How to: - 2nd Gen Gauge Cluster Removal and LED Conversion V2 | Page 10 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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How to: 2nd Gen Gauge Cluster Removal and LED Conversion V2

Prefix for threads which are instructional.
This is my second and hopefully much more helpful writeup on converting the 95-01 gauge cluster to LEDs. I have tried 3 different types of 12v wedge based 194 replacements and I have finally found the one that puts out enough light and lights up the cluster evenly.

Here were my candidates.
From Left to Right: Inverted Wedge LED, Refractor LED, SMD LEDs
100_1393.jpg

The Results

Inverted Wedge LED: Even Light output, but not bright enough

Refractor LED: Horribly Uneven light output, Short Lifespan (they started blowing on me)

SMD (Surface Mount Diode): Even Light output and very bright (brighter the the 194LL Bulbs)

100_1396.jpg


Getting to the cluster:

Step 1
Remove the Radio
100_1375.jpg


Step 2
Remove the 2 screws (circled in red)
Disconnect the 5 wiring harness behind the bezel (circled in blue)
100_1376-1.jpg

100_1377.jpg


Step 3
Remove the 4 screws holding the plastic panel in place. (2 are hidden under the hood release) Then pull back on the top of the panel ( it is held in by clips)
100_1378-1.jpg


Step 4
Remove the 3 bolts holding the metal shield in place
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Step 5
Remove the 2 screws at the bottom of the gauge bezel (note the wiring harness locations circled in blue)
100_1383.jpg


Step 6
Remove the 3 screws at the top of the gauge bezel
100_1384.jpg


Step 7
Pull out the bezel enough to disconnect the 3 wiring harnesses. (Headlight Switch, Dimmer, and Rear Parking Assist) Then Remove the bezel. (Shifter must be in 1st gear)
100_1385.jpg


Step 8
Remove the 4 screws holding in the Gauge Cluster
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100_1387.jpg


Step 9
Tilt the Cluster back and remove the Shift Indicator from the cluster, there are 2 plastic tabs that must be held on each side to remove the indicator.
Disconnect the 3 wiring harness from behind the cluster, then remove the Cluster
100_1388.jpg

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Now Hopefully You are holding your Instrument Cluster and can go on to the fun part.

Remove the 6 back light bulbs from the cluster. (Circled in Red)
( I also highly recommend you also remove the THEFT light LED so you don't risk blowing it like I did when I was trying to figure out how to bench test the cluster)
The PC board on the back of the cluster is flexible so you can carefully pull the contacts where the wiring harnesses attach out of the sockets so you can attach alligator clips to bench test.
(The white wires are the - and the RED and GREEN are +)
100_1392.jpg


Here are the LEDs in the sockets. ( I used a bit of hot glue to make sure they didn't come out)
100_1390.jpg


I apologize for not having a night shot of the final product, but the camera I have with me is an absolute noise box and takes terrible low light pics. When I get back my Canon ill get some pics.

Good Luck!
 



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Well it has been a long time since i have been back to the site but I am planning up doing a version 3.0 soon. After a few years of flawless operation one of the LED units in the cluster started flickering and will be failing sooner or later.

My plan is to avoid using these plug and play 194 LED units, as they do not seem to be as robust and have the lifespan that LEDs are supposed to have.

I am making a bulk order of 10mm white LEDs in the 250,000mcd plus brightness and am hoping to be able to light the cluster up brightly and evenly, using only six 10mm LEDs.

P.S. The rest of the LEDs are going to a DRL project to add AUDI style "Devil" lights to my headlights :)
mustang did you ever get to the 10mm bulbs yet?
 






mustang did you ever get to the 10mm bulbs yet?

I did and unfortunately when I did the project my SX1-IS was back at Canon getting a "Lense Error" fixed so I was unable to get any pictures to do a write up.

