Dash light bulbs - LED replacement

[four_by_ken]

four_by - I just shined a flashlight at the cluster to see the colors...not all those lights come on when you want them to!

Yes, I am aware of that. Just that all I have that DOES come on during normal driving is by the heater controls and the left turn signal. the wait light, water in filter, gen 1, gen 2 and oil light all come on at ignition. The right turn signal and the gauge lights are out all the time. So, I guess that it isnt THAT bad. Just that when driving at night... it seems worse.

I just feel that when I have the dash apart to fix a couple plus bulbs... why not fix them all and fix them all good so that I dont have to do it again.

 

[panama]

Well just as another note on dash lights...I could not find the contact sockets anywhere but NAPA (in Miami). They are [FONT=&quot]NAPA part # LS6501.
[/FONT]

 

[Warthog]

And, from this picture... whats with the fuel gauge bulb? Looks different from all the others?

Hey at least some people read my posts and look at the pictures.....
This is the picture I posted when I was troubleshooting my cluster.

There are no blubs specifically for the Fuel Guage. The three items for the guage are the press in sockets that power the guage itself. I will take a picture of a spare guage tonight and post it.

The fuel guage gets it light from the Instrument Cluster bulb in the center and the upper left bulbs in the picture.

The speedo gets its light from the center bulb and the upper right bulb in the picture.

The low coolant sopcket just happens to be grey instead of black. It must have been changed sometime in its life.

 

[Warthog]

....... The right turn signal and the gauge lights are out all the time. So, I guess that it isnt THAT bad. Just that when driving at night... it seems worse.

I just feel that when I have the dash apart to fix a couple plus bulbs... why not fix them all and fix them all good so that I dont have to do it again.

The turn signal bulbs and the dash light bulbs share the same ground. You may have a bad connection somewhere in the ground circuit on the circuit board

When you are trobleshooting your cluster, look very closely at the bulbs holders and the printer circuit board.

The bulb holders can get corroded and not make contact. The circuit bourd also can get corroded.

I cleaned both with some fine steel wool and a pencil eraser.

Also check that the sockets are making good contact with the circuit board. You may need to bend the metal tab out on the socket so it will make good contact.

Another potential trouble spot is the housing itself. If the bulbs get too hot they will heat the housing and cause it to distort, allowing the sockets NOT to make good contact.

I fixed mine by useing a heat source (heat gun) to SLIGHTLY heat the plastic and bend it back into shape. I then used a small file to flatten it. Make sure you do not OVER HEAT the housing.

 

[4bogginchevys]

LED's

4boggin - You are right. I am out of the country now so the truck is enjoying the Miami sunshine without me. I'll snap picks when I get back...I just wish I had take "before" pics.

How bout' those pics......
I want to make this upgrade and i'd like to see what I'll be ujpgrading to. Thanks.

 

[panama]

Very soon, 4boggin, very soon. Dash is apart again to replace speedo/perform maint on cable housing. You know how it is...always something on these old trucks!

 

[panama]

Ok Guys - Here a few pics that I took of the dash as taken apart.

I repainted the gauge/light mount gloss white.
Painted the inner bezel black and the backside of it as metallic as possible.
All this was done to reflect as much light as possible into the illumination recesses to give as much light to the speedo and fuel gauges as possible.
I buffed 25 years of scratches (as best I could) off the lens assy with rubbing compound. It turned out much better than it was. (but I would not go so far as to say it turned out GREAT).
While it was out I scrubbed and painted the dash bezel with trim paint (and just masked off the BO light sticker)...THAT turned our GREAT!
My new speedo got here today so I will be putting it all back together soon. I'll take night time illumination pics. Maybe somebody will provide "stock" photos as "before" pictures.

 

[Warren Lovell]

Okay, did my dash lite to led change. Not really worth the effort. The change isn't really that noticeable. I was hoping to make the speedo brighter, but from where the bulb is placed - it really doesn't make much of a difference.

Then! The back of my ammeter touched my column shifter and sparked. Now my ammeter is dead and my left generator light won't go out. HELP! what did i blow? Is it just the gauge? I checked all the fuses and they aren't blown. Did i hurt the alternator?

 

[Buckmaw]

Okay, did my dash lite to led change. Not really worth the effort. The change isn't really that noticeable. I was hoping to make the speedo brighter, but from where the bulb is placed - it really doesn't make much of a difference.

Then! The back of my ammeter touched my column shifter and sparked. Now my ammeter is dead and my left generator light won't go out. HELP! what did i blow? Is it just the gauge? I checked all the fuses and they aren't blown. Did i hurt the alternator?

I put blue lights in my dash. They were not bright enough... so... I took come contact cement and aluminum foil and coated the areas around the lights with foil to add a reflector. I also put some on the rear of the speedo and fuel gauge. This was the trick. It works great and is plenty bright but with a blue tint...

As for your alt, put a meter on it.

 

[kassim503]

Then! The back of my ammeter touched my column shifter and sparked. Now my ammeter is dead and my left generator light won't go out. HELP!...

You probably didnt hurt the alternator, unless the engine was running at the time. I am banking on the wire that runs from the alternator to the gauge is cooked. Have you lost any accessories that where tied to the gauge, if they where tied in? (lights, fan, etc)

Dont go and jump the wire blindly though, ensure you have 12V+ at the alternator post, if you dont test sections of wires with a ohmmeter from the alternator back to the ammeter. If there is voltage everywhere, try jumping the two hot connections on the back of the ammeter, the post may have forced current through the ammeter cooking it, and opening the circuit from alternator to battery.

 

[4bogginchevys]

isn't one of the relays next to the starter solenoid tied to the voltmeter....problem could be there

 

[panama]

I agree with 4boggin. I have sparked my truck many times with no apparent ill effects. As a matter of fact I did just as you have while replacing my voltmeters (I have a 24v and a 12v). It was indeed the 10 amp Voltmeter fuse fuse that was blown. 4boggin is also correct about the relays on the panel with the starter relay. One is the GEN 2 and one is for the voltmeter...GOOD LUCK!

 

[Warren Lovell]

This is ALL 4 by Kens fault!!! If he had just left his instrument panel alone, I wouldn't have went into mine...ehehe

Thanks Panama and 4boggin...where are the panel relays located?

Warren

 

[pinwormfood]

hey guys, just wondering if you can use the dimmer to "dim" l.e.d.s or are they only an "off/on" deal?

 

[m376x6]

Used these folks before, and a couple of others when I converted the M37 from 24 to 12.

www.autolumination.com Tail Light Brake Light Turn Signal LED Bulbs

Regards,
M376X6

 

[Warren Lovell]

You might encounter problems with the gen lites not going out after starting your engine if you use leds in the gen lites. This happened to me.

I thought everything was fine, the gen lites came on when I tuned the ignition, but wouldn't go out when the truck was running. Changed leds to 194 bulbs and problem went away. Might not be an issue with the multiple led bulbs, but I dont know.

 

[Ken_86gt]

Do not change your gen bulbs, it will change the way the charging circuit works. It is designed to be used with real bulbs.

 

[dstang97]

hey guys, just wondering if you can use the dimmer to "dim" l.e.d.s or are they only an "off/on" deal?

Ditto

 

[topgun217]

Need to see pics with the dash light s"on" I know I'm not the only person wanting to see what they look like.

 

[topgun217]

Pics, pics, pics! show us the PICS!