DIY: How to replace your dash bulbs with LEDs

Do It Yourself. Feeling game try some of the mods outlined in here. Some of these can be peformed by novices others require a substantial amount of knowledge before attempting them

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FTO338
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Post by FTO338 »

Teania wrote:Ruchi hasn't posted in about 2 months, he has been made to feel unwelcome on this site.
Tanya
So does mikey (about 4-5 mths now) :roll:

Anyway there were few guys who did the same mod before ruchi, but left the forum because "Mr Special" just always had to be right.
DISCLAIMER: The above text is the personal opinion of the author and does not represent the indisputable truth. The author is not responsible for any deaths, injuries or mental illness caused by the above statments.
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Post by FTOluv »

FTO617, have u read the instructions that Ruchi posted at the beginning of this thread? Just go through them step by step. They are good instructions. I dont think Mr Ruchi needs to be awakened from his hibernation to answer this question :wink:
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Post by FTOluv »

ive checked my PM but havent received anything :?

Why are we receiving a PM for anyway?? Is it becuz i told FTO617 to read the intructions carefully?!?! :roll: 8O

Whats with u people :roll: :roll:
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fto617
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Post by fto617 »

hey guys dont argue
i read every step of ruchis thing
i can replace the t5's cos the plastic housing is easy to crack
but for the t10 wideangle bulb the housing is much stronger
what ruchi said in the thread is only "For each of the globes you will need to remove the globe from its holder by unwrapping its legs, then insert the LED's legs into the holder and bend them over. "
and for the t10 wideangle u have to break it so only the LED and its legs are left
i have no idea how to attempt this
i tried to do one of the and i broke the legs
thank you very much for your help teania
and guys...stay peace ! its only an online forum not like your really directing your message to one person but to the whole forum viewing group
lest stay cool and help our forum grow !!!
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Post by FTOluv »

we arent arguing fto617, im just asking Tania why me and Kev had to have a PM sent to us.
Anyway, from what i recall, these bulbs are fragile when it comes to modifying to fit them somewhere. U are always gonna break bulbs if its yr first time trying to fit them.
I personally wouldnt replace mine. I think its more practical and looks better if u get indiglo dials. But thats my opinion.
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FTO338
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Post by FTO338 »

fto617 wrote:and guys...stay peace ! its only an online forum not like your really directing your message to one person but to the whole forum viewing group
lest stay cool and help our forum grow !!!
Yep couldn't agree more, like u said Teania, let bygone be bygone, why dig the scar?
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Post by FTOluv »

I forgot to mention, Tania's reverse indiglo looks pretty good as well. U mite wanna take a look at them :wink:
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FTO338
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Post by FTO338 »

Teania wrote:
Teania wrote:*edited*

Kevin/ Mil - please check your PM's
sorry guys :lol: wasn't having a go at you or telling you off- I just posted something that wasn;t related to the topic - didn't want to be the first person the IMC told off :wink:
PM check, i think there are lots of mis-understanding & mis-communications. But all good now :D
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Boris
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Post by Boris »

For the people that have done this i got a question,

How long would the mod take? Would i do it say one day for shopping for all the leds, and the next installing em?

Are there any more pictures of other peoples work apart from ruchi's?
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mrStumpy
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Post by mrStumpy »

if u havnt taken off the dash/console before, it can take a while figuring excactly what to do. But if youve been inside the FTO console ;) its sh*t easy. 5 hours max.

My problem was removing the T10 from its housing, as mentioned before its hard stuck. For this I used a set of small plyers+wire cutters to carefully remove the housing. I fucked up a few of them, so I had to solder them back together again.

It looks awsame at night. During day time I cant see my aircon, but been to lazy to fix this problem yet.

If you read my reply earlier in this post, I actually used some leds from jaycar for my dash leds.
http://ftogpxfs.blogspot.com/
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fto617
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Post by fto617 »

hey guys u dont need to order them online
i found the t10 wide angle from autobarn
and the t5s from motoequip
both made in japan very good quality
and to all u guys
i DO have reverse indiglo dials
and i'm not replacig the LED for dials
i'm changing it for the aircon unit :roll:
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onnzo
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Post by onnzo »

I bought the t10's and t5's from autobarn too.

I am finding that the t5's are not bright enough but the t10's are ok - the bright spots on the climate control are pretty noticeable though...

I'm going to put in an order for the superbright ones.
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Grue
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Post by Grue »

Just wanted to say a BIG thanks to Ruchi for this walkthrough, and the HB3 headlight bulb upgrade post. Not sure if you're still about, but if you are... quality man.

Got my LED's and bulbs today (your recommended) and everything is going great so far.

G


EDIT: Oh, and heavy-duty nail clippers are great for breaking the housings. Like these: :lol: Image
More delicate than pliers, and they actually cut the plastic. Just my 2cents.
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Post by Ther »

scarecrow
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Post by scarecrow »

Sand paper is your friend :)

Take some rough grit (like 60 or something) to the tip of the led's and flatten em out, roughen up the sides aswell and this should give you better diffusion. You could also try sticking the tips with some clear plastic sealant or something... if this fails go nuts with clear cellophane and fill the area infront of the led's with it, get it nice and scrunched up.
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onnzo
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Post by onnzo »

Hi guys,
I've been playing around with the led dash again and have got a nice even colour all around (I used 2 led's to replace each globe)

I got my leds from www.ledsales.com.au (I used the 5mm superbright mega blue ones) they are really cheap at 70c each. Add some resistors at 8c each and cut the tops off a file them down to give nice even colour.

Problem is, when the lights arent on (as in dash/parkers or headlights) my auto transmission lights (as in P, N, , D and 1-4 on the dash) do not work.

However, when I turn on the lights - the transmission indicators work!

Did anyone else have this problem?

Mike
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Ther
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Post by Ther »

What i did is left the standard globe for the park/drive part of the dash and they always light up.
I have the white dials so i thought if i changed that part to blue, first, the park wont light up in Red and the FTO cutout which is also in red wouldnt look good.
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Post by Wraith »

Hi Gals and Guys.
Sorry to dredge up this old thread again but has anyone got those pics at the beginging of the artical of what it looks like?
Thinking of doing this now as a few of my globes have died and want o replace them .
Thanks
Andre'
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Ther
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Post by Ther »

i made a copy of that post but the pics only show you what the bulbs look like....
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Post by Breza »

I have been replacing a few blown globes lately using ruchi's guide. (with a bit of experimenting)

Don't worry about getting the 4 led T10's, the new style wide angle T10's are much brighter than the old ones so just get 5 of those for the speedo/tacho.

I didn't completely strip off the plastic housings on the T10's, just trimmed them down a little with some nail scissors and bent the wires out at 90 deg halfway up the plastic housing and fitted them to the standard bulb holder. (will post a pick when I get time)

I have also tried some blue leds from Jaycar, Supercheap etc etc and they don't seem up to scratch (excessive bright spots) when compared to the stuff from www.ultraleds.co.uk.

Finally, don't try the 6 led T10's..........way too bright. :lol:

Next, I am working on new globes for the mirror controls, electric arial and fog light switches. anyone replaced these yet? I assume they are just a 3mm bulb?

Cheers

Chris
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