*DIY*--Needle Color Change *56k beware*

[Dark-LE]

Okay, ive seen a couple thing here about how to change light in the gauges, etc, but no full guides. I got reverse glow gauges and i just hated how the dull green needles look. So i decided to pull apart my dash to figure some stuff out. Luckily i had my camera on me so i took some pictures and wrote up this DIY for you all. I had it up on CamryMan, but thats gone now.

Tools
Philips head screwdriver
Your very own two hands.

Materials
194 Bulbs (any color you want, i chose red)

Step 1
Find the two screws above the gauges and unscrew them.


Step 2
Pull the gauge trim off by pulling firmly straight out.


Step 3
Find the four screws holding in the gauges in and unscrew them



Step 4
Unplug the 3 connectors behind the gauges. Remember the order and placement of each connector so you dont screw up!!


Step 5
Now, if you pull out the gauges, and look on the back, youll see a thin circuit board with a bunch of connectors on it.
Youll find a lot of green connectors, the largest ones are the ones we'll be looking at. (IN THE RED CIRCLES)



Step 6
These connectors just twist off and pull out to expose the bulbs used inside.
<img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/Dark-LE/step6a.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">


Step 7
Now this is the hard part. Just take out the connector, and pull out the old bulb. NOTE* on the pictures the bulb is clear, but normally there is a green coating on them to make them look green. I took these off and they made my gauges look orange.


Step 8
Now take your new bulbs and fit them into the sockets. I chose red.


Step 9
Place the bulbs back into the hole, twist and repeat on all the other connectors.


Step 10
Now put everything back together and flip on your lights, and enjoy the new color of your gauges!

[epinionator89]

Wow, that red and blue looks awesome! How long did it take you to do the modification? How much did the bulbs cost? It looks great, but I don't think anything other than green would match my car's color (also green).

[chronoti]

i tried that with blue bulbs in my gen 3 wernt too bright but that was still with the stock background. just as a note if someone does use blue and they arent bright enought use led's. but good write up on how to do it ..... also this works for changing your light colour on your stock gauge set too.

[Ruffrydasean]

freakin sweet.. instead buying those rings that go around it.. One question though.

I dont turn up the brightness on my needle because the old gauges are still behind the Revese indiglo ones.. do i have to remove those completely or is there a way to disable them??

[Terriyaki]

nice diy looks fun must find those blubs and try it sometime. Thanks!

[BlueCam]

dude...i'm going to do this as soon as I get my indiglo guages

this should be on the sticky...

[DarkMastyr]

note: those colored 194 bulbs (at least from my experience) will fade over time. The red will become a pinkish/orange color. The only solution I have (short of replacing the bulb every month or so) is to buy a pen designed for coloring glass and withstanding high temepratures from a crafts store like Michaels and recolor the bulbs every once in a while.

[skewe]

nice..

just the instructions I need to replace the blown bulb

[mystickid]

Great DIY Write up Dark-LE,


Without using Red bulbs, is there a possible way to only modify *just* the *needle* to glow red? IS there maybe a special paint that can be applied to the needles that makes them red and lets light shine through? etc.

I ask this because I want my guages to be white with red needles.

I'm working on making my guage look like this TSX's below...

[Bunthy]

^ you can sand off the back of the needle, if its painted orange from the factory. Then get some color paint from Micheals thats made for plastics. I think a pen would work easy than the brush on. I, myself have been meaning to do this for a while.



also you can buy a 2528 (or 2825) bulb. it fits the 194 168 sockets and runs at 5w compared to 3.2w? In any case its brighter than the 194. However, since its brighter the life of it will be shorter 500hr compared to 750-1000hr, but the results are MUCH better.

[Silver Streak]

Looks good dude...

[mystickid]

Bunthy,
THANX FOR THE GREAT TIP.

However, I already have Super white 5LED matrix 194 bulbs in the back of the guage cluster that make my guages white. At the same time they make the needles white. the needles are made from like a clear plastic with a little bit of white coating so they will glow whatever color the 194 bulbs in th back are.

So i'm guessing now, that the only way to mod the needles to red is probably to go buy some of the plastic paint from a craft shop.

[Dark-LE]

I think that the bulbs will replace the background color on the gauges, liek the numbers as well, but i havnt tried it. I got reverse glow gauges so they are just overlays as well.

The bulbs themselves cost about...1.99 for a pack of 2 at autozone. I couldnt really find any other places that had any other colors besides red and standard halogen.

Ive also heard people using colored celophane and sharpie markers to color their things.

Mods like this are up to the imagination, im just glad i could help out with a DIY. The next one i want to try to do is the other lights DIY, like the AC controls and such!

[mystickid]

Darl-LE,

Yeah the shapie marker sound like an easy way to go. I'm interested in the cellophane though, i'm gonna head out to alocal craft shop and see what i can find.

I can't wait to see you AC controls and interior light DIY. Keep up the great work!!!

[randomman84]

here is my set up. I did the same thing about 4 months ago and the 194's are still going strong. got em from superillumination.com i think. if you use white 74's in the shift lights they look bright blue. I got one in the D and a red in the N and R.