DarkSideAccord
nadeshiko fobz ftw..
thanx for teh help guys 
Ok, started my led project, here are some pics
- Thread starter talontsiawd
- Start date
jasonvictory86
Member
So far, I've replaced the bulbs with white led's, removed my needles and wiped off the blue filter on the back, and came up with that same problem. They would jump 5 - 10 mph at a time and then not go down until I came to a complete stop.
What I did to fix it, is I started my car up without the needles in. I know where my car idle's at normally. I popped in my tach needle at aprox 600 rpm, and then gave it a try with the gas. When the needle fell back down, I checked to make sure it still hovered about 600, which it did.
Here's my trick about getting the speedometer right: I was scratching my head why it's off by 5mpg exactly, and then if you look at the gauge, the first dash is 10mph. Normally there's a dash every 5 mpg, but the first dash goes from 0 - 10mph. So the "0" on the gauge face would actually be 5mph. So I guessed about another 5 mph below the 0 marker and the little needle rest and stuck my needle in there. I did all this while the car was on, but standing still. Before driving, prop the needle above the rest and give it a try. It won't move for the first 5mph but once you get above 6mph, watch the little guy go! I never really notice this under my stock setup.
As for the speedo getting stuck, while I was stopped, I played with the gauge a little bit. I moved it up and let it come back down by itself. Then I drove a little bit, stopped and did it again. I'm not sure why this worked, but now mine is fine.
jasonvictory86
Member
I've been following this thread closely and my conversion is going alright. I need to take off the needles again and totally clean them off. I didn't get all the yellow off the needles so it looks pretty bad.
There is a really bad hot-spot on my hvac and the typical dim red button is a pain. I also really screwed up the knobs. I used fingernail polish remover instead of just alcohol and ripped off the numbers for the fan speed and started to destroy the blue/red temperature markers on the right. Oh well...
It took a lot of work, but I think the white looks really good.
There is a really bad hot-spot on my hvac and the typical dim red button is a pain. I also really screwed up the knobs. I used fingernail polish remover instead of just alcohol and ripped off the numbers for the fan speed and started to destroy the blue/red temperature markers on the right. Oh well...
It took a lot of work, but I think the white looks really good.
talontsiawd
Well-Known Member
I don't know what's up with that hotspot, mine didn't have that problem. Try going somewhere like radio shack or fry's and they have a little cap difusor. You may have to buy an led with it but it should be cheap. That should help.
I did the same on my fan speed. I'm not sure you can even get those right. Mine is just painted flat black and looks fine, it's not like it's hard to figure out without the numbers.
deucescorner
Well-Known Member
Re: Ok, started my led project, here are some pics (1st UPDATE!!!)
I looked on the site and I can't find the bulbs you refer to for the gauge cluster. Can you specify the exact item number. I don't want to buy the wrong thing.
Well, i got my led's today, i'm actually almost done. So i went with white. Now, it doesn't really come out white. It's a really pale blue. I wanted white, which kind of sucked, but i knew white leds almost always have a blue tint to them. I wish it was more white, but i didn't want a real viberant blue or red, yellow, etc, so concidering the choices, it's probably still the best for me.
Ok, the guage cluster. Now this is very straight forward. You need 3 "194 wedge bulbs," the more dispersion, the better. You will also need 2 "74 wedge bulbs," Which are hard to find with good dispertion, but they light up small areas, normal ones are fine. Add another 74 bulb for the odometer. I got these all from superbrightleds.com
So-Guage cluster
3-194 bulbs
3-74 bulbs.
Pic:
I left the coolant temp gauge stock for comparison.
Ok, lets move on the the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), or the center part. This was a bit more challenging. I did not want to modify my bulbs. So i found that pin 11 on the harness for the lighting was ground 22 was power. Use a mulitmenter to verify this if you do it this way.
SKIP THIS PART IF YOU GET A KIT FROM LEDAUTOMOTIVE OR PLAN TO MODIFY THE STOCK BULB....
Well, for some reason, i'm dumb and i bought 74 wedge bulbs for this. Now these obviously won't work. But they didn't really cost more, plus had the resistors on them. I'd rather have just bought led's and resistors but i figured i'd salvage these. So this part may be confusing. I took the bulbs (carefully) out of the wedge holder. I took the HVAC pannel apart. I found the positive (which is harder to find as it was pre soldered). Then i wired the four positives for each bulb to a jumper wire off pin 22. Then the ground to pin 11. I just glue gunned the bulbs in place for easy removal. Worked perfectly.
Pic:
Now one of the other advantages other than saving the stock bulbs is that you can easily add leds from the source you found. THe defrost button is a bit dim. So i'll just add red or orange led there and have an easy power source. I could even add an led for each botton if i wanted to, but i'd wire in series if i did it this way.
Now the clock i did similar to the HVAC pannel. I did not use the original bulb. I used a 3mm led and resistor. I was able to solder it directly to the contacts, pretty easy. It's weird because i have never had this actually work. And it is there to stay.
Ok, for those who got lost and plan to use a kit, you are welcome to return without so much confusion
So after i got everything put back, looks like this:
Now, a terrible pic but this is the best representation of color
EDIT-I left something stock in every pic to compare.
I looked on the site and I can't find the bulbs you refer to for the gauge cluster. Can you specify the exact item number. I don't want to buy the wrong thing.
6thgenGerardoh1
Well-Known Member
looooks great yo
talontsiawd
Well-Known Member
Re: Ok, started my led project, here are some pics (1st UPDATE!!!)
On this page- http://www.superbrightleds.com/mini-wedge.html
I used:
WLED-x5 LED Wedge Base Bulbs
B8.5D Twist Lock lamp (I believe, the site has changed a bit).
On this page- http://www.superbrightleds.com/mini-wedge.html
I used:
WLED-x5 LED Wedge Base Bulbs
B8.5D Twist Lock lamp (I believe, the site has changed a bit).
deucescorner
Well-Known Member
Re: Ok, started my led project, here are some pics (1st UPDATE!!!)
what is "B8.5 Twist Lock lamp"?
what is "B8.5 Twist Lock lamp"?
talontsiawd
Well-Known Member
deucescorner
Well-Known Member
so i gotta buy 6 of these and 6 of the x5 stuff in cool white? sorry i'm beyond noob at this
