How To - LED Dash Bulbs

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How To - LED Dash Bulbs

Post by Gizmo »

First! youll need some bulbs, after looking on some other sites about LED bulbs, i chose some bulbs that had 3 LED's.

Youll need 3xT6.5's and 3xT5's, These can be bought from ebay, for as little as £10 for the lot.

First remove the Dials, there are 4 screws holding the cover one, 2 under the dails either side of the steering wheel, and 2 behind some clips behind the cover, youll need a stubby screw driver to remove these, as they are pain! once loose, unplug the Hazard switch and other buttons, There are then another 4 screws.

Image

Once removed, unplug the speedo cable, and the 2 other plugs that are connected to the dials.

Once removed, locate the bulbs that need to be changed

Image

T6.5 3xLED
Image

T5 LED
Image

(Following 2 pics borrowed from civiclife)
Image
Image

Next bit is the bit that took the longest! the bulbs need to be in an exact way other wise they wont work! the way i did this, i plugged the dials back into the car with the 2 plugs (dont plug the speedo in) and get a cover of some sort (Jumper will do) one by one, take a bulb, put it into place, turn the sidelights on, then cover the dials to see if its lit up, if not, take it out, and turn the holder 180 degrees and re-try, if it doesnt work again, remove the holder, take out the bulb and rotate it 180 degrees in the holder, then re-try the holder and light again.

ill be honest and say i ordered the wrong bulbs, as the T6.5 should be T10 (or sidelight bulbs) but they dont come in the 3LED layout and can cause hotspots (Spots on the dials appear better lit that others)

I used T6.5 instead of T10, and have no issues.

After all the bulbs are working, re-assemble the dash.

and enjoy!

Before
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After
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Both pictures taken at night :)
Last edited by Gizmo on Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Dan »

nice write up - the difference is awesome :top:
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Post by Optimus »

Looks great, and its a mod thats in my price range! :lol:

Do you have a link for where you bought the LEDs from?
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Post by Gizmo »

Link to the seller - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/warden-jp2002

Just thought id clear something up!

I bought the T6.5 and T5 Bulbs following a How-to for an EK Cluster, when i took my dails apart, i realised (the 3 big ones) were T10 Size (Sidelight Bulbs), i initially thought "Bugger, they wont fit", so i was determined to get them to work, as i couldnt find any 3LED T10, so i used the T6.5 in the T10 Sized holes.

So i got them center and slotted them in, and it worked, and i glad it did as they look spot on and have no hotspots :wink:
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Post by Oldskool J-EDM »

Awsome stuff Gizmo....I know what I am going to be doing next! 8)
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Post by Gizmo »

only the other day i first drove the car at nite.

Only thing im not happy about is they are kinda "blue", no idea why, i ordered Xenon White, Hum.

But still 100% better
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Post by Dan »

the xenon white tend to have blue tint to them - was the same when I had some in my sidelights - looked stupid next to my dull sir headlights!
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Post by merce »

i tried this with some prism 4 led bulbs a while back - it would have looked great only some parts were brighter than others.

Perhaps it is the bulbs you are using??? :roll:
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Post by Gizmo »

i have 1 hotspot around where it says 7000-8000rpm.

This is because i used a different bulb, i used a T5 Single LED' bulb there, which are alot whiter and bright, however, the over 3 bulbs with the 3 LED's on have no hotspots, and it looks good!
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Post by merce »

Also the early spec CRX only has 4 bulb holsters.

I will give it another go though. 8)
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Post by Gizmo »

just an update, been installed for a fair few weeks, and the nice, bright white they used to be, has tinted to a blue colour!

still looks beter than OEM, but its a shame :cry:
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Post by Adam »

Gizmo wrote:just an update, been installed for a fair few weeks, and the nice, bright white they used to be, has tinted to a blue colour!

still looks beter than OEM, but its a shame :cry:
I think that's how the xenon's go after a while mate, still for a tenner you could always freshen them up? :lol:

Nice write up by the way fella :top:
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Post by stu36 »

that looks well good. i have to ask why is 55mph highlited on the dials?
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Post by Gizmo »

i have no clue, cant remember ny DX having that though, or the GL?

Anyone elses have it?
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Post by m@rk »

how you split the bulb from the plastic holder????????????
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