Replacement of Dash Lights

[S-mk3-B]

Originally Posted by interested!

Hi! May sound silly , but you mentioned that " some of the lights have barely any life in them " which leads me to think that the reostat for night driving has been turned down making the lights dim . have you checked this first ? - just a thought! .

If your talking about the dimmer, then naw its not that. The dimmer works, and with it being on the highest brightness, its still dim...
Thanks for all the tips, and i`ll probably try this procedure out this coming week, and did you guys happen to know the bulb size?

[907mge]

The bulbs do dim over time. When I did mine I found that although the replacement bulbs were the right number they had been made slightly wider in diameter making them not fit back in. I don't know if this is for all bulb manufacturers or just what i used. I can probably make you a video of the cluster removal. I have a parts car I am working on taking apart now.

[S-mk3-B]

@907mge A video would be awesome if your willing to do one, but if you decide not to then its all good. And since the bulbs didn`t fit, what did you end up doing?

[btwilson86]

IIRC, the bulbs for most of the lights are 168's. I do remember that the oil pressure light has a smaller bulb, I couldn't source one locally (doing a red bulb swap) so I had to order it online

[907mge]

I ended up using a dremel to make the socket/holder a little bigger. The bulb would fit in the socket/holder but when you went to put it back in. It wouldn't twist and lock in. You could try getting the bulbs straight from toyota and see if they will work better.

[cre]

The regular bulb sizes are 194 and 74. The climate control and a couple of the accessory switches are T1 LEDs, the others use a socket-less 12v accessory bulb. The numeric display I originally changed by etching adapter boards and using my numeric display of choice up until a member on SM named Kai found the only manufacturer we've still been able to find who makes a pin compatible display which swaps right in (Kingbright.... common anode if I remember correctly.).

A friend of mine put together a great writeup on SM where you'll be able to come up with a complete count. http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?76463-Comprehensive-Lighting-Modification-Thread

There are a number of concerns with swapping to LEDs. The main issues are uneven lighting and your dimmer won't really work anymore. There are ways around this but it's a good deal of work.

[907mge]

Its an ok video. Could have been better. But here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoWzP...ature=youtu.be

[S-mk3-B]

Thanks 907mge for the video, really helpful! So i pulled the dash earlier today and switched the bulbs with just some Eiko bulbs. And they worked just a tad bit better than what i had before, but im still not getting an efficient amount of light to the numbers. So im wondering is my problem probably just a matter of getting stronger/brighter bulbs(maybe some LEDs)? And I don`t know if im just trippin, but it seems like my MPH gauge is a little laggy? Is there suppose to be a certain cord for the speedometer or is it just all the cords that you have to remove and reinsert? Thank you to everyone!