Lexucan

I think that was their problem - they didn't dissipate heat very well, hence they burned out prematurely.

No, I didn't really spend any time reverse-engineering how the old LED strips were connected.

Sounds like a very interesting experiment. The blue LEDs are not likely to appear blue though through the opaque amber colored lens of the needles. They will more likely have a greenish color to them.
Where did you find the strips of 1mm LEDs?
I hope you'll keep us updated on the project.

lex2001

Lexucan,

Thanks for the response. I guess time will tell on the lifespan of the new needles.

The amber portion of the needle came out pretty easily with a Dremel tool. I purchased the LED strip on Ebay. I plan on replacing the amber with a clear plastic. If all goes well I should have this project completed in two weeks. I will give an update along with pics and details of the process if I am successful.

This is a salute to your ingenuity. Without your initial post and DIY I wouldn't even have attempted this.

RJ-94es300

that is way sick man and i have a 94 es that looks just like yours before you redid all that and i was bout to look into the cluster so i am glad i didnt and i hope it aint to hard for what you did cuz i think i am goin to try it but i dont know much bout wiring

tuan92129

http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate...rUrl=Translate
FINALLY. A DIY for replacing the entire needle lighting.
I found this through the Windom Owner's club links, and did a Yahoo Babel Translation. Can we have someone actually translate the DIY to English along with the parts used?
Interesting photos:
-The inside needle LED's

Circuit Board for Needle

New Needle assembly

lex2001

Tuan,

Your link doesn't go to the needle fix.

sintox

I would also paint the needles white.

Slick_Rick

Finally got around to ordering my parts on eBay today and cant wait till they come in so I can get my cluster looking pimp.

I got #74 Super WHITE Wedge Base LED Bulbs 12V(Wasn't feeling the blue as much)

And I checked out mouser.com for the Needle LEDs (.20cent a piece)

Face gonna glow on the highway boy!!

Ill post pics of the cluster when I finish my project.

basketthis

I think what Tuan was trying to link to was this: (Same link, read instructions)
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate...rUrl=Translate
You have to go to the bottom and click "It returns"
Then, click "DIY"
Then select which DIY you would like to see.

It's really hard to try and understand. Even with the English translation it can be very difficult to understand one paragraph.

basketthis

BTW, I am also very interested in getting my cluster lights back in working order... I would prefer to fix the whole thing if possible.

ray92es

Lexicon, the writeup you did was very good. I do have a question though. why did you only use 1 led instead of more? With just the tip lit, it would seem hard to read. I would think 3 would be enough, you could eliminate 1 of the resistors.

basketthis

Oh yeah, and Lex, this is an awesome writeup!!! Thanks. I might even try this because any other way looks unreliable.

Lexucan

Thanks. The reason I used only one LED per needle was mainly for the sake of simplicity and practicality. I wanted a DIY that pretty well anyone could do and that wouldn't take a long time to complete. One LED is easy, but the more LEDs added, the more time consuming and complicated the project would become. Then you would have to wire the LEDs together and somehow keep them from moving. That would probably require the use of some form of tiny circuit board. This was not something I thought would be practical or necessary. And also, the factory needles incorporated a specially engineered string of LEDs which allowed them to be illuminated evenly along the length of the needle. To try to duplicate this look with "store bought" LEDs would be very very complicated (if not impossible) to achieve. It would require dozens of individual LEDs strung together end to end so that they are touching each other inside each needle, not to mention the necessary resistors. If there was any space between the LEDs the end result would be an odd looking needle with darker and lighter blotches of light along it. If anyone can come up with an easy DIY for incorporating multiple LEDs, more power to them.
In broad daylight the gauges are easy to read with the one LED per needle. At night the illumination is even better. The important part is the location of the LED. Seeing the tip of the needles is what's most important for accurately reading the gauges. Having the whole needle illuminated does not make reading of the gauges any easier or more accurate, it just looks a little flashier.
My reason for using two resistors instead of one per needle was to better dissipate the heat generated by the circuit. Two 330 ohm resistors are much happier and less prone to failure over a long period of time than one 680 ohm resistor.
I hope this answers your question.

Lexucan

Thanks for the comment. It's been more than two years since I did this project on my ES and all the needles are still lit up just fine, so I guess that would indicate that it is a pretty reliable fix.

basketthis

Now, not to discredit you or anything, but I'm curious. Ppl are saying that the needles are sagging below the normal 0mph/E fuel/0rpm levels. Is that true with this fix?
Oh. And, I've seen some ppl have to recalibrate/replace the gauge cluster after trying such a fix. Is it really that hard to put the needles back on and have them work properly? If you put one on wrong can you take it off and realign it, then put it back on and have no problems? I really just want mine to read correctly once I'm done. Probably the same concerns many have had.... If anyone can give me some insight on the chances of really leaving this cluster unusable, that would be great.

P.S. Between about 0-20 mph my mph needle bounces up and down. ie: Seems to get stuck at first, then bounces to about 12mph, drops to 7mph, seems to get stuck again, then bounces up to about 16, might get stuck again, and so on, until I'm about 20mph. It seems to work fine after 20mph or so. That was just an example, it is doing very similar motions to what I have explained. My story just may not be exact. But, I have not been in the gauge cluster yet and I'm thinking that this is a factory problem. It has been going on for a while now. I'll probably have to start my own thread. I was thinking about changing the transmission fluid because it is a little jumpy/rough when switching gears and maybe that would help...

Lexucan

It is necessary sometimes to adjust the needles to the correct position when they are put back on. If they are reading high, then adjust them lower and vice versa. This is simply a case of pulling the needle off again, rotating it in the appropriate direction, and putting it back on.

I don't recall hearing of anyone having to replace their whole cluster after doing this DIY. There have been one or two cases where one of the gauges was not functioning properly, but AFAIK, it had nothing to do with the DIY itself. And I recall a case where someone did the DIY and then had to readjust one or two needle positions but pushed one of them back on much too forcefully and ended up damaging the gauge. But by exercising some care and common sense when doing the work, I think most mishaps such as that can be avoided. The gauges are delicate so they have to be treated gently, but as far as I know, there haven't been many problems with doing this fix and I've received lots of positive feedback about the results. But, at the end of the day, to attempt the fix or not is up to the individual.