i originally was going to do the "blue electrical tape trick" but it wasn't the color or brightness i was trying to get. so i thought of an idea 2 use an led bulb as a replacement, and it was the color and brightness i wanted 2 achieve all along, and it works. so ima share with y'al how to do this mod.
the end result:
supplies needed:
-400 AND 600 grit sandpaper. (u'll b lucky 2 find 600 grit sandpaper at wal mart, so the only place u can get it will HAVE 2 b at ur local auto store)
-#74 led bulb (your choice of color) off of vleds.com or ebay.com
-needle-nose pliers
-7mm socket or whatever wrench that can take out ur bolts 2 ur gauge cluster
-a small torx bit or torx bit screwdriver (lol, don't know the size exactly, sorry)
-some tape
-flat-tip screwdriver
-thin razor blade or anything with a thin, razor-sharp edge
1ST: ok, go to 2 vleds.com and look for LED 74 BULBS. it should already be on the home page. then just choose your color and proceed from there. here's the link if you should run into any problems: http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/index.php
2ND: after receiving your PAIR of the led bulbs, go to your dash and un screw the bolts from the gauge dash console with a 7mm screwdriver or whatever gets the job done,lol.
3RD:after unscrewing that, then unscrew the bolts next to the gauges with same size screwdriver (they're all the same saze bolts)
4TH: then pull the gauges towards you so that you can reach the wiring harness connected to the back of the gauges. un hook the black clip holding the harness either with your fingers or with a screwdriver, but be careful when your using a screwdriver. you don't want to hurt yourself in the process
5TH: after that, unclip the black clips attached to the gauges.
6TH: ok, now get ur torx bit screwdriver or key that will fit into the three screws holes. and just unscrew those.
7TH: now remove the gauges themselves like so.
8TH: now, gently pop out/remove the black clip surrounding the LCD screen. BE SENSITIVE WHEN DOING THIS. don't jerk on the black clip when your removing it or DON'T EVEN TRY 2 BENT THE LCD SCREEN. remember the screen is made out of glass so be sensitive to it and take your time. it's easy 2 remove TRUST ME, so don't give up if you gotten it out yet, your halfway into the process.
9TH: now this is the only tricky part out of the entire thing so follow me on this. now on the back of the lCD screen there's a white surface. now get ur thin razor-sharp edge or razor blade and get in between the glass and the white backing surface. like i've said BE GENTLE AND TAKE YOUR TIME.
now the entire LCD screen can move a little bit thanks to you removing the black clip, so you'll be able to have a little more leverage and room 2 work with when peeling off the white backing.
10TH: alright, now that you have removed the white backing now it's time to sand it down
11TH: ok now flip it to its back side and starting sanding it with your 400 grit sand paper. your should start to see some green/sliver being sanded off. if u don't see this after a while, flip it (only do this if you forgot which side is which).
now after you have sand off everything, get your 600 grit sand paper and wet it a lil' bit. now start to sand off the excess greenish color until it's white.
12Th: now go to your gauge cluster....
.....and flip it over. now look for this gray bulb holder......
and unscrew it with your pliers, fingers or whatever gets the job done.
13TH: now replace the old bulb with your new bulb.
now the bulb, which i've learned at the time, is not same size as ur tiny, old bulb thus meaning it's not going to be a direct fit. so don't push it all the way down otherwise you can't fit it back into the hole you got it from. so what you'll need to do is shove it HALFWAY into the gray bulb holder and tape it on sides to hold it on. use whatever tape is available to you. it's ok to tape it on the sides of the led bulb itself, the light isn't going to shine through that part only through the top.
(this pic is the bulb before the tape was applied on)
14TH: now you can slide in the white backing back into its place and re-attach the black clip onto the LCD screen.
15TH: now stick in the led bulb with its gray holder and twist it into place. now DON'T put everything back into place just yet. go to your car and connect back the wiring harness to your cluster as is. now turn on your headlights (you don't need to start the car or enter your keys for this). this is to test if the led blub is working. if it is, congrats now you can go back and install everything back.
*now if the bulb is not working, take it out and flip over the connector ends of the led bulb. this just only means that you connected the bulb in the wrong position (+ and -), and which is ok, nothing has gone wrong. look at the example below:
and if you can't seem to get it into place undo the tape and stick out the bulb a bit more out of the gray bulb holder so that you can get it to fit inside its hole of the gauge cluster.
