Definitive led thread for 80s (1 Viewer)

[MrMikeyG]

Man @jcardona1, great work! These are some timely new posts for me as well. I can barely see anything on my dash aside from the instrument cluster. I really cringe when having to pull the '94 style dash apart, but using my heater at night is pretty silly these days.
Here is a tool tip I will add to this thread. (mainly for those that already have some Milwaukee m12 stuff) The Milwaukee M12 soldering gun #2488-20 is surprisingly nice to work with. My soldering skills are fairly rough still, but I had an easier time with the cordless on a job site than with my Weller on the work bench.

 

[jcardona1]

Okay bit of an update to my chart, specifically for cross-referencing the neo-wedge bulbs if you want to stick with halogens instead of LEDs. I have learned more about miniature bulbs in the last few days than I ever cared to know. I started to get really confused with how bulbs are described online and found it was because of metric vs yankee measurements.

Take for example the "Type B" Neowedge 10mm-base bulb that is used in quite a bit in our truck. When searching for LEDs you'll want to search for a "T4 neowedge". The T stands for tubular shaped and the 4 in this case is the diameter of the bulb in millimeters, so a 4mm bulb. You may see these come up as T4.2 which is fine. Don't get a T4.7 as you'll see in the picture below, these have a 12mm base which is too wide for our instruments.

Okay fine. Now websites like Autolumination call this a Type B/T4 newedge but that doesn't help if you want to find an OEM halogen replacement. Unless you go to Toyota and pay $10 per bulb, it's hard to find an aftermarket halogen bulb that works. That is where the imperial T-bulb measurements come into play and where it gets confusing. In searching for halogen bulbs I found descriptions like T1.25 or T1-1/4 which I could not correlate to T3 or T4 you see for LEDs.

I then learned that these imperial measurements are in increments of 1/8"...WHAT?? So a T1-1/4 is a really stupid stupid way of saying this is a 4mm diameter bulb. I'll try to explain.
1-1/4 = 1.25
1/8" = 0.125
1.25 x 0.125 = 0.15625"
0.15625" x 25.4 = about 4mm!

Let's try another example with your more common "194" bulb that is often times called a "T10" bulb. According to Americans this is a T3-1/4 bulb:
3-1/4 = 3.25
1/8" = 0.125
3.25 x 0.125 = 0.40625"
0.40625" x 25.4 = about 10mm. That is why they call it a T10 bulb

These imperial T-measurements come in handy if you're trying to find the right size colored filter/condom for halogen bulbs to change the color.

Okay I swear I'm done

 

[bryson]

Good info @jcardona1. But, I believe the OEM uses plain ol' incandescent bulbs versus halogen, don't they? I know it's nit-picky, but the correct terminology should make parts searches easier.

 

[jcardona1]

Good info @jcardona1. But, I believe the OEM uses plain ol' incandescent bulbs versus halogen, don't they? I know it's nit-picky, but the correct terminology should make parts searches easier.

Thanks - and yeah that's correct, my bad. I tend to use halogen and incandescent interchangeably for any glass bulb that has the little squiggly wire thingy that glows

 

[jcardona1]

Another update! Now I can finally start putting my dash back together. Really happy with the outcome. Some of these lights I don't think I ever saw in my rig since I bought it 7 years ago. We have a light in the glove box??? Amazing.

Gauge cluster - all incandescent bulbs in here. My D light finally works! Although it's really really dim compared to the others, must be something up with the circuitry that controls that specific neowedge bulb. I'm waiting on a new cluster lens because as you can see mine is beat to hell, I think one of the POs took a Brillo pad to it.

HVAC controls look great. Incandescent neowedge bulbs with orange silicon cap/filter.

This was burned out too. Incandescent with orange cap/filter.

I only have 4 OEM switches left in my dash. The antenna switch is non-functional so I just have it there to fill up space. Here I'm running incandescent neowedge bulbs with green caps/filters repurposed from the HVAC controls (Hazard switch has a red cap). Tried the orange cap and it just didn't look good because of the green film inside the switches. I'm still on the hunt for some good quality LED neowedge bulbs with decent light output so I could change the color to amber.

NOTE! As you'll see in my chart, the antenna uses a small Type A 8mm T3 bulb that has has a really dim light output. I took my Dremel grinder and made the bulb opening bigger so it now fits the Type B 10mm T4 bulb used in the other switches. This gives you MUCH better light output than before.

Lower console was modified to fit aftermarket rocker switches for my accessories.

And the Wits End ashtray switch panel

 

[clx16]

That looks great. Shipping you my dash and 20bucks first thing tomorrow!

Haha in all seriousness i looked at the leds you referenced and they all seemed to be very low voltage 2-3vdc, was there an option to get 12v versions or in the switches do they get much less?

 

[jcardona1]

That looks great. Shipping you my dash and 20bucks first thing tomorrow!

Haha in all seriousness i looked at the leds you referenced and they all seemed to be very low voltage 2-3vdc, was there an option to get 12v versions or in the switches do they get much less?

Thanks! Good question about the LEDs. These are the side-emitting LEDs I ordered the first time around. These are listed as 12v. Definitely did not like the output for these.

