Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue_Bird
I was wondering if anyone knew the style and size of bulbs that are in the center console. I want to replace them with white or blue LEDs from superbrightleds.com
Is it difficult to take the center console off to get at the light under the cig lighter?
Also if anyone knows if there are aftermarket clocks or any way to change the clock color it would be great to know.
-Happy tuning from the Blue Bird.
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I have actually done a full conversion to blue LEDs on my last car (04 corolla S R.I.P.) and now I have a 05 corolla xrs which I am in the process of converting.
Supplies:
Screw driver with phillips and flat heads
Small screw driver set with phillips and flat heads
For the radio and dash a soldering gun is needed
tweezers
5 Neo wedge 10mm LEDs
about 50 smd LEDS (type: 1206)
Easy: The console
All you do is buy neo wedge 10mm LED bulbs. I found them on ebay. You need two for the climate control part and three for the buttons above. If the outside is clear plastic I would sand that clear plastic to make it frosted for better light scattering.
1. Pop off the plastic around the shifter with a screw driver covered in cloth so you don't
scratch anything. Start from the side facing the e brake.
2. Pull off the middle dial on the climate control and remove the screw. The whole climate
control/clock assembly should then be able to pop off by hand by pulling from
underneath. There maybe some clips you have to push in first I forget.
3. Push in the clips behind the three buttons to pull out the button assemblies. Use a small
flat head screw driver to unscrew the bulbs and screw in the new ones. I also popped off
the front plates and put blue plastic over the green and orange LEDs that can't be
replaced to dim them down as to not over power the blue LEDs.
4. The climate control part is a little difficult. Push in the clips to pull the white assembly out.
You might have to disconnect some of the wiring to really get in there. Again unscrew the
two bulbs and screw in the new ones.
Note: If you have automatic like I had on my last car you can rig something for your shifter light. I was not able to remove my shifter light so I blacked it out and attached an LED strip to my cigarette lighter. You no longer have light around your lighter but whatever.
Medium: Radio and Dash
Radio:
1. Pop of the whole radio/vent assembly with the screw driver covered with a cloth. This part
is very hard and it is easy to damage the plastic be careful. Once removed unplug the
radio wires. Then push in the clips and pop off the radio face.
2. Pull off the two knobs for volume and tuning and unscrew the screws in the back. Once you
get to the circuit board just use the tweezers and soldering gun to remove the LEDs and
solder the new ones in.
3. The LEDs under the LCD screen are very hard to get to. You must unsolder the metal plate
and carefully pull the screen up. I have damaged it before it's a risk. After market LEDs
are usually very bright and I only replaced every other green LED and blacked out the
green LEDs with a sharpie. I also have blacked out the blue ones they are really bright.
Dash/Speedometer:
This part I did on my old car a long time ago and don't remember much. It was similar to the radio with replacing LEDs. I believe there is one screw and the rest pops out. On my xrs the background is black not white and I might need to do more work to make it all blue. Perhaps scratch off the red paint on the back. Ill update once I get it done.
Hardest: The clock
I have not found an after market clock anywhere. What I did on my last corolla was removed the front of the yellow plastic around the clock with a dremel (after removing the clock from within). Then I put clear plexi glass behind the clock hole on the center console. Then a bunch of clear blue plastic behind that (it must be really dark blue to make the color right). This time I am going to try to cut out holes for the hour/minute buttons.
Hope that helps. I will post some pics when I get it all done.
Nasty Green Lights
Linear Mode
