shinta007

I have a 1993 Lexus ES 300 that has failing instrument needles. I have been reviewing the forums in search of information about replacement of the needles, and have seen many posts state that the needles themselves can't easily be replaced without an entire new or refurb column or guage assembly. I have also seen the DIY guides for soldering in new LED's as a cheap fixer, but those methods aren't acceptable at this time. I haven't done any soldering in years and I don't want to risk damaging anything in the soldering process. I would also like the needles to illuminate in their original fashion of full-length illumination instead of the end-only illumination as seen in the DIY guide.

My question right now is, where can the needles be repaired or replaced at a managable cost without having to purchase an entire cluster? Just the needle LED's are failing, nothing else, so I see it a huge waste of money to replace the rest when it's not needed. Are there any members who have the ability to properly repair the needles to illuminate fully? If not, does anyone know where they can be sent in for repair or replacement along those lines and NOT require a $200+ repair bill?

tuan92129

The needles themselves are easy to replace, just take out the unite, remove the tinted plastic cover and pull out the needle.
The hard part is finding a replacement needle. You might have luck finding one on ebay..but you'll end up with the same problem again b/c these needles have a certain lifespan.

Lextech might be a solution, but you'd have to send in the entire guage unite for the needles to be redone.

Lexucan

I think your options are very limited if you want the needles to be fully illuminated again, and $200 is over your budget. It would cost at least that much to have them repaired at lextech.org (in Tennessee) considering that you would be not only paying for the needle repairs but also the cost of shipping your entire instrument cluster there and back again (you can't just send them your needles). And as far as I know, no member on this site (or any other that I am aware of) has come up with a way to fully illuminate the burnt out needles on the 2nd generation ES300. The problem is, the original LEDs inside the needles were specially made to be very light. There was no circuit board involved. They were all molded together in a rubber-like shell. Very hard to duplicate without dramatically increasing the weight. Hence, the one-LED solution at the tips of the needles. It's easy to do, and illuminates the needles sufficiently enough to read the gauges clearly. Admittedly, they aren't as attractive as the original, fully illuminated needles were when they all worked, but they do get the job done.
I think maybe your only other option is to buy used but still working needles to replace your dead ones. But as tuan92129 has stated, you won't have any way of knowing how long they will last before they too burn out and die, leaving you back where you started.

shinta007

Thanks for the replies. I guess having the single-LED installation would be ok, at least I can then see the needles at night and know I'm not bound for a speeding ticket. I'd have to search around for a mechanic that could do the work properly, as I'm not comfortable with doing it myself.

There are so many problems with my car right now, and adding up all of the repair costs has come to a fee higher than the blue book value of the car itself. Maybe I should just let this car rest in peace and look for a new one.

tuan92129

lextech lighting solutions repair for yellow needles is only $99 + shipping

Lexucan

$99 + shipping there + shipping back + insurance?