Light on Temp gauge flickering???
06-21-07, 12:07 PM
#1
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Light on Temp gauge flickering???
I have a 1993 SC 400 and have noticed over the past few months that my light in the temp gauge seems to be going out. Is this common? Somethines it will light up all of the way and then sometimes only half way. Any help would be great!
06-21-07, 12:23 PM
#3
Im having a simillar problem. As of now, the left third doesnt light up anymore and the rest sometimes flickers when I put the turn signal on. At least the display is still clear and not blacked out.
06-21-07, 01:29 PM
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You could just have the typical bulb burn(ing) out.
There are 8 primary bulbs for the speedo and tach, then numerous, smaller bulbs for the other stuff (e.g., gear position [autos], check engine light, etc...). Remove your cluster (if you don't know how, there are a few good walkthroughs out there, but I'll try if you can't find anything), then check the condition of your bulbs and the surrounding equipment. I would bet that your lighting is yellowish-brown color, which means the blue covers (heat reduction) over the bulbs are burned away.
You can go to your local Lexus dealership and get the part number for the bulbs (8 primary, I think 6 secondary...maybe more), then go to your neighborhood Toyota dealership and ask them to order them. My guy ordered them and they came in a pack of 10, so he gave me a disount to take all of them. Now, my lighting looks sweet with the bluish-green coloration that was intended. There is a bit of lighting fading near the 4 RPM, but that's an engineering thing. You'll be surprised how much better it looks.
Hope this helps.
Let me know if you need a walkthrough for the cluster...it has a decent amount of steps, but its not cosmic.
There are 8 primary bulbs for the speedo and tach, then numerous, smaller bulbs for the other stuff (e.g., gear position [autos], check engine light, etc...). Remove your cluster (if you don't know how, there are a few good walkthroughs out there, but I'll try if you can't find anything), then check the condition of your bulbs and the surrounding equipment. I would bet that your lighting is yellowish-brown color, which means the blue covers (heat reduction) over the bulbs are burned away.
You can go to your local Lexus dealership and get the part number for the bulbs (8 primary, I think 6 secondary...maybe more), then go to your neighborhood Toyota dealership and ask them to order them. My guy ordered them and they came in a pack of 10, so he gave me a disount to take all of them. Now, my lighting looks sweet with the bluish-green coloration that was intended. There is a bit of lighting fading near the 4 RPM, but that's an engineering thing. You'll be surprised how much better it looks.
Hope this helps.
Let me know if you need a walkthrough for the cluster...it has a decent amount of steps, but its not cosmic.
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06-21-07, 09:34 PM
#8
Im pretty sure its the bulbs on my speedo and tach and the color is just as you described. Im debating on a lextech cluster in the future, but Ive learned to live with my phantom guages.
06-22-07, 04:42 AM
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If I can get the cluster steps that would be great. Are there a lot of tools involved? On a scale 1 to 10 how hard is this? 10 begin the worst.
06-22-07, 10:56 AM
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Just as Mitsuguy said. I'll walk you through it (Mitsuguy, feel free to add your 2 cents if I miss anything).
Tools: Philips screwdriver, thick towel and patience
1. Set your steering wheel as low and far out as it'll go.
2. With the keys in the ignition, turn the wheel to the left until you expose the screw on the face of the steering wheel shroud...remove.
3. Remove the two screws on the underside of the shroud (you'll need a long thin screwdriver for these two.
4. Remove shroud.
4. Pull the plastic shelf just below your cluster (the black plastic piece that contains your dimmer switch, etc...), it's just snapped in, then carefully unsnap the wiring from behind...feel free to mark things just in case you forget what goes to what, but it's pretty easy to tell.
5. Lay thick towel over the steering column to avoid scratching the cluster's face.
6. Remove two black screw covers at the top/inside of the cluster.
7. Remove 4 screws (two top & two bottom)....BE CAREFUL its VERY easy to drop the screws and it'll be a pain to find them...this is one of the patient parts.
