*DIY* 97 Cluster LED Swap

[BoyBlue]

Hey TN!

So I've decided to swap my cluster lights to LED as most of it had burnt out.
*NOTE* >Incomplete, from the research I did I was sure the NEO4-X LED's would fit to replace my 74 bulbs but they're a size too small I believe, if I'm wrong please correct me . So once I've got that figured out I'll edit this DIY<

Things you'll need:
*A screw driver
*Possibly a flathead screwdriver
*5 WLED-X-120 LED's, i ordered from >Here<
*Free Time

Lets Start:

Lower the steering wheel so you have the most room to work with.
Then unscrew the part of the dashboard that covers the cluster, *Screw indicated by Arrows*


Then Firmly but evenly pull the dash out, *Arrows point to where it's clipped in, make sure not to yank unevenly or you can break the clips, if its stuck or snagged on a side use the flathead screwdriver to wiggle it out*


*Not my car but a 97 camry*

Next you remove the 4 screws as indicated by the Arrows


Once you've unscrewed all 4 sides of the cluster you can remove it. Start by pulling it forward and tilting the bottom up as shown in the picture.


Once you've pulled it forward you have to unhook the cluster from the car. It's connected at three different points as shown in the picture bellow. Make sure you don't try and rip them out but press on where it's clipped in *Indicated by red arrows* and then pull it out.


Next I moved to somewhere that I wouldn't lose any of the little pieces.
Here is the back of the cluster with all the bulbs, 194's are circled in Red and 74's are Yellow.


Remove the old 194's that will look like this:


Then replace them with the WLED-X-120 LED's as shown in the picture bellow, then put them back into the cluster the *EXACT* same way you removed them and same slots.


Now that your replaced all your 194's with the LED's we can do the same for the 74's. Unfortunately as explained before that part of the DIY will be added once my problems been resolved.

Now you can put the cluster back in the order that you removed it and you get your finished product.

Day:

Night:


Here's a video of the cluster all finished, unfortunately where the 74's would of gone is the same as shown in the video.



Hope this is helpful to many people!
Again I apologizes that the 74 LED replacement isn't included atm but will be edited ASAP!
Feedback/questions welcomed

~Kyle

[Chris Crash]

Whoaaaaa. Nice! I like this a lot. Only thing I would do is add some foil to better distribute the light and get rid of the hot spots, OR wire up more LED's.

[BoyBlue]

Thanks Chris! I'll definitely look into that and edit
~Kyle

[Ahil]

Originally Posted by Chris Crash

Only thing I would do is add some foil to better distribute the light and get rid of the hot spots

I've tried this, it doesnt really work.

Originally Posted by Chris Crash

OR wire up more LED's.

this is the only real option when upgrading to LED's. Essentially all of hte replacement wedge LEDs tend to be splotchy.

During the upcoming holidays i'm planning on hooking up a large array of white SMD LED's (using approx 10 SMD's so that the lighting will be evenly distributed and bright as hell (all controllable with the car's dimmer). I will probably make a DIY out of it.

something like this:



Another tip regarding the gauges: wax the protective lens cover, it clears up all haze and scratches and makes it ridiculously clear like glass.

[BoyBlue]

^thanks for advice! looking forward to that DIY

[Mister_Perkins]

dash looks sick bro

Nice DIY

[BoyBlue]

Originally Posted by Mister_Perkins

dash looks sick bro

Nice DIY

Thanks Perkins!
I hope to keep improving this DIY maybe even get it stickied one day

[LynchburgCSI]

NICE! Add this to the "Ken needs to sticky this" thread. Click on the sticky link, and scroll ALLLLLLLL the way down.

[Bobelvago]

Nice, just got to get time in my schedule to do this.

Are there green caps on the original 194s or no?

[wswanson]

Originally Posted by Bobelvago

Nice, just got to get time in my schedule to do this.

Are there green caps on the original 194s or no?

most likely. take off the cluster and look

[LynchburgCSI]

Originally Posted by Bobelvago

Nice, just got to get time in my schedule to do this.

Are there green caps on the original 194s or no?

Yesss.

[Chris Crash]

yes. If you remove them, you get orange gauges.

[Yuko]

Originally Posted by Chris Crash

yes. If you remove them, you get orange gauges.

I remember doing this mod a few months back. Loved the look of the orange gauge, but it was annoying that everything else was lit green. I reinstall the green covers the following day.

Also, another tip is with the gauge out, you can pop off the cover lens cover to blow off any dust or crap inside. Seem like stuff always fall though the trip reset button/hole. The cover is lightly held on by several clip. Be careful not to touch the needles as I heard too many stories of them never lining up right.

[Bobelvago]

Do I need to remove the negative battery cable? I just want to take off the plasticc cover tips for now.

[BoyBlue]

I dont beleive so i didnt touch the battery at all.