Gauge cluster LED conversion

[adalos]

ok, so a lot of people have been asking about changing the LEDs to a different color on their gauges. there's a LED change guide out there, but it's a bit confusing and has crappy pics, so i used some of that and basically revamped it with my own pics and 90% of my own info (i kept the tool list, and gauge dissassembly/assembly from the dash parts from the previous guide since it's fairly straight forward). i've changed the LEDs on my gauges 3 times now, so it's a fairly easy mod if you're comfortable with soldering. just be careful and take your time. anyhow, on to the guide:


Tools that will be required for this installation:


Phillips head screwdriver, short as possible
Phillips head screwdriver, regular size
Set of tweezers
Scissors
Soldering Iron
Thin solder (rosin based or no clean type preferably)
Rubbing Alcohol
Paint Thinner or Brake Cleaner
Q-Tips or soft bristle brush
White or same color as led paint or sharpie marker




Now, it's time to take the gauge cluster out from the car…

The first step to take out the dash is to use the shortest Phillips head screwdriver that you have and unscrew the two screws holding the black dash panel front cowl on. To do this, you will have to lower the steering column to the lowest possible point and remove the screws (that's why you need a short screwdriver since the steering column is in the way.)



Once you have removed the two screws, the black dash cowl will un-snap and pull right out.

Next you will need to remove the three screws holding the gauge cluster in. You will see one on top and one on each side of the bottom of the cluster.



After the screws are out, pull the cluster out a bit and to the side, and you'll see two connectors (white and blue) connected to the back of the gauges. These connectors are just like any other connector in the car in that you have to push down in the middle (snap release) and pull back at the same time for each one. Be sure you don't pull on the wires instead of the connector because you might create a loose connection on one of the wires and screw up the connector. You can then maneuver the entire gauge cluster out from behind the steering wheel and bring it inside for soldering.



Now we're going to flip the gauge cluster over, and you should see a white plastic cover with 8 screws. You're going to unscrew those 8 screws with a phillip's head screwdriver. 7 of them hold the plastic panel on, and the screw in the bottom right holds the circuit board on, so they all need to come off.



Once all the screws are off, the plastic panel will come right off.



Next, you will pull off the circuit board. It's easiest to start on the left side, lifting it slightly and then pulling up a bit from the middle, and then from the right side. It will eventually come free with careful coersion.



You can set aside the rest of the gauge cluster now, as you will only be working on the circuit board for the LED conversion.


Now, flip over the circuit board, and you will see a black rectangular area on the right side. This is the LCD display that shows your Celica's mileage, gas meter, etc. Underneath that LCD box are 13 LEDs that give the LCD screen it's color. You will need to get to those LEDs, so you will need to remove the LCD box.



To do this, you will flip the circuit board back over again, and find the 4 white clips and 2 white pegs that hold the LCD box in. Place the entire circuit board over a pillow or blanket so that when the LCD box comes loose, it doesn't hit a hard surface and crack. Start by pushing the four clips back, and then alternate pressing down on either peg to push the LCD box off of the circuit board until it comes loose. Set the LCD box somewhere safe while you continue working on the LED conversion.



You should now be able to see the LEDs that were laying underneath the LCD box. There are 13 in total.



This is a picture of all the LEDs you will be changing. The circle of LEDs on the left is behind your RPM gauge. The circle of LEDs in the middle is behind your speedometer, and the rectangular area on the right is behind your LCD screen that shows your mileage, gas gauge, temperature, etc.



The next step is to remove the LEDs from the yellow circled areas in the above picture. These will be the LEDs you are replacing to make the gauge cluster color change. I found the best way to remove the stock LEDs is by using tweezers to hold one end of the LED. Press your soldering iron against the solder pad on the circuit board on the same end of the LED that you're holding it on until the solder melts.



Then you can lift up that end of the LED, away from the solder pad. Then heat up the solder pad on the other side of the LED is the same manner. Once the solder melts, you should be able to pull the LED free from the board and discard or save it for backups or use elsewhere in your car.



Once you have removed all the stock LEDs, you will be left with solder remnants on the solder pads. You're going to want to get rid of that so your new solders will be clean, secure and conductive.



