Definitive led thread for 80s (4 Viewers)

[MrMikeyG]

Update: Dimmer works fine, and no flickering so far. My above picture was with dimmer turned up to max. During usual driving I have it set to just where I can see the other dash lights. The dimmer will go from instruments "off" to bright as fawk.

 

[davidrh]

My speedo side bulb went out which made night driving a bit sketchy. I decided to jump on the led bandwagon as well, and ordered the 194 style red led bulbs from superbrightled's. They are the bulbs that have 5 diodes and spread light in all directions. I feel like they do not "seat" into the twist lock bulb base very well. Has anyone else had this issue?
Also, when puilling bulbs at a picknpull or whatever, the "ramps" on the bases may be slightly different which will not allow the bulb to lock in properly. I grabbed some bulbs from a Camry, and a Corola last time, and they didn't want to work for me (only for the biggest 194 type bulb bases, the little guys seemed ok).
I discovered a similar issue while pulling sockets to attempt a somewhat factory turn signal mod. the "ramps" on the 3 wire base are narrower. I may be able to work around with a thicker o-ring though.

Did you buy the twist lock bases from superbrightled or re-use the OEM ones?

 

[MrMikeyG]

I re-used my oem bases, and that was the part that had me a bit worried re; fitment. The Led bulbs don't "seat" as nicely into the bases as an oem bulb.
I finally have some off-road miles under my belt though, and the led dash lights all work great still. (lots of pretty nasty washboard gravel, and the typical bouncing around from trail running)

 

[jcardona1]

EDIT: See update in post #402

So over the last few years most of my interior lights have slowly burned up to the point the only thing that lights up is the gauge cluster and HVAC controls. Everything else is dark and it's getting really annoying. So I'm planning on tackling this project in bits and pieces, huge thanks to @treerootCO for doing all the research.

However I found the information a bit hard to follow and bulb descriptions don't necessarily line up with what you find online. So I put together a chart using treeroot's information. This cross-references the OEM bulbs with aftermarket LED options.

The boxes represent the color and quantity of the OEM bulbs. Up to you what color you replace it with but as mentioned before, some of these switches and indicators have colored film that controls the color output. Hazard light switch for example uses a clear bulb but outputs red color because of the switch.

I also put together a separate chart for the warning/indicator lights in the gauge cluster. Note that all of these use clear OEM bulbs with plastic colored film. If you use a white LED it will wash out the indicator light. For example, red warning lights will appear pink with a white LED bulb. So this chart represents the color of the ORIGINAL output. If you want to replace with LEDs and keep the same color output, it's recommended to use the same color LED bulb. For example, blue LED bulb for the blue high-beam indicator light, etc.

Hopefully this helps! I think I got them all, let me know if you find any errors and I can get it corrected

 

[LC4LIFE]

So over the last few years most of my interior lights have slowly burned up to the point the only thing that lights up is the gauge cluster and HVAC controls. Everything else is dark and it's getting really annoying. So I'm planning on tackling this project in bits and pieces, huge thanks to @treerootCO for doing all the research.

However I found the information a bit hard to follow and bulb descriptions don't necessarily line up with what you find online. So I put together a chart using treeroot's information. This cross-references the OEM bulbs with aftermarket LED options.

The boxes represent the color and quantity of the OEM bulbs. Up to you what color you replace it with but as mentioned before, some of these switches and indicators have colored film that controls the color output. Hazard light switch for example uses a clear bulb but outputs red color because of the switch.

I also put together a separate chart for the warning/indicator lights in the gauge cluster. Note that all of these use clear OEM bulbs with plastic colored film. If you use a white LED it will wash out the indicator light. For example, red warning lights will appear pink with a white LED bulb. So this chart represents the color of the ORIGINAL output. If you want to replace with LEDs and keep the same color output, it's recommended to use the same color LED bulb. For example, blue LED bulb for the blue high-beam indicator light, etc.

Hopefully this helps! I think I got them all, let me know if you find any errors and I can get it corrected

Very nice! Thanks a bunch for putting this together.

 

[MrMikeyG]

Indeed! Nice work @jcardona1 !!
I got tripped up a bit in research regarding the 3 digit vs "T" bulb identifiers. I like superbrightled's.com but I'm sure there are other perfectly good vendors out there for this stuff.

 

[TexasJack]

So over the last few years most of my interior lights have slowly burned up to the point the only thing that lights up is the gauge cluster and HVAC controls. Everything else is dark and it's getting really annoying. So I'm planning on tackling this project in bits and pieces, huge thanks to @treerootCO for doing all the research.

However I found the information a bit hard to follow and bulb descriptions don't necessarily line up with what you find online. So I put together a chart using treeroot's information. This cross-references the OEM bulbs with aftermarket LED options.

The boxes represent the color and quantity of the OEM bulbs. Up to you what color you replace it with but as mentioned before, some of these switches and indicators have colored film that controls the color output. Hazard light switch for example uses a clear bulb but outputs red color because of the switch.

I also put together a separate chart for the warning/indicator lights in the gauge cluster. Note that all of these use clear OEM bulbs with plastic colored film. If you use a white LED it will wash out the indicator light. For example, red warning lights will appear pink with a white LED bulb. So this chart represents the color of the ORIGINAL output. If you want to replace with LEDs and keep the same color output, it's recommended to use the same color LED bulb. For example, blue LED bulb for the blue high-beam indicator light, etc.

Hopefully this helps! I think I got them all, let me know if you find any errors and I can get it corrected

Your work on this is much appreciated. Would you consider adding a color legend to the sheets so we can copy it for future use.....like when bulbs burn out 2 years from now?

 

[jcardona1]

Your work on this is much appreciated. Would you consider adding a color legend to the sheets so we can copy it for future use.....like when bulbs burn out 2 years from now?

