LED gauge cluster conversion.

[HeresMyMind]

After a few different set ups I have finally found a bright, even output set up that made me happy. everyone knows you can buy led bulbs to replace your current halogen bulbs for your gauges, but you end up with hot spots and dim spots on your gauges. So I decided to do the next best thing. install LED strips.

First I ordered a roll of SMD white led's in a 29' roll. they can be cut every 3 led's and can be re soldered to make different lengths.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/04/3528stripchip400300-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/04/3528stripdiam300225-1.jpg

for 95-99 legacys and 02-05 imprezas it is the same concept. first remove the whole gauge cluster from the car. there are plenty of other write-ups on how to do that. using the few screws from the back of the gauges and the gauge faces will come out. lightly sand the back of the faces to get rid of the green film that gives the green light.

next cut the led strips to the right sizing to wrap around the inside of the gauges. like I did. I did 1 strip per gauge. You have to solder a red/black wire to the leds and run them out an existing bulb hole. I hot glued the led's to ensure they dont move even thought hey had double stick tape. next you need to solder the red/black leads to the copper stripping near the bulb sockets. take your time.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/04/1zvx6e1-1.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/04/2dce5qt-1.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/04/neyu5e-1.jpg

over all it took me 2-3 hours of testing and making sure it all worked out right. the output is amazing, and needs to be dimmed during night driving, during the day they are nice and bright.

-B
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/04/2eq6p1z-1.jpg

[mycargoesvroom]

Wow those are bright! I'm going to have to look into this one!

[Reason]

Great job son!

[Huffer]

Well done! That's as bright as the new gen cars!

Great mod, have to add that to the list... unless you want to do it for me, if I send you my cluster and some cash?

[HeresMyMind]

Sure. I can do it for ya. I got extra white LEDs

-B

[Huffer]

Sending you a PM - my car is on stands right now so this is a good opportunity. :)

[csweston]

Wow thats great! Now someone just need to figure out light up dials.

What happened to your dash?

[csweston]

Where'd you get your LEDs from?

[Danny-G]

I think I know my next mod now! Although I may use led strips that the local parts store carry due to the fact that I can easily access multiple sets if needed. Credit still goes to you for making this and the concept will be exactly the same, just a different color.

[MRLancaster]

I have a spare gauge cluster I can fiddle with on my BH, before I do it on the one thats in the car. Yeah I hate those hot spots. >.< If I had another working cluster I'd send you mine and cash to do them. But Idk how long I'd be without a cluster :/

[Chausx]

Here's my attempt at changing over my dash. It was really simple. Pretty much I followed the same steps for removal. Sand down the backside of the faces to remove the green layer and place the LEDs into place. Solder the joints into place and voila you have a nicely lit gauge cluster. I used autozone branded LED light strip(28"[2@14"] @ 24.99). It was pretty simple and makes everything come out a little more.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/04/Legacy009-1.jpghttps://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/04/Legacy012-1.jpghttps://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/04/Legacy159-1.jpg

[httrdd]

Please post a dig on that one. Not sure how you used the led strips.

[d1giPhux]

looks good man! How did you pull the gauge faces off? I thought people use to have a really hard time with sanding the green stuff off the faces, but you found some way to easily remove them? Looks great.. think I might have to do this since my bulbs are always wearing out and dying and crap!

btw, where did you get the led's from? online? how much they cost you? What 'color' are they considered? I see a couple different 'white' colors on ebay.

Any more info about soldering the wires to the copper, and what connections go where? Does it solder easy, or do you have to be careful not to burn through and such? Did you use flux?

Thanks.

[MRLancaster]

How do you remove it....without messing up the needles? I failed the first time, and the needles stopped working

[Chausx]

I'll put up some more info on how I did it to help supplement and answer more questions.

[HeresMyMind]

I have a spare gauge cluster I can fiddle with on my BH, before I do it on the one thats in the car. Yeah I hate those hot spots. >.< If I had another working cluster I'd send you mine and cash to do them. But Idk how long I'd be without a cluster :/

its hard for me to do a be/bh cause i dont know the wire leads on what is positive and what is negative. I only know bg bd bk s

-B

[Legacy89]

Pull the cluster, remove the bulbs you want replaced, use a mulimeter to figure out what side is positive and negative.
You can tip the cluster up enough without removing the wires.

I just swapped the bulbs and i don't have any hot spots, only a nice even red glow.

A nice way to go tough.

[HeresMyMind]

Yes but bh clusters won't fit in my car. So if he ships me his i can't test it.

