Instrument Cluster Lighting

Does anyone out there have any idea how to change the lighting of the instrument cluster. I'm sure it's probably easy (just open it up and swap out the LED's), but I was curious if any of you guys have done it and if there is anything I need to be aware of before hand.

Thanks.

 

I hate to post anything from another site but i came across this on TN a week or two ago. The guy did an AMAZING job documenting the entire process. It's not something i would call "easy" but you and i may have different definitions. hope this helps....

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t180314.html

 

NOOOOO... It is definitely not easy. Check out the link above. I was going to do it until I read throught the process. I have finally gotten accustomed to my orange/amber dash.

 

That would be awesome. Especially since I plan on installing overhead LEDs (guess I will just have to go with red).

 

I've always liked red lighting in cars. My beamer had all red dash and instruments. It felt like i was in a submarine. This is done by car manufacturers that have a good design team. In the visible spectrum, red light is the least "abrasive" to your eyes. It's also the most dificult color light for your eyes to pick up. which means when you're driving down the road they dont distract you from everything else you need to be looking at. The dash just kinda fades into your peripheal (sp) vision, which is a good thing. you don't notice the dash until you actually look at it, then you can see everything fine. I hate driving cars with white or blue lights in the dash, they make it harder to see outside the car, its called visual interferance. same thing as when you are trying to talk on the phone at a party, the "audio interference" is too high and you cant hear what you're trying to focus on. It may not be asthetically pleasing but red lights are the safest behind the wheel. i like 'em. although i wish it was all red instead of the red/amber mix.

 

I too have a pioneer head unit w/ the blue lights and I'm wanting to change the background of the dash to blue. I'll probably look around for another cluster and experiment with that. I had an electronic course when I joined the military and the swapping out the lights isn't hard, just tedious. If I do it, and it works, I'll post some pics and maybe set something up so I can do it for you guys out there.

 

I have the same idea, Blue Pioneer stereo and Nav amber dash and gauge lights

 

Yes, but you are lucky. Changing the lights in the 03's is much easier than in the 05+'s. There are a few guys on here and on CT that have done it.

 

Yeah it it easy, the only pain is you have to take everything apart.

 

so im doing this project with my dad. the other day we did everything as instructed but we only changed 1 light cuz its all we had time for, put everything back together and i had 1 blue light and the rest were orange so we knew we were doing everything right. Today we replaced all the bulbs and now to my surprise once we placed the cluster back in the truck and tried out the lights they dont turn on. Ive checked to make sure everything is plugged in and i messed around with my dimmer and nothing seems to work. We took it back out but we cant think of whats wrong. The weird thing is everything else in the instrument cluster works, the other lights and such. Anyone have any ideas on what went wrong and how to fix it?

 

Soo clean...What would it cost to have this done at a shop?

 

I absolutely love the way that looks but don't have the skill or balls to do it.

 

Has anyone done this on a 1st gen? I assume it would be easier...

 

this was fairly easy to do. this was my first experience with soldering on a circuit card. http://www.oznium.com/plcc-2 this is where i got the LED's from. here is the directions i followed. not real descriptive on the actual soldering part but i figured it out. just a little solder on either side. the removal for the whole dash is in the link at the begining of the article. hope this helps.
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=180314

 

It has been a while since I first successfully put in my blue LEDs for my instrument cluster. I now have an issue with the lights on the gas gauge and temp not lighting up. Everything else is still blue cept for the right side and so my guess is that the leds are still connected correctly because the rest of my panel is working. Do I just need to solder on new LEDS for the ones that dont light up anymore because they have gone out? Just wanted to clarify before I go in for surgery =] Thanks!

 

Trying to make good use of search instead of making my own thread