16TH: after seeing your led light bulb works, now you re-attach everything back to their places and your end result should look like this, if you have the right set up:
and that's it. i tried to make this project simple and as clear as possible. it doesn't take less than a hour to do and it's really not that hard. if you have any questions just let me know. ill be glad to anwser them. also i would really like to see everyone's end results as well. so if u dont mind just post a few pics of urs on here, that would be great.
the end result:
supplies needed:
-400 AND 600 grit sandpaper. (u'll b lucky 2 find 600 grit sandpaper at wal mart, so the only place u can get it will HAVE 2 b at ur local auto store)
-#74 led bulb (your choice of color) off of vleds.com or ebay.com
-needle-nose pliers
-7mm socket or whatever wrench that can take out ur bolts 2 ur gauge cluster
-a small torx bit or torx bit screwdriver (lol, don't know the size exactly, sorry)
-some tape
-flat-tip screwdriver
-thin razor blade or anything with a thin, razor-sharp edge
1ST: ok, go to 2 vleds.com and look for LED 74 BULBS. it should already be on the home page. then just choose your color and proceed from there. here's the link if you should run into any problems: http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/index.php
2ND: after receiving your PAIR of the led bulbs, go to your dash and un screw the bolts from the gauge dash console with a 7mm screwdriver or whatever gets the job done,lol.
3RD:after unscrewing that, then unscrew the bolts next to the gauges with same size screwdriver (they're all the same saze bolts)
4TH: then pull the gauges towards you so that you can reach the wiring harness connected to the back of the gauges. un hook the black clip holding the harness either with your fingers or with a screwdriver, but be careful when your using a screwdriver. you don't want to hurt yourself in the process
5TH: after that, unclip the black clips attached to the gauges.
6TH: ok, now get ur torx bit screwdriver or key that will fit into the three screws holes. and just unscrew those.
7TH: now remove the gauges themselves like so.
8TH: now, gently pop out/remove the black clip surrounding the LCD screen. BE SENSITIVE WHEN DOING THIS. don't jerk on the black clip when your removing it or DON'T EVEN TRY 2 BENT THE LCD SCREEN. remember the screen is made out of glass so be sensitive to it and take your time. it's easy 2 remove TRUST ME, so don't give up if you gotten it out yet, your halfway into the process.
9TH: now this is the only tricky part out of the entire thing so follow me on this. now on the back of the lCD screen there's a white surface. now get ur thin razor-sharp edge or razor blade and get in between the glass and the white backing surface. like i've said BE GENTLE AND TAKE YOUR TIME.
now the entire LCD screen can move a little bit thanks to you removing the black clip, so you'll be able to have a little more leverage and room 2 work with when peeling off the white backing.
10TH: alright, now that you have removed the white backing now it's time to sand it down
11TH: ok now flip it to its back side and starting sanding it with your 400 grit sand paper. your should start to see some green/sliver being sanded off. if u don't see this after a while, flip it (only do this if you forgot which side is which).
now after you have sand off everything, get your 600 grit sand paper and wet it a lil' bit. now start to sand off the excess greenish color until it's white.
12Th: now go to your gauge cluster....
.....and flip it over. now look for this gray bulb holder......
and unscrew it with your pliers, fingers or whatever gets the job done.
13TH: now replace the old bulb with your new bulb.
now the bulb, which i've learned at the time, is not same size as ur tiny, old bulb thus meaning it's not going to be a direct fit. so don't push it all the way down otherwise you can't fit it back into the hole you got it from. so what you'll need to do is shove it HALFWAY into the gray bulb holder and tape it on sides to hold it on. use whatever tape is available to you. it's ok to tape it on the sides of the led bulb itself, the light isn't going to shine through that part only through the top.
(this pic is the bulb before the tape was applied on)
14TH: now you can slide in the white backing back into its place and re-attach the black clip onto the LCD screen.
15TH: now stick in the led bulb with its gray holder and twist it into place. now DON'T put everything back into place just yet. go to your car and connect back the wiring harness to your cluster as is. now turn on your headlights (you don't need to start the car or enter your keys for this). this is to test if the led blub is working. if it is, congrats now you can go back and install everything back.
*now if the bulb is not working, take it out and flip over the connector ends of the led bulb. this just only means that you connected the bulb in the wrong position (+ and -), and which is ok, nothing has gone wrong. look at the example below:
and if you can't seem to get it into place undo the tape and stick out the bulb a bit more out of the gray bulb holder so that you can get it to fit inside its hole of the gauge cluster.
16TH: after seeing your led light bulb works, now you re-attach everything back to their places and your end result should look like this, if you have the right set up:
and that's it. i tried to make this project simple and as clear as possible. it doesn't take less than a hour to do and it's really not that hard. if you have any questions just let me know. ill be glad to anwser them. also i would really like to see everyone's end results as well. so if u dont mind just post a few pics of urs on here, that would be great.