Who has done aftermarket dash and cluster lights?

So to confirm here, do the '98-'00 HVAC bulbs(2) require #74 wedge base and the a/c button is the typeB T4 NEO that twists in, 1/4 turn?? (looking for standard incandescent)

 

Did you ever do this??
I saw no one really answered your question(it doesn't pop apart like the one fella said) on this even though it's kinda an old post I figured I'd answer, on the bottom of that switch you'll see a circular deal with a flat head screwdriver slot on it. That's the light, give it a quarter turn and it'll come out! I'm currently trying to figure out what that bulb is though, thus my question in the above post of mine...

 

Didn't do it yet. But will try. A red bulb behind a green film will probably look dull.

Hell the blue "cold" portion of my temp control on my climate face plate doesn't even light up with the red bulb behind it. It's black at night.

 

Anybody??? Pretty sure the two wedge bulbs are gunna be the #74's but what about the a/c push button switch??

 

Yes, no idea about the small one behind the button

 

Thanks! Don't know what to do about the a/c button, not like they're expensive but I still don't wanna chase around multiple bulbs till I get it right! Maybe the dealer is the answer... When I bought the truck several years ago all those lights didn't work I figured there was a wiring/connector issue but when installing my paranoid switch holder I discovered they were all burnt out. I'm hoping there isn't some funky issue that caused this, seems weird those were all burnt out but every other bulb in the interior are fine. It'll pisses me off if I change em and they pop soon after instal!

 

After more research I believe the '98-'00 a/c button/switch is a T3 neo! Not the T4. I ordered one so I'll know in a few days! Bought two #74's as well for the other two HVAC lights. I'll report back on the T3 a/c light!!

Edit*** the T3 neo was a fit for the ac button!

 

What color bulb did you get? If red, please take night/lit up pics. Thanks.

 

I figured id just get a clear bulb since the green film was on the inside of the switch...

 

just an FYI for anyone doing a dash and cluster lights mod.

I tried the LEDs and found they were too much for my liking with the neon ghostly glow so if that's not what you are after then try colored regular incandescent bulbs instead of LED bulbs to change color without getting that neon glow affect.

I tried putting the clear bulbs back in and I bought some blue bulb condoms to replace the stock orange bulb condoms, but that didn't work at all because the condoms I bought block way too much of the light so you can barely see it light up at night, plus its more of an aqua color then blue look. I ordered some regular blue incandescent bulbs to try and I am pretty sure that will get me the blue look im after. I just want a standard blue color (non glowing) look to it to be happy.

I also went with bright white bulbs for the hvac controls and am very happy I did. I tried several bulbs LED and colored incandescent bulbs but each was not something I liked. it had a yellowish look from the stock bulbs, then the blue LEDs were a kinda washed out blue, not blue and not white, but the super bright white LEDs light it up nice and easy to see and its the best look I have gotten of all I tried. I should add that I replaced my hvac control with one from an 01-02 4runer so it has the white faceplate and buttons that light up and the button LEDs are green so I have the perfect look I like with it now.

if I had to do it all over again, even though I have a much better look now then when it was stock, I would still tell myself to just leave the hvac controls alone and not try to mod those lights. I spent a lot of money learning this. were I to advise someone else who insisted on doing it, I would say just buy a white faceplate from an old 01-02 4runner and put standard brightness white LEDs in the control because if you try colored LEDs it will be a washed out muted version of that color so blue LEDs show as a very light blue color.

 

Hey keakar, on your search for a white hvac face plate did u happen to see or come across a white one for the '98-'00 style setup??

 

no, I wasn't even looking for one but aren't they all white for the older ones? as far as I am aware its the 01-04 controls that were painted orange.

the 96-00 controls are all incandescent bulbs with green condoms over them that give them a green look, if you remove the cover and pull off the condom it should then show white but because the stock bulbs are weak its a sort of yellowish color to them.

all you should have to do to make it light up a nice white color is just pop in some white LEDs and your done

 

Ah i meant a white face plate like the one shown on post #175.. instead of black. I musta missread/understood what you meant.

 

This is why i thought you had the white plate. But i get that you were talking about the back side of the plate, not fromt.

 

I want to add a closing comment on my light mod, I found that plain regular normal incandescent blue bulbs gave me a stock looking blue color dash lights affect I was looking for but the LEDs I tried at first were super bright (even during the day) but it had a strange sci-fi looking neon sign like glow that I hated so much that I had to take it apart again just to replace them. (ok so im an old man and I didn't like the "cool affect" lol) so if you want a color change but still look like the stock affect then use regular incandescent colored bulbs to do it.

I would like to add a note about something no one talked about or thought about here but the low fuel warning light you definately will want to swap out for a red bulb while you have the cluster out. most of us never get to see it but I set mine off a few times and its very hard to see that amber bulb against the white background in daytime so it needs to be red to get your attention since once it goes off you only have about 35 miles before running out of gas so its something you want to damn sure stand out to get your attention right away and switching it to a red light does that.

 

I've always considered using incandescents with condoms (red) for my lighting needs. I did use LED behind the climate control face plate and am happy with it. But maybe I'll try the former for the gauge cluster.

FYI re: the 98-00 climate face plate. The portions that light up are clear/translucent with the exception of the temperature range colors (blue-cold, white-warm, red-hot). Those are painted on. FWIW with the red LEDs behind the face plate my temperature controls are now all red with the exception of cold, which doesn't let any light through whatsoever, so it's blacked out.

I found that to be a bit strange that a green light will illuminate that portion of the range blue, but a red light won't pass through at all. I'm sure my high school physics teacher is disappointed that I don't remember spectroscopy and light filters well.

Either that or the beam angle is too narrow for the LED bulb and it isn't lighting it up at all versus the incandescent.

 

who knows for certain what size and type of bulb do I need for the low fuel warning light?

 

what size would the low fuel warning light be? is it the 74 bulb?

even if the lens is amber I want it to be red so a red bulb will make it redish orange at least. I want it to be a more visible warning color in daylight.

 

Lots of great information on this thread - I have an 03 Tacoma ( since new) and have all of the orange dash lights I can stand. After reading all the posts on this thread, I am thinking I'm going with the standard blue incandescent bulbs Keaker has spoke of. I also want to change the hvac color though and understand that can be tricky. The crazy thing is to me the faceplate appears to have clear letters and stuff, and the bulbs are orange, or might have orange condoms. Is that possible on an 03? Also hoping to find out where Keaker got the standard blue bulbs ? Thanks for any input ...

 

here is where I got them, scroll to the bottom of this very long list of bulbs and its #8 up from the bottom for .99 cents each http://www.autolumination.com/194.htm

for the hvac lights I used these and they are a nice easy to see white color now
go about half way down the page and its the gold star type B (T4) neo wedge super white bulbs for 5.99 each http://www.autolumination.com/74.htm

I found the key for the HVAC lights is to be sure you get ones with side LEDs as well as one pointing straight out, otherwise the buttons don't get lit much at all because they only get lit from the light coming out of the side of the bulb.

but I need to point out that I did replace the faceplate to one without the orange paint so if you aren't changing the faceplate don't bother since anything you do to it will still have some orange tint to it.

as to the cover plate, the illuminated parts are white and not clear but on the 01-04 models they added an orange paint behind the white paint to give it an orange color that can only be seen when lit from behind. the bulbs in the control will be clear.

if it is 01-04 original oem then it should look like this:


if it is 96-00 original oem then it should look like this: