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

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

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)

Getting to the cluster:

Step 1
Remove the Radio

Step 2
Remove the 2 screws (circled in red)
Disconnect the 5 wiring harness behind the bezel (circled in blue)

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)

Step 4
Remove the 3 bolts holding the metal shield in place

Step 5
Remove the 2 screws at the bottom of the gauge bezel (note the wiring harness locations circled in blue)

Step 6
Remove the 3 screws at the top of the gauge bezel

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)

Step 8
Remove the 4 screws holding in the Gauge Cluster

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

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 +)

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

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!

 

[jweb1369]

Mine look great. Here's a pic. They are a bit brighter than in the pic. I took this with my phone camera. The brightness intensity is dulled down from the autodim on my camera phone. Just imagine about twice as bright. I keep staring at the bright green when I drive at night, it looks so much more vivid with the LED's.

 

[Mounty 09]

There are what mine look like. Also done with a phone camera. They are brighter and not so blotchy in person.

Wonder why mine came out blue instead of green?

 

[kschewe]

There are what mine look like. Also done with a phone camera. They are brighter and not so blotchy in person.

Wonder why mine came out blue instead of green?

the color is depends on the temperature of the bulb. if u are using a cool white u will get a bluish color

 

[Mounty 09]

the color is depends on the temperature of the bulb. if u are using a cool white u will get a bluish color

But isn't there a green film on the cluster?

 

[kschewe]

But isn't there a green film on the cluster?

there is a green film. using the colored lights changes it a bit. I will have to post this week. I put blue leds in. I like the look of it.

 

[BrianDye]

Isnt the 97 still the old cluster with the stock "teal" color?

 

[baxgordum]

ok everyone. i have a 98 x and i wanna do red in the cluster. so from what im getting from this i should order those smd leds in a red color, scrape the green film off, reinstall and it will work? please tell me if im wrong

 

[Mountaineer1113]

ok everyone. i have a 98 x and i wanna do red in the cluster. so from what im getting from this i should order those smd leds in a red color, scrape the green film off, reinstall and it will work? please tell me if im wrong

Yeah, it should work. If not then there's another issue there. Post pics because I have yet to see an Ex with a red cluster. I'm thinking either red or bright white for mine.

 

[baxgordum]

Yeah, it should work. If not then there's another issue there. Post pics because I have yet to see an Ex with a red cluster. I'm thinking either red or bright white for mine.

alright, its gonna be a while probably two weeks, but ill post when im done.

 

[CJL]

Mustang do you remember the sellers name?
If not would these work?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Lot-...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

 

[MustangP51]

Mustang do you remember the sellers name?
If not would these work?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Lot-...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

I do not remember the sellers name but those will work.

 

[mfrankena]

question:
I did this conversion, with the smd-leds and they fitted in snugly and it looks grand. Thanks for the great step by step guide mustang ;-)

Now, i found out that in my heater control panel, the light sockets were missing all together. These seem to be exactly the same as in the gage-cluster.
Is this correct???

If so, i'm gonna get me some to get my lights back on.

 

[DonAlexander]

MustangP51, Nearly two years after your original post, I want to say thanks. I'm not doing the LED thing, but it was very helpful in just replacing the stock bulbs. Great work!

Don

 

[Kenneth J]

question:
I did this conversion, with the smd-leds and they fitted in snugly and it looks grand. Thanks for the great step by step guide mustang ;-)

Now, i found out that in my heater control panel, the light sockets were missing all together. These seem to be exactly the same as in the gage-cluster.
Is this correct???

If so, i'm gonna get me some to get my lights back on.

Yes, they are exactly the same, for the heater panel. There are 2 bulbs.

 

[Villo007]

I purchased a blue faceplate and im going to put in some leds.

Faceplate- http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...0610246539&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT

LEDs- http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...0445714857&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I think those LEDS will be good. I want a Deep Blue gauge feel. I have deep blue underglow, interiorglow, license plate, and map lights / interiors.

I will post pics when its all done. Hope the blue faceplate and deep blue lights dont look bad.

 

[mfrankena]

Yes, they are exactly the same, for the heater panel. There are 2 bulbs.

JAY! Thnx!

 

[kidd666]

im just waiting to get my leds then im going to do this. i got twelve of them to see where they fit

 

[Varsity]

Read a lot of talk about a red cluster but haven't seen pics yet. I plan to do red on mine since my stereo buttons glow red so I don't want to offset too bad. Either way, this would be a summer project for me, but definitely gonna happen. Are these bulbs sold in any stores? I'll do ebay or Amazon, but I would prefer a store since I'm not too sure how many I would need.

 

[Varsity]

Well red is out of the question as I don't feel like scraping off green tint from my cluster, but I do like the brighter green with white needles. Just checking, but will these work?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2x-T...Q5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_3522wt_1165
I think so, but I'd like to check before I buy.

 

[MustangP51]

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