I will say that this version 3.0 is the best, it is the brightest and most evenly lit. however it was an extremely difficult project because the 10mm leds had to be soldered to the PC boards at odd angles to make the cluster light up evenly and there was about a 45 minute trial and error process of soldering the LED to the board, putting it in the cluster, checking to see how evenly it lit up, then taking it back out, de-soldering, re-adjusting, and soldering again, and so forth for EACH of the 6 LEDs. This truly tested my patience. I really could not have done a step by step write up that was easy to follow.
 










































AHH I realllllllyy want to convert my dash over. I have an 02 sport trac, everything is blacked out. Got HID head/fog lights, pink corner lights, and assorted other little crap. Went for the black and pink thing. Last week the bulb where my gas gauge is burnt out and now I can't see how much gas is in my truck once it's dark!
I was thinking doing white LED's or pink to match everything else. I know how to do it, but don't know which besides 194 to get and where to get from? Someone helppppp
 






Thanks for the replies.

After reading through the board, and especially Mustang's amazing conversion threads, I realize that my headlight switch bulb as well as my rear defrost/fog light buttons are all burned out.

I don't have a soldering iron or the ability to do an LED conversion that is not a simple plug and play, so I am wondering how easily exchangeable these bulbs are.

I have seen posts referencing the Radio Shack miniature bulbs for the headlight switch. It appears that they don't last long, but if I can't engineer the LED conversion, do I really have any other choice but to uses those bulbs?

Also, are the bulbs for the rear defrost/fog lights a totally different bulb as well?

Thanks for all of your help
 






Thanks for the replies.

After reading through the board, and especially Mustang's amazing conversion threads, I realize that my headlight switch bulb as well as my rear defrost/fog light buttons are all burned out.

I don't have a soldering iron or the ability to do an LED conversion that is not a simple plug and play, so I am wondering how easily exchangeable these bulbs are.

I have seen posts referencing the Radio Shack miniature bulbs for the headlight switch. It appears that they don't last long, but if I can't engineer the LED conversion, do I really have any other choice but to uses those bulbs?

Also, are the bulbs for the rear defrost/fog lights a totally different bulb as well?

Thanks for all of your help

You can get direct replacement LEDs from superbrightleds.com
under the automotive section
 






so after reading the WHOLE forum post, all i need is 5 smd led to take out that green color from the dash cluster????

or the 5 is only for the needles,??

also what bulb size is the needles and what size for the other bulbs?
 






so after reading the WHOLE forum post, all i need is 5 smd led to take out that green color from the dash cluster????

or the 5 is only for the needles,??

also what bulb size is the needles and what size for the other bulbs?

All the bubls in the cluster are 194. There are 6 of them that light up both the gauge face as well as the needles.

I personally have not scraped off the green film on the back of the gauge face so I don't want to give out any information I have not acquired first hand.

By using any other colored LED without scraping off the green film you will only be changing the color of the needles.
 






now what if i use like a super white smd?? or another type of white, ive seen some faces turn blue.

pO? (personal opinion)
 












I'm sure this has been asked, and I'm fairly sure I know the answer, but I want to clarify. I have an '03 X and I'm wanting to do the LED swap. Do the clusters have green film over the numbers? Wanting to make the switch to blue to go along with the blue interior lighting that I will be doing soon.
 






P51 do you have harbor freight in CT?
Yes there is?

I'm sure this has been asked, and I'm fairly sure I know the answer, but I want to clarify. I have an '03 X and I'm wanting to do the LED swap. Do the clusters have green film over the numbers? Wanting to make the switch to blue to go along with the blue interior lighting that I will be doing soon.

To the best of my knowledge yes 3rd gens do have green film on the gauge cluster.
 






To the best of my knowledge yes 3rd gens do have green film on the gauge cluster.

So the next question is what is the best thing to use to scrape the green film off?
 



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got it done today!! I got the 9LED bulbs so they are longer than the ones in the first post so I ended up grinding down the light pickups inside the guage cluster and then installing them..

these are the LEDs i installed
51chMSZVTLL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


0214021824.jpg
 






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