LED dash lighting

[98Xplo022]

im fairly new here and im wanting to change my dash and center console control lights to a led blue..can i simply just change the bulbs or is there some procedure necessary and if so where can i get these bulbs?

 

[anti*commander]

which lights are you talking about exactly, if its the lights for the defrost, rear window wiper, and that area, you can just replace the bulbs with LED's, its tough to fit them into the defrost and fog lamp buttons but the 4x4 switch and rear wiper is easy. if its the rear passenger controll fan switches and what not, you have to disassemble the rear console, and remove the module, inside the module is a pc board that has 4 lights on it, the lights are held up on plastic straw like stands, for every light in the rear passenger control i put 2 ultra wide angle LED's. and if its the gauges you are talking about, you need to remove the gauge cluster, remove the needls keeping mind of where they currently are, remove the black plastic film and scrape off the green film on the back of the black film, then replace the film and needls then open up the gauge cluster and hotglue some LED's on the inside and put LED's where the stock lights were, it takes some time to place the LED's to get good coverage. re assemble and replace

Don't forget to use resistors on your LED"s, the LED's i use are about 3.3 to 3.5 volts, and i use 470 ohm resistors. hope this helps

 

[whitemage25]

I used overlays for my instrument cluster, but I just finished replacing all my interior green bulbs & LED's with blue ones.

You can get direct replacements for the bulbs in the fog and rear defroster switches here.

http://autolumination.com/74.htm

They are about halfway down the page labeled "Neo - Wedge LED Instrument Panel Bulbs Type A, B & C"....you want the type A

For the 4X4 switch and Rear Wiper I purchased the Type C's off the same site. When you get them they are in a plastic base but if you carefully unwrap the wires from the base you can then remove the LED (be careful with it the legs are fragile at their attachment point to the LED.) I do this because that LED has a tiny resistor built into it making wiring a whole lot easier.

The 4X4 Switch took adding a little bit of wire to make it stick out like the original bulb and them I just soldered it to the PCB of the switch. On the Rear wiper bulb there is a rubber base, I just removed the Bulb from it and replaced it with the LED, then just slide the rubber base back on and you in business.

The A/C control knobs are actually green plastic so you have to replace the knob or the piece of plastic inside if you wanna change color.
The Window and Lock/Unlock switches are already 3mm green LED's. Its just a matter if disassembling the switches and unsoldering the originals and replacing them with the color of your choice. Here is a good source for 3mm LED's.

http://www.oznium.com/led

I wouldn't know about the rear controls because they are gone on my truck, replaced with a power point for my inverter.

If you wanna take it all the way you can also change out the Bulb or LED on your door keypad on the outside. here is a good post on that.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193400&page=2

Remember that LED's have polarity so your gonna have to find which side of the connection point is negative or positive. Also for a more diffused glow from the LED's "frost" them by taking some medium/fine grit sand paper to them.

 

[shortstack]

you can get pre made leds white will make it alot easier or get the leds and resistors which will be cheaper. here is the center console led i did
http://explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=205927

 

[MustangP51]

Here is my thread on changing my cluster to LEDs

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184306

check the links in my sig for other LED conversions

 

[vroomzoomboom]

i did mine about a month ago. here is a VERY useful link, i even think anti*commander gave this to me

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/296394

i also found a post that had this site for buying L.E.D.'s but i found a place near me that had them

http://www.besthongkong.com/index.php

i even did the door switches as well. mine is a sport so i think they are a little easier to to then a 4 door because i have individual switches on the drivers side, and not four all in the same block of switches. as for the gauges, i just found a cluster, and a HVAC from a 97, they had blue and not god awful green clusters.

 

[midwest2006]

Instrument Cluster LED blue 194

I replaced my instrument cluster bulbs with 194 LED Bulb - 5 SMD LED Wide Angle Wedge Base from superbrightleds.com used 6 but heres my problem....
after i checked them before I replaced all the interior panels, knee plate blocker etc. I did see all the needles were blue, this was also during the day so was hard to see... once it got dark enough, I checked them again and the lights are not backlit like I thought they were suppose to be. The tach and speedometer is not backlit, just the needle indicators are... Are there more of the bulbs I have to replace that I am unaware of? I am very disappointed because this took me alot of time to do and being very careful with the plastic panels, making sure everything is inline etc.. Anyone have any suggestions?
2000 Ford Explorer XLT 4.0L SOHC