How to change you dash lights by "Jotaro"

here is some other examples...

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/lighting/35020-dash-mod-complete.html

 

Do you have to use soldering tool to remove the LED or just remove it from socket?

 

you have to de-solder every one and re-solder the new ones in.

 

Yeah I ordered up the LEDs (only ~$15 shipped) and hope to find either a friend locally who can do it or send it to someone like Seth etc. that can do it. Only problem is that Im in MN and he is in CA, and to overnight the cluster is a small fortune!

 

Toku, I had mine done a while ago by a friend. Love it until my rpm LED light started to go intermittent. How many LED lights are behind the rpm(tac)? I'm trying to figure out why it goes completely dark if there's more than one light behind the rpm(tac). Are they linked?

 

There are 2 LEDs shining the tach. They are powered in a series, meaning one has to be on for the second one to work.

 

Gotta admit, still lost on how to get the needles colored. You sand and repaint them? I would like white ones so do I just sand?

 

OK gotcha...i'll probably open it up to have a look and see if I can tell if either has a bad solder if not just exchange them both. Thanks Viet2100!

 

Yes.

I used 400 grit sand paper to take the orange paint off the needles. Repainted with white paint and lit with white LEDs.

Turned out exactly like this,



Looks outstanding.

 

Nice write-up. Nice job. You might point out that removing SMDs from a circuit board, while not rocket science, does require skill and some practice. Results can get expensive if you over heat the boards.

 

Aloha Toku,

I bought some blue LEDs to do my gauges this weekend. Got them on ebay for $15. Seller is from Puerto Rico. Part of the description in the ebay listing emphasized that detailed instructions would be included. They sent me your instructions, exact to what is in this post... which are excellent by the way... Maybe this dude needs to cut you in on a peice of that action. PM me if you want specific details on the ebay seller using your instructions for profit.

Lucky

 

^ toku didnt write this up, he borrowed it from jotaro over on TN...

 

So I was curious and the radio has 42 leds in it for those that are curious like myself.

 

There are more than that. Under the LCD. Changing them is very difficult and takes extreme skill. There are more if you have a newer radio. All this info is in the FAQ.

 

Any pictures of the LED's in the needles? I'm confused of where it is.

 

The LEDs for the needles are inside the circle part under the needle's base.

 

Sweet thanks, I thought it was on the actual needle

 

dont forget the additional 10 behind the main screen on the 05-08 radios (05-08 have a total of 52, and 09+ have a total of 64)

 

oh cmon, its not that hard. use two irons at the same time .

 

I included them in my fourth time to count however at such a cheap price for the led I'm going to order about 20 extra.