LED Instrument Cluster Light Bulbs

[cleszkie]

I'm wanting to light up my instrument cluster a bit better. Has anyone replaced their stock instrument cluster light bulbs with LEDs? If so, do you have any part numbers for the direct replacement bulbs? Thanks.

[dirish]

I put green led's in my Blazer. I think I just typed in 194 bulb led.
I did my ac heater control bulbs led as well. It's kind cool, and pretty cheap.

[hemi43]

Yup, 194s.
I'm using them for my side markers

[AnotherWs6]

Can we get a little more in depth than just a 194? Are there go to brands, colors etc? Who has some pics that they can share. There is a surprisingly little amount of info on this forum, I have been searching. Also, what about just using the higher watt version of a 194? I believe it is an 18xx or something. Let's get this set once and for all and then make a sticky out of it!

I'm not looking for anything crazy, just to be able to reasonably readmy gauges at night. Thanks!

[ochre1971]

I recently changed mine to LED's. I used these off of Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Worked fine, a big improvement for visibility. They dim a bit with the dimmer control, but not a huge range. There may be better options out there for dimming, not sure.

The high beam indicator and turn signals I just left in regular incandescent bulbs, the LED's didn't add any benefit in those locations.

[AnotherWs6]

How is the color? Would like something with a greenish tint.

[ochre1971]

These are very white. I would think you'd be able to find simliar green ones online.

[dennis7222]

Go to superbrightleds.com They have 10 different kinds of the 194 bulbs.

[AnotherWs6]

Yeah, 6 bucks a piece though. Ouch, gotta pass on that.

[mcmlxix]

On my old cluster setup I used red LEDs but I also disassembled the cluster and painted the inside gloss white to cover the mint green factory color.
I used ebay LEDs that had multiple diodes pointing in different directions to disperse the light in all directions....

[C10_ustacould]

If you do this mod will the lights dim with the rheostat?

[mcmlxix]

Originally Posted by C10_ustacould

If you do this mod will the lights dim with the rheostat?

No. It's either on or off with the LEDs.
You can add a PWM (Pulse Width Modulator) to dim the LEDs but opted not to.

[AnotherWs6]

ochre1971 said that his dimmed somewhat. My understanding is that they need to be equipped with some type of diode - some are and some aren't. Could be wrong. A lot of the adds are straight from China and mention that they have a diode vs cheaper ones that do not.

I ordered two sets....

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Green and yellow. I'll let you know how things turn out.

[ochre1971]

To add to mcmlxix's comment about the PWM, this seems to be what you need in order to make them "fully" dimmable. It's a stand alone dimmer specifically for this application, so you'd have to mount it somewhere accessible.

https://www.amazon.com/Auto-Meter-91.../dp/B000N8GIYG

[JJH Jimmy]

Why not just put 168 bulbs in? They are 3 watt and the 194's are 2 watt. This is what I did and my cluster is bright enough.��

[AnotherWs6]

Thanks - that may end up happening. I was hoping that we would get some good, specific info on dash lighting. All I could find was a guy used leds from somehwere, another from another place he cant rememeber, some used bigger bulbs. We need a FAQ about this.

[Ewr101]

They're dash light bulbs! There's 2 kinds, incandescents 168 and 194 or LED. LED's can't dim without a special LED dimmer. They come in different colors. A vendor was given- Super brightness.com and the rest can be had at Amazon or your local auto parts store. What more do you need to know?

[AnotherWs6]

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM..... which ones - specifically - people have had good luck with.