DIY - Gauge Cluster LED swap

[bren5279]

Does the spectral angles of the LEDs effect it at all?
@DustinS which LEDs did you end up using since it sounds like you changed it for the right lumen rating? Also the display LEDs since it sounds like you changed it?

[DustinS]

All the blue LED's were: Blue LED @ Mouser

I just changed what I wanted Blue. Everything works right, and it is really growing on me. I even found gauges to match:

[bren5279]

In the interest of picking the right LED's did anyone ever check what voltage was across them? and/or know the OEM led lumen ratings?

[Top-Secret]

Well thats a piss off. I ordered the wrong LEDs. The ones i got are tiny!

[PhoKingCool]

Originally Posted by DustinS

Got it somewhat done. The vinyl isn't as nice/is a bit too dark for my liking. So that will most likely be removed. I am going to replace the white LED's for something the same lumins as the Blue so they dim just about the same. I still need to try the shift light. I think it would work better with white needles as the red should make the needles super red. They are going to turn purple now haha. I am also going to change the red warning lights(except oil) to blue, and the amber to white.

This IMO, is the best looking setup so far!

[iniguez310]

Got this done yesterday and today as i was driving I noticed that the mps needle doesnt move, at idle the RPM guage reads 0 and my gas needle is a little off. I did follow the instructions with marking the position of the needles. Any suggestions on what i can do when reassembling it again?? Going to pop it off during the week.

[CJBRZ]

Has anyone tried to change the LEDS on the OEM head unit in the brz? I have a series.blue and I want to change all of the LEDS to blue including the ones in the head unit.

[DustinS]

Originally Posted by CJBRZ

Has anyone tried to change the LEDS on the OEM head unit in the brz? I have a series.blue and I want to change all of the LEDS to blue including the ones in the head unit.

I know @Acree has changed his over. I haven't had the time to open up the stock headunit yet, but I plan on it.

[CJBRZ]

Originally Posted by DustinS

I know @Acree has changed his over. I haven't had the time to open up the stock headunit yet, but I plan on it.

Yeah I saw, but I guess he's banned. Do let me know how it goes if you get to it before me, I'll probably do my car in stages depending on how long it takes. I was going to put blue foot well lights in this weekend when I realized it wouldn't look that great with all the red LEDs at night.

[Pwolf]

Originally Posted by CJBRZ

Has anyone tried to change the LEDS on the OEM head unit in the brz? I have a series.blue and I want to change all of the LEDS to blue including the ones in the head unit.

I replaced my headunit so I don't need to do this but I was curious...

It seems pretty simple. There are 10 clips along the sides that hold the plastic face plate and underlying circuits. Be gentle as you take it apart is there is a single ribbon cable the attaches the faceplate boards to the rest of the unit.

You shouldn't have to disconnect this, just place a small towel down on the exposed side of the head unit after you've taken off the face place and then flip the plate over to set it down to work on. This will help protect the screen.

Next there are two main boards. The large one has one single LED in the corner and the smaller board contains the rest of the goodies. The LEDs are pretty small but you might be able to get away with using the PLCC2's.

Here's a picture of the underside of the faceplate:



I've circled the screws that need to be removed. I only took the large board off to take a quick look to see if there was anything else under there. You have to unplug 4 of the ribbon cables and make sure you reconnect them after you're done. These have simple locking actions so you just need to gently release the locks by pushing them away from the base and the ribbon cable will slip out easily. To lock the cable back in, make sure the cable is in as far as it can go and then push the locking piece back towards the base of the connector. A bit of work for one LED but not that bad.

As mentioned, I didn't look at the smaller board. I don't have my smaller screwdriver set readily available but if you want me to take that apart and take a pic, I can do it tomorrow after work.

[DustinS]

I'll dig into mine tonight(Hopefully not destroying it) and get some picture up. Thanks for leading the way.

[CJBRZ]

Thanks guys that would be very helpful.

[DustinS]

Mind you I have an FR-S that is why the board is different. I would not recommend this to anyone that isn't confident in their soldering skills. They are extremely small LED's and very easy to burn up/lose.(Size comparison next to a PLCC-2 which is used in the gauge cluster) You will definitely want to order from somewhere Like Mouser. I found that my ebay LEDs had 2 different blue LEDs packaged together. So The color/intensity isn't dead set. Though it is very, very hard to tell. The amber buttons even came out blue, which I wasn't expecting.

I'll get the size in the morning, typing this from bed and really don't want to get up to check.

[CJBRZ]

@Pwolf are these the same LEDs used in the BRZ nav head unit?