Incandescent To LED Conversion (Dash, Steering Wheel, Etc.) | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Incandescent To LED Conversion (Dash, Steering Wheel, Etc.)

wisedetailz

Member
Joined
May 16, 2014
Messages
34
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2
City, State
Baltimore, MD
Year, Model & Trim Level
2002 Ford Explorer
Hey guys,

Lighting is my hobby and i'm wanting to convert the incandescent dash bulbs (radio, steering wheel, door panels, etc) to LED bulbs.

Some vehicles are plug and play, like my 07 Acura TL you can replace a lot of interior bulbs with Neo Wedge T3 LED bulbs. Other areas require soldering the boards/resistors, etc.

Does anybody have any information or any links they can post that will tell me the bulb sizes before I go ripping apart the car. Also would like a schematic for steering wheel removal.

Thanks in advance. I searched and searched until I was blue in the face but came up short.
 



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I only did the interior lights, not the dash lights.

But no soldering was needed for those. I never found any reason to replace the interior bulbs. May I ask what you hope to achieve by doing this (out of pure curiosity)
 






I've done the interior lights already (dome, vanity, etc) and side mirror puddle lights.

I'm talking about the window switches, climate control, etc.

I just want to get rid of the ugly bright green and upgrade them with some nice white T3 neo wedge bulbs. It's purely aesthetics.
 






Hmmm it sounds cool. I have replaced the bulbs before and found that they appear clear (warm white) (this in my 1995 explorer back in the day) and replacing the bulbs would make them brighter but they would likely hold the same color... I don't imagine this vehicle being any different.

I did buy an LED dash kit to change the color of my dash gauges and it looked pretty nice but wouldn't do it now on a count of it not matching the other interior lights. I'm so used to fords that that goofy greenish blue is more of a nostalgic thing for me than anything.

Let me know how you do it and post pics.. would be interested perhaps in doing it myself pending the results!
 






on 3rd gen all those must be sodered, 2nd gen you were able to just swap the bulbs. But on the 3rd gen they are soddered in.

there is a thread on here somewhere showing how to do it. It is not that easy
 






thanks guys.

if they have to be soldered, then that's that...no big deal.

i have just been reading a bunch of conflicting things about this. some say soldered only, some say 194 led's will be plug and play. i'll keep researching.
 






thanks guys.

if they have to be soldered, then that's that...no big deal.

i have just been reading a bunch of conflicting things about this. some say soldered only, some say 194 led's will be plug and play. i'll keep researching.

194's are for 2nd gen only
 






thanks for the confirmation. so EVERYTHING has to be soldered, correct?

any idea where that link is? i've been searching and can't find it. :wish:
 






Your 02 should use my 1smd led's for the cluster, I believe there are 5 to 7 for the backlighting.
In my 03, the puddle lights under the side mirrors used t10 base led's like my 5smd led's, waaaay brighter & much more white than the old bulbs were.

I'm not sure if the 02 & 03 ohc's are the same but I believe I used some of my mustang dome led's to replace the map lights.
 






1smd for the cluster. when you say cluster, what are you referring to?

my goal is to replace the steering wheel bulbs and climate control bulbs at the bottom of the center console, along with door panel/window switches.

anybody have any insight? finding it hard to believe i'm the first person wanting to do this in over 12 years.
 












bump for answers. can't believe nobody as done this in 12+ years of ownership.
 












i cant find the old thread either, but i remember reading it. Soldering is required, as well as removing the green materiel from inside of the component in question.
 






Gen 3 puddle lights and interior dome lights are a plug N play????
 






This afternoon I changed out my three interior dome lights, license plate lights and puddle lights with LED bulbs. They work great.
 






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