Thanks! Can you elaborate on a 'color legend'? As in colors of original bulbs? That's what the colored boxes represent, unless I'm misunderstanding the question.

 

[tmorris1076]

did cruise control stop functioning for anyone switching to LED instrument cluster bulbs? I just swapped 6 T10 LEDs into instrument cluster and cruise stopped functioning altogether. Is there a correlation?

 

[TexasJack]

Thanks! Can you elaborate on a 'color legend'? As in colors of original bulbs? That's what the colored boxes represent, unless I'm misunderstanding the question.

That is precisely what I meant and I understand the colors now. Thanks for providing an answer when it was pretty obvious!

 

[jcardona1]

Today I tackled one of the harder switches that require soldering, the PWR/2ND switch. Original LEDs still worked but they were super dim. I'm changing everything to amber so figured this would be a good place to start. The only real hard part is reassembling the switch as you need to melt a few plastic tabs to get it apart and there may not be enough plastic to get it back together again. I ended up having to use some super glue to hold it back together.

Make sure to check the polarity before you solder! Clear LED is the new one.

Soldered

Testing before reassembly. Way brighter than the green LEDs.

Much better!

 

[jcardona1]

Well this was a lot more involved than I thought it would be. Taking apart the HVAC controls, soldering in the new LEDs and putting it back together was a total pain in the ass but I'm happy with the outcome. Decided to go with blue LED indicator lights and the backlighting will be in amber. Still waiting for those bulbs to arrive.

On that note, I have had terrible luck with these stupid neowedge LED bulbs. Ordered several from Autolumination and they either would not fit or the light output was awful. The Type A T3 for the antenna was so dim that it might as well be burned out again. And I even ordered the 'Japanese OEM neowedge' bulbs that supposedly have side-emitting LEDs for better light spread. Some of the others would simply not fit past the metal contacts on the switch, the LED chips were too wide, even broke one in the process.

So I gave up on neowedge LEDs and going back to halogens. I ordered a bunch of these for the Type B/10mm bulbs. These are 9 lumens so they should be much brighter than the stock halogens: DNW1-DW33/GRA T-1 1/4 Neo Wedge PCB Lamp 14V,DNW1-DW33/GRA,JKL#DNW1-DW33/GRA

They also have the Type A/8mm for the antenna: CNW1-23 T-1 Neo-Wedge Lamp 14V,CNW1-23,JKL#CNW1-23

The nice thing is they also have the light filters/bulb condoms for every bulb size in any color: Colored Bulb Covers

More to come!

 

[lumbee1]

Installed Sylvania Zero red LED in brake lights. When the right turn signal is on, the left brake pulses softly. I'm considering going back to halogens until I have a solution. Any ideas?

 

[clx16]

@lumbee1 do those leds come with resisters installed? The LED brake lights, turn signals etc that i used do not and i also changed out the flasher relay. End result is everything works like normal. No slow or hyperflash and no pulsating. I got most of my stuff from the retrofit source and super bright less.

 

[clx16]

Taking apart the HVAC controls, soldering in the new LEDs and putting it back together was a total pain in the ass

I only did the back lighting in my HVAC and wish i would have done the indicators like you are doing. I am going to have to do it anyway so glad you are posting this.
The Amber led color is great, I think i might have missed it but would you mind sharing a link to them or a part number i could search?

BTW my back light LEDs i installed were square and i filed the edges and put them in sideways then used a needle to straighten them out once in. Way better than before but would prefer a more spread pattern for back lighting

 

[jcardona1]

I only did the back lighting in my HVAC and wish i would have done the indicators like you are doing. I am going to have to do it anyway so glad you are posting this.
The Amber led color is great, I think i might have missed it but would you mind sharing a link to them or a part number i could search?

The little 3mm LEDs are from eBay. Pack of 25 for less than $2 shipped!

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Tonight's project was the window switch. Wish I had more than a single LED here

 

[effjay80]

Just a HUGE thank you to all above in the thread for providing so much lighting info. I completed a behind-the-dash-dive this weekend and replaced all the incandescents and went green LED for the shifter/AC/main console backlighting in my 94. Immense improvement and I have stuff lighting up I haven't seen in decades. Thank you all and ILUVMUD!

 

[ChaunceyBronson]

Seriously @jcardona1 thanks so much for putting this together. It really bothers me during the day when I can’t tell what is active etc, bc the lights are so dim in the truck. Really nice presentation here, and thanks so much again man.

 

[Ruggedly]

Make sure to check the polarity before you solder! Clear LED is the new one.

@jcardona1 - THANK YOU. I always assumed I'd be re-reading this entire 20-page post when it came time to do the full refresh. Also, to test polarity, are you just doing a loose install and plugging that switch/gauge/etc. in? I'm trying to envision this on scenarios where you wouldn't be able to plug the piece back in without a full reassembly. Apologies if I'm missing something obvious!

 

[jcardona1]

@jcardona1 - THANK YOU. I always assumed I'd be re-reading this entire 20-page post when it came time to do the full refresh. Also, to test polarity, are you just doing a loose install and plugging that switch/gauge/etc. in? I'm trying to envision this on scenarios where you wouldn't be able to plug the piece back in without a full reassembly. Apologies if I'm missing something obvious!

Happy to help! And testing polarity is easy with a multimeter as treeroot showed. You can test with loose LEDs or even LEDs soldered in the circuit board. Just set your voltmeter to the Diode Test function (arrow next to a + sign) and touch the leads to the prongs of the LED bulb. If you have the +/- identified correctly you will get some sort of reading on the multimeter. But I just ignored that and looked at the LED itself. When you have the +/- correct, the LED will get a very faint glow due to the current passing through it.

How to Test LED Lights with a Multimeter