Definitive led thread for 80s (3 Viewers)

[ERG80]

after reading through the entire thread I'm super confused now.. does the OPs original list of LEDs work? do incandescent bulbs work better in some spots? what's the census everyone have come to on this project? in all honesty id like to really only swap the light in the HVAC and a few in the cluster but ill do them all if i have them open.

For everyone else I recommend to use Toyota incandescent bulbs and keep things easy, reliable and as designed.

For myself, I can’t leave well enough alone and subscribe to the mindset of “if it ain’t broke, fix it until it is.” So I went through the trial and error process to find what works for me. I am happy with the leds I chose and I found jcardona’s post #402 to be the most helpful listing what I needed in a 1996 cruiser.

I prefer incandescent in the turn signal indicators and “D” light. The reason I prefer incandescent in the turn signals is because the leds I chose would slightly illuminate when I pressed the brakes. I like a dim “d” light so that’s why I didn’t use led there.

I also went incandescent in the actual turn signals and brake lights due to radio interference.

I recommend autolumination’s bulbs because they seem to be better quality than more common places (Amazon, eBay).
I did piece together some of my stuff using cheap 3v bulbs from lighthouse leds with resistors because they had the best and most even light spread.

Like everything “It depends”.

 

[RC51]

hmm this thread has too much info....can anyone recommend stock looking green lights that I can put in my instrument cluster and the AC controls?

 

[vegas]

So I followed the recommendations in this thread and replaced all of my bulbs with LEDs. The main gauge illumination bulbs started blinking about 6 months after the swap. I'm assuming it's because of the noisy electrical environment combined with poorly made LEDs. There's another thread about the blinking here: LED Gauge Lights Blinking - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/led-gauge-lights-blinking.1312127/
I'm trying to figure out better LEDs to fix the blinking. Haven't solved that yet. Just wanted to warn people.

 

[Overlanderson]

So I followed the recommendations in this thread and replaced all of my bulbs with LEDs. The main gauge illumination bulbs started blinking about 6 months after the swap. I'm assuming it's because of the noisy electrical environment combined with poorly made LEDs. There's another thread about the blinking here: LED Gauge Lights Blinking - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/led-gauge-lights-blinking.1312127/
I'm trying to figure out better LEDs to fix the blinking. Haven't solved that yet. Just wanted to warn people.

Where did you source your LEDs? Have you tried replacing it and if so does the problem persist? I apologize for drilling you with questions I’m actively researching this mod and would like to know if it’s beneficial in the long run

 

[Travis 76]

I put leds in my cluster, just the back light ones. That was before I found this thread. I got them at auto parts store. Just looked up the bulb and got the white ones. I took the green cover off the original bulbs and put it on the leds so it still has the green color. Haven’t had an issue with them.

 

[motormayhem]

Anyone have recommendations to panel lights for the dome lights and map light? I wasn't seeing the dimensions people are using and there are a lot on amazon. I'm looking for red for the map light and warm white for the map light and as bright as possible. Also something that wont flicker. My current LED dome lights seem to flicker on occasion....they have done it since new. I think its some noise in the truck electrical system as it doesn't seem to be an issue with the contact of the bulb to socket.

 

[sunrk]

JW speaker and similar LED festoon lamps for the dome and other roof lights that take festoon bulbs. Ive tried those multi-led 'panels' and they are electrically so shonky and most are generic square or rectangular with very dodgy spring loaded 'dummy festoon' contact sets to fit to the factory contacts.

 

[clx16]

I have some of the panel style warm white that are awesome, but I ended up buying several sets before I found some that have been great. I think its hard to find good quality and the seller who sold me the good set, no where to be found since. So you might get lucky, I wasnt out much money but i was out some time. Def think you are on the right track with your color options though.

 

[motormayhem]

I have some of the panel style warm white that are awesome, but I ended up buying several sets before I found some that have been great. I think its hard to find good quality and the seller who sold me the good set, no where to be found since. So you might get lucky, I wasnt out much money but i was out some time. Def think you are on the right track with your color options though.

Ya I’ve got red for the map and warm for the dome right now and like it. Just figured I’d update to some better quality stuff that doesn’t flicker. With the led stuff being so hit or miss on quality I’m hoping someone has a good current source for some stuff vs having to order a few sets.

