compressor failing after 10 years (I live in florida so no big deal), the car hasn't costed me a penny aside from maintenance. I'm still pleased w/ my purchase after over 6 years!!!

Keith


P.S. Just a clarification. The input voltage of the dimmer switch was rated at 14.4. but in reality is could get up to 14.7. This affected the output to the lights. And thats were the problem began. And I believe only certain cars had the problem depending on some other part (regulator?); US models being most.

 

Hey Keith13b.

Just a note..

Your correct the Led's run on 3.0v however there connected in series in groups of 4 at a time. They are Packed together very tightly and overheat and begin to seperate and burnout.

When they cool off the layers then make contact.
Thats why if you dim them they will still light since there not overheating.

As to answer weather the needles are directly replaceable with the newer cold cathode versions the answer is NO. Cold Cathodes use alot higher voltages like around 500v ac. and require allot of complex circuit modifications to make it lite and dim.

I've been working on a product that would solve this issue for the last year.

I can't say where you can find me since there are advertiseing issues ,with a simple search useing google or yahoo with keywords "Lexus" "Dash" "Needle" "Repair" you will find me.

Hope you find the site Interesting!
-Justin

 

Or just click this button under his sig