Use your desolder braid by placing the braid on top of the circuit board's solder pad, and then place the tip of your soldering iron on the braid above the area on the solder pad you're trying to clean. If you're using a low heat soldering iron, you may have to push the tip of the soldering iron through the braid and onto the soldering pad, heating up the excess solder. The solder braid will sort of absorb the solder remnants, leaving behind a clean solder pad. You may want to move the braid around a bit once the solder beneath is heated to help in the absorption. Just pretend your solder braid is a sponge for heated solder. When you're done, all your soldering pads should be free of solder, and appear clean and flat.



Now that you have clean solder pads, it's time to start soldering the new LEDs onto them. The LEDs have to be mounted correctly for them to function. The side with the green triangle is the bottom. The other side with the square lens in the middle will be facing up. When looking at the top of the LED, you will notice there are green markings only on one side.



When lining up your LEDs, the side with the green hash marks needs to be aiming towards the bottom of the circuit board. The bottom soldering pad for each LED also has an "A" next to it. This is the bottom side, and is the same side you want your green hash marks to be on.



You're now going to apply solder to the top solder pad in one of your LED locations on the circuit board. Now use your tweezers to pick up one of the new LEDs, and orient in the manner discussed above, with the green hash marks facing towards the solder pad with the "A" next to it. Heat the solder on the top pad, and lay the LED onto it so that it's gold contact area is against the solder pad. Make sure the entire LED is flat, and both gold contacts on either end of the LED have equal contact area with their corresponding solder pads.

Once positioned correctly, add solder to the bottom solder pad to secure the bottom half of the LED. Remember, you don't need a lot of solder. Also, make sure you're only heating the solder by putting the tip of your soldering iron on the solder pad, NOT THE LED ITSELF! It's very easy to burn the LEDs and render them useless, so make sure you're soldering correctly. If your LED isn't seated properly after soldering both sides, you can reheat each side and use your tweezers to press it down into place. Repeat the process for all of your remaining LED spots.

Before you reassemble your gauge cluster, you should test the LEDs first. Bring the circuit board back out to your car and plug in the blue and white plugs again. Turn your car to the ACC state, and after a few seconds, all the LCDs should be lit up.



If not, take note of which ones are not lit and bring the board back into the house and check their connections. Make sure they're seated flush and that the green hash marks are on the "A" side. If you put one upside down, the best way to remove it is by quickly alternating the soldering iron on both soldering pads the LED is soldered on. Use the tweezers to keep gentle pressure on the side of the LED while you do this. Once both sides area heated up enough to maintain a few seconds of liquid state, the LED should be able to be easily pushed off the soldering pads to the side. Clean the remnant solder off the pads with your solder braid, add solder to the top solder pad, make sure you've corrected the alignment of your LED, and solder the LED back on the same way you did before.

You're almost done now. Once you have all the LEDs working, bring the circuit board back inside and begin reassembling it. Start by placing the LCD box back over the 13 LEDs. Be gentle. Start by lining up the prongs into their receivers, and then slowly and evenly press the entire LCD box back into place. You should hear the white clips snap as your press down. Turn the circuit board over and make sure their all in place as they should be. You may want to clean the LCD screen with some windex and an eyeglass cloth or soft towel to remove dirt and fingerprints.


Place the circuit board back onto the gauge cluster, and place the white plastic panel back ontop of the circuit board, securing it with the 8 screws you removed earlier.
Bring the entire gauge cluster back to your car, plug the blue and white wire plugs into the back and maneuver the gauge cluster back behind the steering wheel and into the dash.
Secure the gauge cluster with the three screws you removed when taking it out, and then place the plastic dash cowl back over the gauge cluster until it snaps into place.
Lastly, replace the 2 screws on the inner top of the cowl that you removed when you took the cowl off.

[kennyz]

You do not need to remove the old solder off the board after taking off the stock LED's. HEHE

[LEDmod]

Originally Posted by adalos

ok, so a lot of people have been asking about changing the LEDs to a different color on their gauges. there's a LED change guide out there, but it's a bit confusing and has crappy pics

Are you refering to my guide??
http://newcelica.org/forums/showthread.php?t=205565

[hombredelassrta]

yea 7 years going and the previous guides , dooly and rj's seemed to be find but good job on it

[adalos]

Originally Posted by Dooly

Are you refering to my guide??
http://newcelica.org/forums/showthread.php?t=205565

nope, haven't seen that one. the one i've seen has the same exact first part that I used on mine (describing the tools needed and the gauge removal from the car). yours is much better than that one.

[Yca]

well explained!! nice..