-B

[d1giPhux]

yeah, post up some more info about how you did the wiring. I'm sure that its easy enough to find out with a multimeter, but if you post the info it will make things go quicker for the rest of us. I really like this writeup and will definitely be doing it to mine next.

Any more info about how you get the gauges off without ruining the needles and such would be GREATLY appreciated by all no doubt. Usually thats the hardest part about this whole ordeal!

[MRLancaster]

Pull the cluster, remove the bulbs you want replaced, use a mulimeter to figure out what side is positive and negative.
You can tip the cluster up enough without removing the wires.

I just swapped the bulbs and i don't have any hot spots, only a nice even red glow.

A nice way to go tough.


You swapped without hotspots? What bulbs did you use? Pics? And did you remove the green off the cluster?

[Regardie]

looks good man! How did you pull the gauge faces off? I thought people use to have a really hard time with sanding the green stuff off the faces, but you found some way to easily remove them? Looks great.. think I might have to do this since my bulbs are always wearing out and dying and crap!

btw, where did you get the led's from? online? how much they cost you? What 'color' are they considered? I see a couple different 'white' colors on ebay.

Any more info about soldering the wires to the copper, and what connections go where? Does it solder easy, or do you have to be careful not to burn through and such? Did you use flux?

Thanks.

I can't tell you how he did his but I can tell you how I did mine. I just replaced the bulbs with matching LEDs after removing the green stuff and I have hot spots and two different color whites to address so I guess I need some strip lights.

The gauge package comes out easily, and some connectors on the back. You will find I believe 14 screws that hold the various gauges in the package. This mod involves removing all of them. Watch the screws, some are different sizes. I used a dremel to sand off the green stuff. Do not remove the needles!! When you get to the parts on the speedometer and tach that you cannot get clear like the rpm x1000 in the center, gentle unscrew the two small #1 phillips screws on the gauge face and rotate the face counterclockwise 180 deg to not disturb the needles and secure it with the screws. Then you have access to the rest of the things to sand. Reverse the process to reinstall.

I don't have the FSM handy (I'm at work), but there is a page or two in the wiring diagram section that deals with illumination. From that you should be able to find the pins on the connector that is positive and negative. The soldering should be fairly easy, no additional flux should be needed, just regular electronic solder, tin the wires and the trace on the plastic thing and bring them together with a tinned iron.

When I did my gauges, HVAC and switches, I had a 9 volt battery with some paper clips taped to the top to provide voltage at my bench (dining room table :smt023 ) to test my work without a trip to the car.

[Regardie]

HeresMyMind - a quick question.

I see that superbrightleds has side throwing strips, do you think they would work better, without your foil mod?

Do your LEDs dim correctly? I ask because the illumination circuit is kinda screwy and it works on a strange subtractive voltage system.

[TGX4776]

subscribed.

[Legacy89]

Pull the cluster, remove the bulbs you want replaced, use a mulimeter to figure out what side is positive and negative.
You can tip the cluster up enough without removing the wires.

I just swapped the bulbs and i don't have any hot spots, only a nice even red glow.

A nice way to go tough.


You swapped without hotspots? What bulbs did you use? Pics? And did you remove the green off the cluster?

I did not touch the green in the cluster wich might dampen the glow a little bit.
I used 4 of these: T10 5x5050LED.
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/04/328_T10_T3_5x5050_R_d_1-1.jpg
Tough i don't have individual bulbs for the ODO/Clock like you guys have.
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh289/tmjpwns/IMAG0076.jpg
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh289/tmjpwns/IMAG0077.jpg
The phone does give it a look that its dimm and with hotspots all over, with the dimmer turned to full the lights are just as bright as i want them with a nice even spread.
Will do the rest of the Climate Controller during the week.

Btw, does the lower part of the foglight/cruise/wiper defrost buttons light up without having any of them on or are all my bulbs broken there too?

[Danny-G]

Just a heads up to any other first gen. owners thinking about doing this, there is no green film that can be sanded off, its in the plastic. I was prepping my gauges for this and discovered, after sanding the back of the gauges that they are still green and a little brighter with standard bulbs. Although, the few times I've had leds in my gauges, the green tint hasn't been noticable. Once when I has two 4 led amber 194s in the top sockets therewasn't any green hint at all and the tops of the gauges were a nice bright amber.

[TexasLegacy2.5GT]

This is a great thread for us second gen guys! Very cool write up!

[1-3-2-4]

I have to try this sometime next week :) only concern is it's going to be too bright at night?