8. Carefully tilt your cluster down towards you and slowly pull it out as far as the wiring will allow...not far.
9. Unsnap the wiring bundles. They can be pretty hard because there's not much give, so a friend might help here. I had to push down on the center bundles release tab with a small screwdriver.
10. Voila! You've removed your cluster.
11. I took it inside on a cleared-off kitchen table to avoid losing anything. Carefully lay the cluster on a towel on a table and remove the screws that are holding the white back plate in place...you should be able to figure out which ones matter and which ones don't need to be removed.
12. You'll see the cluster's green board with the bulbs twisted in place. Twist about a quarter turn and they should come out fine. Remove old bulbs, install new bulbs with blue heat covers; you might feel the urge to leave them off, but they might be too bright...besides they engineered it with them on, so play it safe, it'll be plenty bright and have that nice bluish-green hue. There are 8 large primary bulbs and I think 8 or more of the smaller ones. Replace whatever you need, but understand that the primary bulbs and the smaller ones are obviously different sizes, so you'll need to have the small ones on hand as well if any of them are burned out.
13. Reverse all previous steps.
14. Turn your car on in a nice dark garage so your bright night lights come on and prepare to be thrilled to death...at least I was.
Let me know if you need any more clarification.
Tools: Philips screwdriver, thick towel and patience
1. Set your steering wheel as low and far out as it'll go.
2. With the keys in the ignition, turn the wheel to the left until you expose the screw on the face of the steering wheel shroud...remove.
3. Remove the two screws on the underside of the shroud (you'll need a long thin screwdriver for these two.
4. Remove shroud.
4. Pull the plastic shelf just below your cluster (the black plastic piece that contains your dimmer switch, etc...), it's just snapped in, then carefully unsnap the wiring from behind...feel free to mark things just in case you forget what goes to what, but it's pretty easy to tell.
5. Lay thick towel over the steering column to avoid scratching the cluster's face.
6. Remove two black screw covers at the top/inside of the cluster.
7. Remove 4 screws (two top & two bottom)....BE CAREFUL its VERY easy to drop the screws and it'll be a pain to find them...this is one of the patient parts.
8. Carefully tilt your cluster down towards you and slowly pull it out as far as the wiring will allow...not far.
9. Unsnap the wiring bundles. They can be pretty hard because there's not much give, so a friend might help here. I had to push down on the center bundles release tab with a small screwdriver.
10. Voila! You've removed your cluster.
11. I took it inside on a cleared-off kitchen table to avoid losing anything. Carefully lay the cluster on a towel on a table and remove the screws that are holding the white back plate in place...you should be able to figure out which ones matter and which ones don't need to be removed.
12. You'll see the cluster's green board with the bulbs twisted in place. Twist about a quarter turn and they should come out fine. Remove old bulbs, install new bulbs with blue heat covers; you might feel the urge to leave them off, but they might be too bright...besides they engineered it with them on, so play it safe, it'll be plenty bright and have that nice bluish-green hue. There are 8 large primary bulbs and I think 8 or more of the smaller ones. Replace whatever you need, but understand that the primary bulbs and the smaller ones are obviously different sizes, so you'll need to have the small ones on hand as well if any of them are burned out.
13. Reverse all previous steps.
14. Turn your car on in a nice dark garage so your bright night lights come on and prepare to be thrilled to death...at least I was.
Let me know if you need any more clarification.
Last edited by GaDawg; 06-22-07 at 11:00 AM.
06-22-07, 11:16 AM
#12
Just as Mitsuguy said. I'll walk you through it (Mitsuguy, feel free to add your 2 cents if I miss anything).
Tools: Philips screwdriver, thick towel and patience
1. Set your steering wheel as low and far out as it'll go.
2. With the keys in the ignition, turn the wheel to the left until you expose the screw on the face of the steering wheel shroud...remove.
3. Remove the two screws on the underside of the shroud (you'll need a long thin screwdriver for these two.
4. Remove shroud.
4. Pull the plastic shelf just below your cluster (the black plastic piece that contains your dimmer switch, etc...), it's just snapped in, then carefully unsnap the wiring from behind...feel free to mark things just in case you forget what goes to what, but it's pretty easy to tell.