 

[thetoyotaman]

For my birthday my wife's helping me update the map, dome, and door lights with LEDs. I discovered the glove box light was out and replaced it with an LED I had left over from doing the cluster on the hundy and it barely lights up. I tried another one and same thing. I have the dash lights turned up all the way so not sure what I'm missing here if anyone has a suggestion.

 

[sbman]

For my birthday my wife's helping me update the map, dome, and door lights with LEDs. I discovered the glove box light was out and replaced it with an LED I had left over from doing the cluster on the hundy and it barely lights up. I tried another one and same thing. I have the dash lights turned up all the way so not sure what I'm missing here if anyone has a suggestion.

Sometimes LEDs use so little power that they don't work well in sockets that have some corrosion on them, whereas a filament bulb the corrosion is a much smaller resistance than the bulb itself so you don't notice it as much. You might try polishing/cleaning the contacts on the holder to see if it brightens up.

 

[Demonic92]

Ya I’ve got red for the map and warm for the dome right now and like it. Just figured I’d update to some better quality stuff that doesn’t flicker. With the led stuff being so hit or miss on quality I’m hoping someone has a good current source for some stuff vs having to order a few sets.

I got all my LEDs from superbrightleds.com. Have never had an issue with any of their products in 5+ years. Would stay away from eBay/Amazon specials.

 

[coaders]

For those who swapped to LED's and the indicator light is stuck on around the 'D' (Drive) light:
- I believe the problem is power is feeding through the diode (circled in red). I believe if you add a resister (yellow), or put a different diode in, this will fix your problem. The 'N' light has a resister (orange circle) before it and that is why, I believe, AT Indicator light does not glow around the 'N', '2', or 'L'. I do no know if this fix will work for sure, but removing a diode on a ghosting light as described below worked for me. You have to do some calculations to know what resister you need and you might have to weld it onto the board/film.
Link for resiter calculations:

*I believe the above solution will work because:
- I added an E-Stopp electronic parking brake to my LX450. The E-Stopp has a green wire that signals a ground wire when the brake is engaged. The problem was this ground wire only allowed 25ma to flow through it. This amperage was insufficient to light the OEM incandescent 'PARK' light bulb. To make the bulb light up when the parking brake was engaged, I had to purchase a LED bulb that drew less than 25ma to light up. I replaced the light bulb and the LED lit up, but it glowed/ghosted (was on) all of the time. It did get brighter when the P-Brake was engaged. I found this bulb was ghosting because current or voltage was back feeding through the diode connected to the "Bulb Check Relay" (orange box drawn below). I didn't care have this bulb light up during the bulb check, so cut out the diode (red X) on the cluster board/film, completely removing this 'PARK' bulb from the 'Bulb Check Relay' circuit. Now theis bulb functions properly.

The difference between my 'PARK' light and the 'A/T INDICATOR' situations is, I was able to cut the 'PARK' light bulb from the circuit containing the diode, you can't cut the 'A/T INDICATOR' bulb from the circuit containing the diode, it will no longer illuminate. You have to find a way to limit the voltage or resistance of that circuit.

 

[thetoyotaman]

For my birthday my wife's helping me update the map, dome, and door lights with LEDs. I discovered the glove box light was out and replaced it with an LED I had left over from doing the cluster on the hundy and it barely lights up. I tried another one and same thing. I have the dash lights turned up all the way so not sure what I'm missing here if anyone has a suggestion.

Noticed the other day driving around the light came on bright for awhile and then dim again. Something about bouncing around did that but I would think a short would just be on/off.

 

[UnknownCompany]

Just wondering if you guys use a special bit for these. These OEM brown sockets aren't to bad, I notice when I'm replacing with LEDs the socket is pretty soft.
I've tried a couple different Phillips and a couple "slotted" but even with a gentle twist the plastic is getting "twisted" a bit.

 

[bryson]

Just wondering if you guys use a special bit for these. These OEM brown sockets aren't to bad, I notice when I'm replacing with LEDs the socket is pretty soft.
I've tried a couple different Phillips and a couple "slotted" but even with a gentle twist the plastic is getting "twisted" a bit.

View attachment 3553855

Just use the widest flat blade you have that fits in the slot. The sockets are NOT intended to be removed with a typical cross point type screwdriver.