Yes, the resistor is in series with one leg of the LED (doesn't matter which one) and hidden in the base. i.e. cut one LED leg short and one end of the resistor short and solder together. Then you put a bit of 2 part epoxy or hot melt glue where the bulb was and push the two leads through the exit holes. I figure a bit of adhesive will make the solder joint etc more secure (esp since I installed a TVS, see below) - but possibly overkill.
Let the adhesive set and then bend the legs around the appropriate slots in the base and you are done.
Obviously you have a polarized 'bulb' now, so you have a 50-50 chance of it being in backwards. But, all I did was just plug in the module that contains the shift lights into the harness (no instrument panel) and turned the ignition on and moved the shifter through the range to verify all the bulbs were lighting up.
I used a nominal 560 ohm resistor, 1/8Watt (chosen for small size). That gives close to 20mA through the LED. I also installed a small TVS (5V rate suppression part) across the LED, right at the base of the LED. That provides reverse voltage protection and spike suppression. You get extra bonus points
to solder that since it is a tiny 0603 sized surface mount part. Digikey stock number 641-1088-1-ND.
Assume 14.4V (while running) - 3.4V (nominal LED Vf) = 11V.
11V/560ohm = 0.019 = 19mA. I know there is a resistor already inline with the D light, but it's likely quite a low value since it was intended to dim the incandescent a bit.
The result is a 'blue' ring since the white/blue tint of the LED through the filter is not the same as the result from a yellowish incandescent. Actually works good since the blue stands out from the other positions.
It isn't as bright as the bulb positions, which is good since you don't want the D glaring all the time.
To replace the other bulbs you would need a brighter LED.
Most LEDs with series resistors built-in are for 5V operation. Also, you need a side emitting LED since the LED is actually at 90 deg to the bezel.
The actual LED I bought was from Digikey (
www.digikey.com) and the stock number (you can enter it on their website to pull up the datasheet) is 160-1736-5-ND. You can probably get a 5mm sized one in there - since there is room for it in the housing. Choose a flat top/side emitting one. A 5mm would be quite a bit brighter and probably a good choice for the non-D bulbs.
For the coloured non-D LED positions if you want them brighter, it would also be best to source similar coloured LEDs rather than white. White LEDs are (except for RGB ones) Blue LEDs with a special phosphor that emits a pseudo-white light when hit by the Blue. The pseudo-white is NOT full spectrum, it just looks white to our eyes. So, if you put that pseudo white light through a colour filter (like in the shifter bulb module) you will attenuate the light output a LOT.
I didn't want the D bulb to be too bright and the combination of a 3mm and white LED worked just fine, but heed the above paragraph for the other positions.
cheers,
george.