5. Lay thick towel over the steering column to avoid scratching the cluster's face.
6. Remove two black screw covers at the top/inside of the cluster.
7. Remove 4 screws (two top & two bottom)....BE CAREFUL its VERY easy to drop the screws and it'll be a pain to find them...this is one of the patient parts.
8. Carefully tilt your cluster down towards you and slowly pull it out as far as the wiring will allow...not far.
9. Unsnap the wiring bundles. They can be pretty hard because there's not much give, so a friend might help here. I had to push down on the center bundles release tab with a small screwdriver.
10. Voila! You've removed your cluster.
11. I took it inside on a cleared-off kitchen table to avoid losing anything. Carefully lay the cluster on a towel on a table and remove the screws that are holding the white back plate in place...you should be able to figure out which ones matter and which ones don't need to be removed.
12. You'll see the cluster's green board with the bulbs twisted in place. Twist about a quarter turn and they should come out fine. Remove old bulbs, install new bulbs with blue heat covers; you might feel the urge to leave them off, but they might be too bright...besides they engineered it with them on, so play it safe, it'll be plenty bright and have that nice bluish-green hue. There are 8 large primary bulbs and I think 8 or more of the smaller ones. Replace whatever you need, but understand that the primary bulbs and the smaller ones are obviously different sizes, so you'll need to have the small ones on hand as well if any of them are burned out.
13. Reverse all previous steps.
14. Turn your car on in a nice dark garage so your bright night lights come on and prepare to be thrilled to death...at least I was.
Let me know if you need any more clarification.
Tools: Philips screwdriver, thick towel and patience
1. Set your steering wheel as low and far out as it'll go.
2. With the keys in the ignition, turn the wheel to the left until you expose the screw on the face of the steering wheel shroud...remove.
3. Remove the two screws on the underside of the shroud (you'll need a long thin screwdriver for these two.
4. Remove shroud.
4. Pull the plastic shelf just below your cluster (the black plastic piece that contains your dimmer switch, etc...), it's just snapped in, then carefully unsnap the wiring from behind...feel free to mark things just in case you forget what goes to what, but it's pretty easy to tell.
5. Lay thick towel over the steering column to avoid scratching the cluster's face.
6. Remove two black screw covers at the top/inside of the cluster.
7. Remove 4 screws (two top & two bottom)....BE CAREFUL its VERY easy to drop the screws and it'll be a pain to find them...this is one of the patient parts.
8. Carefully tilt your cluster down towards you and slowly pull it out as far as the wiring will allow...not far.
9. Unsnap the wiring bundles. They can be pretty hard because there's not much give, so a friend might help here. I had to push down on the center bundles release tab with a small screwdriver.
10. Voila! You've removed your cluster.
11. I took it inside on a cleared-off kitchen table to avoid losing anything. Carefully lay the cluster on a towel on a table and remove the screws that are holding the white back plate in place...you should be able to figure out which ones matter and which ones don't need to be removed.
12. You'll see the cluster's green board with the bulbs twisted in place. Twist about a quarter turn and they should come out fine. Remove old bulbs, install new bulbs with blue heat covers; you might feel the urge to leave them off, but they might be too bright...besides they engineered it with them on, so play it safe, it'll be plenty bright and have that nice bluish-green hue. There are 8 large primary bulbs and I think 8 or more of the smaller ones. Replace whatever you need, but understand that the primary bulbs and the smaller ones are obviously different sizes, so you'll need to have the small ones on hand as well if any of them are burned out.
13. Reverse all previous steps.
14. Turn your car on in a nice dark garage so your bright night lights come on and prepare to be thrilled to death...at least I was.
Let me know if you need any more clarification.
06-22-07, 06:32 PM
#13
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I followed PlanetSoarer's instructions and it worked, but its nice to know I don't have to take the shroud off, that actually turned into a pain aligning the screws when putting it back together.
