what makes the colors for the dash gear selector?

what makes the colors for the dash gear selector?

my drive light went out and I have no plans to pull the dash apart just for that but I might do it if I can change the colors and switch everything out for LEDs.

so are they white lights behind colored film or are they different colored bulbs or even those colored little light bulb covers like for the a/c controls?

I have never pulled the taco dash cluster out yet so I don't know how its made.

I have the 99 with column shift and the gear selector strip in the center of the cluster vertically between the speedo and tach

the only stuff I see is for 2000-2004 trucks which have the printed circuit boards and twist in lights and socket as one piece while mine is the older version with wires and light bulb sockets with separate light bulbs

that's for your help

 

hmmmm, nobody has ever taken the gage cluster out for 96-99 Tacoma?

I guess the only way to know is to pull it apart but damn, I don't want to do all that for a 25 cent light bulb only to find out the colors cant be changed

 

I think, if they are like the 03 Tacoma, there is a bulb with a little "condom" over it that changes the color.

 

If you search well enough, lots of people have done it on here. I've taken mine out long ago but don't remember what bulbs it has. I eventually want to switch mine out for LEDs and change the color. I'm pretty sure it's the condom style as said above, but I could be confusing that with our 02 Tundra (drive light went out on that too).

And also, I don't have the gear selector lights on mine.

 

thanks guys

well I know the a/c controls and ash tray use the condoms and was hoping its the same for the gear indicators but I didn't know and if I pull it apart its my only DD and I routinely go 160 mile round trips every other day and so I don't want to leave it all taken apart and do trips like that with no speedometer or gages.

I have done a lot of searching but the only thing I see is the 2004 trucks with the twist socket bulbs switching to LEDs, I haven't found a single thread about the condom type lights being converted.

im assuming, pull it apart, find the bulbs I have and how its colored, then have to search for and most likely order bulbs for it and all that will likely be a week long process im sure. I just didn't want to have to put it all back together only to pull it apart again a few days later, I hate doing things 2 and 3 times to get it right.

now where do I get colored push in type glass or LED replacement bulbs because im sure nobody sells the colored bulb condoms do they?

im also wondering if I can attach a colored film in there so they all show one color? im not a big fan of having different colors there any way

 

FWIW only the 4 194 bulbs for tach/speedo/temp/fuel light-up had the condoms on. the others are plain behind a tinted piece.

now this is on an 01-04 so the green for older style will probably have the 4 main with condoms but not sure of the individual lights.

 

thanks, I just don't have much time to fool with it so im kinda trying to figure out what all is involved and "pre-buy" what I need but I guess im hoping for too much there, its obvious that there is really only one way to know and that's pull it, make parts list, reassemble it, then go get or order the stuff I need, take it all apart again and replace all the bulbs.

i was just hoping there was a lazy way to do this if someone already did theres and could just say "you need x, y, and z so I could have it all in hand and be done

thanks for all the help guys, this site is always full of very nice and helpful people

 

On my 2000 Tacoma (also column shift), the gear indicator bulbs are Neowedge Type B. I didn't notice any type of tint in the display, so you should be able to change the colors to whatever you want. My Drive light was also dead, so I swapped it (and the 1 and 2 lights) for blue LEDs I had left over.