how do you take off the needles on the gauge cluster?

so im at the point of changing my dash lights where i need to take off the gauge face and the needles, it seems like they are on there pretty good. how do i take them off with out breaking sh*t?

 

Pull straight out. The needle base is on a small metal needle attached to the circut board.

Some people use a fork to lever it up.

 

This may help: just be careful. Mark their position as well.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/221136-cant-get-indicator-needles-off-led-mod.html
I also referenced this one:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/6...-orange-red-yuck-how-change-gauge-colors.html

Good luck , post ur finished product.

Az

 

do i have to desolder the LED lights that are already on there?

 

Yes if you want to change them.

 

do you need a really fine soldering pencil?

 

It helps but not entirely necessary. Use tweezers / flux, the right temp and they come off pretty easy.

 

I used these. Depending on your skill set with soldering the flat end tips would probably work.

 

so i changed out the LED's and only 2 out of about 12 or so turn on, im trying to find the problem, any help?

 

It could be a couple of things.
Burned out LED from to much heat.
The LED is not making a good connection at the soldering spots.
The LED is backwards.

It could only be one in the series, making groups of the LEDs not work.

You can test the LEDs with a multimeter to see if they are burnt.

 

so there is a way to put it in backwards, alright there is one of the corners on the LED that is cut out does that mean positive or negative?

 

The cut out side is the negative. On the board you should be able to find a small white dot at each LED, the cut out side goes to that side of the circuit pads.

 

i put blue LED's behind my needles and scraped off the orange background. How do i make them stand out more, im thinking about painting the back of them white.

 

White or silver will improve it. I had the same problem just as it was getting dark at night.