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ANYONE SWAP LED's INTO THEIR CLUSTER??

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gearhead91
  • Start date Start date Sep 4, 2005
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Gearhead91

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Sep 23, 2003
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New Jersey
Sep 4, 2005
#1
  • Sep 4, 2005
  • #1
Like I said, did anyone ever swap the 194 bulbs in the gauge cluster for LEDs to make a brighter color? I have silver face gauges in my '02 GT and i'm thinking of trying this. My gauges glow a pale blue. I want a deep bright blue. Any ideas???

Thanks!
 

sgarlic

Founding Member
Apr 21, 2001
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#2
  • Sep 4, 2005
  • #2
subscribing
 
D

derek02gt

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Dec 25, 2003
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#3
  • Sep 4, 2005
  • #3
194's wont fit in a 2002 cluster, im actually in the process of doing this right now. We dont have 194's in our clusters..we have some special type of bulb that is extremely small. Your going to have to solder a blue led into the actual housing and somehow make it fit. most blue led's are 3.7v-4.0v and our gauge cluster puts out like 14v so your going to need to use a 470 or 500ohm resistor. I'll let you know how my project works out.
 

Bornstanger

Uncle 'Kiss Me''Kiss Me''Kiss Me''Kiss Me'er
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Strongsville, OH
Sep 4, 2005
#4
  • Sep 4, 2005
  • #4
if i remember correctly there's somebody on here that has a saleen that did actually did swap in some blue leds into his gauge cluster. he has some pics too of before and after. hopefully he'll pop in and give us a little more insight on what was involved.
 

MyEarsHurt

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#5
  • Sep 4, 2005
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Ask and you shall receive....







Those pics kinda suck cause of my digital camera, but they are varad 3 led bulbs (194). You can get them at www.sounddomain.com. Mine is a 98 and I had 5 bulbs in the back of the cluster...194's
 

Gearhead91

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Sep 5, 2005
#6
  • Sep 5, 2005
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So, I dont have 194 bulbs in my '02 cluster?? Which size do I have then??
 
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derek02gt

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#7
  • Sep 5, 2005
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94-98 use 194. 99+ Does Not.
 
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derek02gt

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#8
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the bulbs in the 99+ cluster are like half the size of 194's
 
O

o0akoni0o

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Oct 26, 2004
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Sep 5, 2005
#9
  • Sep 5, 2005
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MyEarsHurt said:
Ask and you shall receive....







Those pics kinda suck cause of my digital camera, but they are varad 3 led bulbs (194). You can get them at www.sounddomain.com. Mine is a 98 and I had 5 bulbs in the back of the cluster...194's
Click to expand...
could you please explain how you did that? i'm pretty decent at soldering stuff so this is a project i can tackle.
 
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derek02gt

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Sep 6, 2005
#10
  • Sep 6, 2005
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akoni you dont have to solder anything, you have a 1998 car. just buy replacement 194 led blue's..simple as that.
 
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o0akoni0o

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Sep 6, 2005
#11
  • Sep 6, 2005
  • #11
derek02gt said:
akoni you dont have to solder anything, you have a 1998 car. just buy replacement 194 led blue's..simple as that.
Click to expand...
thanks. and how much brighter are the led's compared to the stock lights?
 
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venom97

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Apr 29, 2003
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Sep 6, 2005
#12
  • Sep 6, 2005
  • #12
whats the difference between the pro and the reg. style varad led?
 
V

venom97

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Apr 29, 2003
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Sep 6, 2005
#13
  • Sep 6, 2005
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does any other place carry them, other than sound domain?
 

04gtdrop

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Sep 6, 2005
#14
  • Sep 6, 2005
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OMG !!!!!!!!!!! that is freak'en sick!!!! blue is my fav color, i would do that in the drop of a dime if i could but i have a 2004 GT

is it possible to do this to a 99+ car? anyone complete this project? i would love to see a write up and or pics.


edit: this might be extreme, but is it possible to sway a 96-98 cluster into a 04? how are they different? wouldn't that solve the problem with the LED bulb? but would that create more problems/issues?
 

jeffnoel

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Aug 31, 2002
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Clovis, CA
Sep 6, 2005
#15
  • Sep 6, 2005
  • #15
The Sylvania website shows the Instrument Cluster bulbs (for 99-03) are a mix of 194s, 161s, and 37s. Do a search on eBay and you'll find all of them availble as LEDs. Here's a link to an auction (not mine) for some 37s available in 6 different colors.

http://cgi.ebay.com/74-37-Instrumen...ryZ71537QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This guys got them available in 11 colors.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MINI...33712QQitemZ7996798246QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Sylvania Website
 

todd4566

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Sep 6, 2005
#16
  • Sep 6, 2005
  • #16
There is a guy on ebay who sells blue LED's that plug in directly to where the stock bulbs fit. I can take a picture of the LED's if it would be helpful. They do make the gauges light blue, but they don't disperse light as well as bulbs, resulting in bright & dim areas.
 

juiced_94gt

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Mar 30, 2005
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Southern California
Sep 6, 2005
#17
  • Sep 6, 2005
  • #17
What size bulbs would you buy for autometer phantom gauges? is it even possible for those and tho they come in blue led?
 

MyEarsHurt

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May 21, 2004
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#18
  • Sep 6, 2005
  • #18
juiced_94gt said:
What size bulbs would you buy for autometer phantom gauges? is it even possible for those and tho they come in blue led?
Click to expand...


I could be wrong but i think all autometer pods (2 1/16 at least) are 194 bulbs, which means you can get the varad led bulbs in whatever color you want from www.sounddomain.com
 

04gtdrop

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Jun 10, 2005
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Sep 6, 2005
#19
  • Sep 6, 2005
  • #19
thanks for the info guys, im gonan check this out tonight when i get home.

: )
 

todd4566

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Sep 6, 2005
#20
  • Sep 6, 2005
  • #20
Here's a pic of my stock Gt gauges with the blue leds installed. The pic is horribly blurry, but it should give a general idea of what to expect.
 

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