Dash Lights - LED Conversion & Cruise Light

[myowneq]

Hi Everyone,

Been awhile, but I'm getting back into the swing of things with my Alero. Right now, I'm looking at the cheap mods that will individualize my car. Tomorrow, I will be painting the calipers and clearing the headlight lens. Two things I've been wanting to do.

But time for my questions. I'm want to do the LED conversion in the gauge cluster and found several topics on them, but the pictures were long gone. Anyone have a picture of what they look like? Also, can LEDs be used with a dimmer switch?

Next question deals with the Cruise control light in the gauge cluster. I drive frequently at night and really don't like those lights bright. The one light that irritates me the most is the green Cruise light. Is there any way for me to dim that, either a seperate switch or hooked up into the others?

Thanks,
Timothy

[Oldsnut]

Don't you have a Guage Cluster dimmer switch already built into your car?

[cherrington17]

^should be on the left side, next to your fog light switch...

and yes, you can put leds behind the gauge cluster. I put leds into the PNRD321 console, and moved the wires from there, to a distro.... so anything that turns on w/ those, has led lighting. Which is also wired into the gauge cluster. so technically, w/ that setup, and lights i add that turn on when its dark, can all be dimmed.

the bulbs in the cluster are 194s. you can just pull that bulb out and replace it w/ another www.superbrightleds.com (http://www.superbrightleds.com) has a bunch of led type 194 bulbs. i'd suggest the inverted. If you are handy w/ a soldering gun, you can do it yourself. I personally have 2 different colors of leds back there, connected to a switch, so i can change the backlighting... Led lights will be brighter then the 194s though, so you might need more then one resistor in line to get the right level of dim, for yourself.

as for the cruise control light... i believe www.oznium.com sells 3mm leds. which would work in there, as long as its not 12v. If it is, you'll have to figure out how to work a resistor in between. (put a volt meter across the connectors on the bulb you want to replace, when its "on" see what you get) Most people won't do this mod, since it involved playing with the circuit board. you can do alot of damage w/o doing much at all... so its up to you on that one.

I don't have pics of my gauge cluster, but i'm going to redo some wiring friday, so i'll take some then. Not really a "how to" but you can see the finished product and just fill in the blanks. lol

[myowneq]

Thanks for the info Cherrington. I'll be looking forward to your pictures.

Oldsnut, as to your question, for some reason, on my 2002, the bright light and cruise light are not on a dimmer switch. They are either on or off. That's the irritating part. :)

[Cyber Knight]

Here's some pix of mine, five LEDs I sanded flat and soldered myself with a 470 ohm resistor on each. Easily one of my favorite mods.
http://www3.telus.net/cyberknight/Alero/Unsorted/GaugeFull.jpg

http://www3.telus.net/cyberknight/Alero/Unsorted/GaugeR.jpg

http://www3.telus.net/cyberknight/Alero/Unsorted/GaugeL.jpg

http://www3.telus.net/cyberknight/Alero/Unsorted/Gauges01.jpg

[adam337]

i wanna do mine in red like cyber's.
and for the AC knobs will mine be a blue clear like that? 2001

[Cyber Knight]

The AC knobs were a sickly looking greenish color, then I painted them with Krylon blue stained glass spray paint. Some years don't have translucent ones, they are solid so peeling the covers off those won't have any glowing effect. Mine is a 2000.

[cavaliers60]

Here's some pix of mine, five LEDs I sanded flat and soldered myself with a 470 ohm resistor on each. Easily one of my favorite mods.



You couldn't just replace the old bulbs with 194 LED bulbs???? :huh: Cause that's all I did and they work just fine.... Less work for me. haha lol

[cherrington17]

depends on if you have a few hundred blue leds sitting around (900 in my case) or are ordering speficially for your cluster... lol

you could also open up the HVAC, get to the circuit board and replace the bulbs w/ 3mm leds. but again you'd have to know if its 12v or 3v....

heres mine, how they look while lit...

[myowneq]

Ok, so I just got my LEDs in today. I got the 5mm Reds. I like your blue dash and can't wait to see mine in red. Do ya'll think the 5mm might be too bright at full power?

[clutch1]

Doubt it, there's always the dimmer if so.

I made mine red by painting the bulbs with some red paint until they had a decent coat on them. For being the lazy way out it looks decent.