[RevHard]

Very nice write up man... I'm just doing my blue conversion right now and your explanations are very accurate.. Great pics

[LEDmod]

Originally Posted by RevHard

Very nice write up man... I'm just doing my blue conversion right now and your explanations are very accurate.. Great pics

You don't like my guide??

[.2002SilverGT]

This one is completely idiot proof lol

[whoadizzle]

where do you buy these surface mount leds? ..preferably somewhere offline so i can do this now

[adalos]

not that i know of. maybe if you just happen to have some sort of specialty shop in your area. you can get them on ebay or a multitude of other places online though.

[whoadizzle]

Originally Posted by adalos

not that i know of. maybe if you just happen to have some sort of specialty shop in your area. you can get them on ebay or a multitude of other places online though.

ill prolly just order mine i guess...oznium or that other bright led one. gotta dig my soldering iron out and practice...its been a looooong time.

[adalos]

it's pretty easy because of the soldering pads built into the circuit board. there really isn't any skill needed. you just put the soldering iron tip on the soldering pad, and then rub your solder line on the pad to liquify it. having a fine tip soldering iron helps a lot tho.

[RevHard]

Originally Posted by Dooly

You don't like my guide??

I used yours to make my conversion, and it was enough efficient for me, don't worry Sean I just find that this one is also well done...

[Booster1]

Thank god this is a great review for me. How long did it took you to finish this type of project?

[adalos]

it took me a couple hours the first go round cuz i didn't really know what i was doing. now i can can get it popped out of my car, dissassembled, LEDs swapped out, reassembled and hooked back into the car in about 45 min or less.

[oONoGoAutoOo]

good job. defintiely will get this done soon

[RevHard]

Do it ASAP!! You won't regret this mod

[.2002SilverGT]

hmm anyone know where you can pick these up? preferably not online?

[LEDmod]

Originally Posted by .2002SilverGT

hmm anyone know where you can pick these up? preferably not online?

Probably not offline...

[uber_kraken]

so, will this change the color of the gas and temp. gauge?

[SpikedCola]

If you change those LEDs, yes.

[trdmsprts27]

ADALOS - Were did you get your LED's? There diff then the ones i got from RJautoworks a few years ago lol.

[Celica GT Layne]

everything in the guide except the type of LED can even start without the right LED. so wat type or types are on the instrument cluster??????? and if you can get em off ebay wats the link?

[krazieboy]

I would change these myself, just no idea which ones to buy lol, if anyone can reccomend a specific type and brand that would be great.

[bman365]

store.ledmod.com ...find leds..you want the surface mount ones for the gauge cluster.

[LEDmod]

You can order it from here...
http://store.ledmod.com/index.php?ma...ndex&cPath=3_4

But if you want your gauges to light up other then orange and red, you'll need new gauge face to make it light up like blue, white, green, pink, lemon yellow etc

[Celica GT Layne]

i want to know what type of LED i need so i can compare prices...

[Celica GT Layne]

tryin to pin point the set of 50 on ebay but cant find exactly the one......white LEDs btw

[Celica GT Layne]

or yellow

[h8eternal]

great writeup
im going to book mark this.

[Reaver_GT]

Originally Posted by Dooly

You can order it from here...
http://store.ledmod.com/index.php?ma...ndex&cPath=3_4

But if you want your gauges to light up other then orange and red, you'll need new gauge face to make it light up like blue, white, green, pink, lemon yellow etc

Ok, so I know I've got this straight... You just need the LEDs for the temp and fuel gauges, but you need to replace the LEDs AND the gauge face for the tach and speedometer to change colors, right?

[krazieboy]

correct, i believe the gauges are amber/orange color so changing led's wont really help.

[ieathonda]

do the green arrows on the bottomside of the led need to be aligned in a certain way or are those arrows there just to clarify the bottom of the led?

Thanks

[krazieboy]

i believe it tills u which side ur led should be pointed when u install them

[to be advised]

Just curious cos i was thinking whether is it possible to use cellophane to change the colour of the fuel indicator and temp indicator as there are a couple of plastics behind the actual panel for these 2 indicator.

Anyone tried this before?

[SpecBLUEgts]

sweet

[LEDmod]

Originally Posted by to be advised

Just curious cos i was thinking whether is it possible to use cellophane to change the colour of the fuel indicator and temp indicator as there are a couple of plastics behind the actual panel for these 2 indicator.

Anyone tried this before?

Only color that you can change without doing LED conversion would be red.
If you use red filter...
But it will make it much dimmer light output...