Calicab

I got bored the other day and happened to begin my fascination with my cars lighting again. i remember having to replace a bulb from my center console a while ago and luckily i remembered what number the bulb was. on a spurt of impulsiveness i hopped on ebay and bought a pack of 10 #73 led bulbs for a dollar.

for those of you that have had your instrument panel out, here are the wonderful bulbs back there


i was unable to find regular replacements, so i decided i would try to just wire the led bulbs into these housings.

here is the led bulb with blue next to the unhoused bulb i took from my cluster.


the two wires from the bulb are super easy to unravel from the housing and straighten, when they are running straight through the housing they will pull straight out, this method also works on the led housings as well, just straighten the wires and pull the bulb from the housing


you can see how the wire runs around and wraps to the housing. the contact point is the side of the wire you can't see that is facing the bulb itself. here is a small idea of how to run the wire
i apologize for the crudity of this photo


i ran the wires and didnt worry which side would or could be positive or negative, maybe i got lucky but they all worked on the first try.

so far ive only replaced a few, but soon i will order different lights and redo all of the remaining incandescent bulbs. i have now replaces my cruise control light, it went from green to what you see, my seatbelt warning, and my high beam indicator.

i used the leds in my center console with their housings they came in and here is what that looks like aswell.




and my center console




so far im happy, these picture dont do it justice, but i shall continue. hopefully my goal of having an all LED lighted car will be met soon.

if anyone has any questions at all just shoot me a pm, and ill hit you right back.

SergioT72

How many LED bulbs does it take to light the entire cluster? Also, on my gauge cluster the word LANCER is very dim. Does it even light up?

greatgonzer

iTrader: (3)

Is this the same bulb needed for the back-light of the odometer opening in the speedometer?

BatangPinoy

Looks good bro!!! Imdoing the same thing!! I will post pics if needed..

lancerslammma

I'd like to know the number of bulbs for the whole cluster as well, I'm just going to buy light defusers that are red for the bulbs instead of soldering.

Calicab

i havent had my cluster out in a while but from my memory there are 4 that light the gauges originally, but you can replace the bulbs for your cruise, and seat belt and things of that sort too

i would get ten and that will cover you

Calicab

im pretty sure it uses a different set up, i know i didnt tinker with it.

it takes 4 i think to get all your gauges, but i replaced my seatbelt and cruise control markers too ( order ten and youll be set)

it does light up, but its reminiscent light from the other bulbs, i don't think it has its own bulb.



sorry i havent been on in a while guys, ill post pics of my finished dash up soon. i actually decided to do an odd fade from blue to red ( left to right) on my cluster, ill try to get pics tonight

Calicab

you said instead of soldering? i didnt solder a single thing, straighten the leads from the bulbs, pull them out of the base, straighten the smd/ led leads, put them through and bend them into place. if the bulb doesnt light up, take it back out and turn it 180 degrees, the positive and negative were backwards and that should fix it. i usually pluged the cluster in, set it in place and made sure everything light up, then screwed it in fully




oh also guys, be very aware of the lighting angles of different "bulbs"



the red on the left is one of the original bulbs that has a diffuser on it, as you can imagine, its light it all around and not directed in one direction

the middle light is one i tried and didnt like, the lighting angle is very straight right off the end, it doesn't work well in my tastes

the third is the SMD that i used, its angle it quite wide, and with as small as the bulb itself is without the housing, it fit very very well in the cluster



let me know if you guys need have any other questions

Calicab

and a pic of my cluster as im running it right now....sorry for the quality of the photo but you get the idea

SergioT72

I like it! I'm thinking of changing bulbs from Red to Blue. I bought some ready made LED bulbs from superbrightled.com and I did not like that the light only went straight. I will try the SMD bulb next to see if it works better. Thanks for the info.

SergioT72

Blue LEDs!

The_Tom

For those of you who asked there's three behind the gauges with little red covers, One big one with a red cover behind odometer, and a bunch of little clear ones for the seat belt, battery, and whatnot.

I want to find LEDs in different colors for the gauges and odometer but i don't want to swap the bulbs out. i want to buy them with the plastic clips, Anyone know where i can find those? i've searched ebay and i can find bulbs but not with the same clips that we have =[

artinist

will these fit?
http://www.superbrightleds.com/produ...gauge/219,709/

artinist

will these fit:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/produ...gauge/219,709/

Daswtasn4u

Does anyone what size the bulbs are in the grey housing?