Autolumination Neowedege Neo Wedge Instrument Panel Gauge Colored Led Bulbs Lights Lamps T3 T4 T5 T4.2 T4.7 39397-SA5-003 35852-SEP-A02 35853-SDA-A01 81850-35050 79674-S3N-941 79609-S02-A11 79607-SHJ-S01 36773-SEP-A01 35851-sm4-003 36774-SEP-A01 796

T3 T4 T5 Neowedge Japanese OEM 2x SMD Instrument Panel Gauge Colored Led Bulbs Lights Lamps T3,T4,T5,T4.2,T4.7,39397-SA5-003,35852-SEP-A02,35853-SDA-A01,81850-35050,79674-S3N-941,79609-S02-A11,79607-SHJ-S01...

www.autolumination.com

I then tried these for the HVAC controls (12-14v). I could not get this to fit the openings. After this I ditched the LED idea and ordered incandescents. Which bulbs did you find were 2-3v?

Autolumination Neowedege Neo Wedge Instrument Panel Gauge Colored Led Bulbs Lights Lamps T3 T4 T5 T4.2 T4.7 39397-SA5-003 35852-SEP-A02 35853-SDA-A01 81850-35050 79674-S3N-941 79609-S02-A11 79607-SHJ-S01 36773-SEP-A01 35851-sm4-003 36774-SEP-A01 796

T3 T4 T5 Neowedge Samsung Goldstar SMD 1x 5630 Instrument Panel Gauge Colored Led Bulbs Lights Lamps T4.2,T4.7,39397-SA5-003,35852-SEP-A02,35853-SDA-A01,81850-35050,79674-S3N-941,79609-S02-A11,79607-SHJ-S01...

www.autolumination.com

 

[clx16]

Which bulbs did you find were 2-3v?

From your post #396 in this thread. It could be the link isn't the correct one though

 

[jcardona1]

From your post #396 in this thread. It could be the link isn't the correct one though

Oh gotcha. Those are the soldered-in LEDs and are a different application. Those goes in the PWR/2ND switch, window switch, and the indicator lights for HVAC. No issue with those as you can see in the pictures, they work great.

It was the neowedge LED bulbs that I wasn't happy with - these are the ones that provide the main backlighting to the switches and HVAC controls.

 

[clx16]

Ok good as those need replacing on many of the switches. I replaced some already but the LEDs I used didn't put out enough at all

 

[jcardona1]

Ok good as those need replacing on many of the switches. I replaced some already but the LEDs I used didn't put out enough at all

Actually, check out what this guy did. Interesting concept. I should give this a try just to see how it works out.

Dash push-button switch LED conversion.

I didn't want to pay the stealership $9 bucks a piece for those brown neowedge bulbs and this is the best work around I could find IMO. First things...

www.tacomaworld.com

 

[clx16]

Oh capital my friend! Very cool

 

[TYM4FUN]

@jcardona1 Great work. Mine have just started to go out as of your updates.

You have too much time on your hands, save some for welding I need done.

 

[jcardona1]

@jcardona1 Great work. Mine have just started to go out as of your updates.

You have too much time on your hands, save some for welding I need done.

It's cause all I've been doing is suspension/welding/fabwork for the last few years! Now I'm finally getting around to the little projects I neglected all this time.

 

[TYM4FUN]

Surprisingly the little things really help you enjoy sitting in the truck.

It's cause all I've been doing is suspension/welding/fabwork for the last few years! Now I'm finally getting around to the little projects I neglected all this time.

 

[Defuzer1]

well, crap. just dropped little over 400 following some of the links in recent pages... cant wait to see how everything turns out.

 

[MrMikeyG]

Well, I lost my damned key to the 80. I had previously ordered the whole lock cylinder set so I thought I would be clever and just swap to the new ignition cylinder. Breaking into the truck was pretty simple. I then spent a silly amount of time taking the dash apart (no key, so can't get shift lever back). It turns out you need the key to remove the cylinder.
Anyway, dash is apart so ordering some lightbulbs this evening.
For anyone on the fence between 95-up or 94-older; IMO the 94 dash is pure evil.

 

[MrMikeyG]

@jcardona1 Did you ever puta your dash back together with a mix of led and incandescent bulbs installed? I got mine back together today, and the hvac controls want the dimmer turned to max before I can see them (in cloudy daylight). I will check things again in the dark.
I'm sure one of you guys has either mentioned this problem and or had this problem, and I just skipped over it. My main cluster illumination is led and everything else is incandescent.

 

[jcardona1]

@jcardona1 Did you ever puta your dash back together with a mix of led and incandescent bulbs installed? I got mine back together today, and the hvac controls want the dimmer turned to max before I can see them (in cloudy daylight). I will check things again in the dark.
I'm sure one of you guys has either mentioned this problem and or had this problem, and I just skipped over it. My main cluster illumination is led and everything else is incandescent.

I stuck with all incandescent bulbs except for the places where there were LEDs to begin with, like HVAC indicator lights, etc. I haven't found any LED bulbs that actually work well for the instruments and switches.

 

[Dissent]

I replaced all my cluster illumination bulbs with PIAA Super Whites 7 years ago and the last one just burnt out. Time to finally upgrade to LEDs I think. What's the latest report on LEDs failing, dimming, flickering? My dome light replacements have all buggered out and I don't trust the LED quality these days. Any feedback is welcome, I need to order something very soon.