[HeresMyMind]

you can dim them :-D

-B

[1-3-2-4]

yeah I know but at least when I last had LED's in the bulb holders if you dim it down all the way it was pretty good but then the rest of the dash is dim :P

I would of did it this way looong time ago had I known those SMD LED strips could be cut every 3 LED or so.. I thought they were un-cutable lol

So I ordered some on ebay last night should be here before the end of the week.

I ended up buying a 16 Ft strand because I want to use it for something else in the house as well.

[TexasLegacy2.5GT]

Hereismymind,

Man, that looks great. I have a Lex SC300 with
The CCL lighting in the dash and yours looks just as good as that! Good job, bud!

[Huffer]

yeah I know but at least when I last had LED's in the bulb holders if you dim it down all the way it was pretty good but then the rest of the dash is dim :P


Next step is to use the same LEDs in the rest of the dash then... LOL.

Brandon did you ever get my PM? it was months ago when my car was still not running. I had asked about if you could do the LED install for me if I shipped my cluster to you. Drop me a PM if you're still interested.

[1-3-2-4]

lol that would just be the buttons for the rear defroster and fog light left.

[1-3-2-4]

From yesterday

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/01/DSC_3109-1.jpg

[TexasLegacy2.5GT]

^^^That looks so much better then the OEM!

[d1giPhux]

Is it easy to get the gauges off without breaking the needles? Seems to be not much info on HOW you do it. I saw the post from before, but still looking for more info.

[1-3-2-4]

I never took off the needles..

Are you referring how to sand under to get the kph and x1000/min?

[Regardie]

Is it easy to get the gauges off without breaking the needles? Seems to be not much info on HOW you do it. I saw the post from before, but still looking for more info.

Yes, once you get the gauge unit out of the cluster with the #2 phillips screws on the back, you will see a black mask of dots on the back of the faces. That mask is how Subaru dealt with the hotspots from the bulb locations. More dots equals less light to the front of the face. The green dye is under that mask so you loose the mask when you sand off the green stuff, hence the hot spots.

Also if you go with replacement LEDs that fit in the original bulb locations, you end up with two different styles of LED. My choices from Superbrightled have a different color temperature.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/01/gauges-1.jpg

There are two #1 screws on the face of the speedometer and tach that hold the face on. Remove those and the face will spin without messing up the needles. Spin it 180 degrees and screw it back in to clear the rest of the face.

[N3M3S1S]

Does this work for the BH? If so, where did you order the strips from?

[HeresMyMind]

Brandon did you ever get my PM? it was months ago when my car was still not running. I had asked about if you could do the LED install for me if I shipped my cluster to you. Drop me a PM if you're still interested.

yes i got your pm and i responded with my mailing address... I need to order new LEDs then what color did you want to do?

-B

[phi11]

I did This last night.
Acetone will take the green off, instead of sanding.
I just wish the needles would glow too.

[d1giPhux]

The acetone won't eat through the paint and destroy the number markings and such? Guess you just gotta be careful about not getting it anywhere near the front!

[phi11]

Too much acetone will Destory it, yes.
Take your time.
I sprayed some acetone on a paper towel, then did a quick wipe on the back, let it dry.
Wipe again, dry, wipe.

At first I was using a dremel, the little drum sander, low rpms,
After awhile it looked like the plastic was going to warp.
Acetone took half the time.

[Chogokin]

Heres
i have 2000 LGT and if i want to do that
how do i know which is +/- red blk?
can you tell me how can i find out please

[Teaf]

legacy89 can u bump me a link where i can get a set of red for my subie please>?

[shoguy]

bringing this one back from the dead... looks like you went with 3528 series LED strips, at night, how bright is it? is it so bright it affects your night vision? I am looking at going with Red, this looks awesome!

[Snow Wolf]

Just saying (and reviving this brilliant thread) that there is a company in the 'states (you guys) called Import Intelligence who do glowing needle type stuff. By all reasoning these should work on our cars. Anyone tried them?
http://yhst-27796775113468.stores.yahoo.net/iminprli.html

[Snow Wolf]

Just pulled my spare BE gauge apart- it does not look easy at all :sad1:

[ChickenJoe]

Hol up... no one has this done for a BE5 legacy? The gen 3? if so can I get a link or feedback? cheers!

[rkrenicki]

Hol up... no one has this done for a BE5 legacy? The gen 3? if so can I get a link or feedback? cheers!

Sure you can, I think there are some pictures around here somewhere.. that said, the BFM upgrade is a much bigger difference and far more impressive.