DIY - Gauge Cluster LED swap
 

DISCLAIMER: Do this at your own risk, I will NOT be responsible for any damage you may do to your car.


This is my first DIY write up, so sorry if it kind of sucks.

After successfully swapping out my HVAC lights to red following one of the DIY posts, I now wanted to redo the entire gauge to red. The red LEDs I used are the same ones described from the HVAC DIY.

The main purpose of this DIY is to take apart the OEM Gauge cluster and install new LEDs. I will not be going in to the details of how to solder the LEDs. You can find some videos and posts here on how people did it for the HVAC lights. Just as an FYI, this is my second time soldering SMDs on. The first time being the HVAC light swap.

I ordered an extra Gauge cluster off of ebay to do this with.



1.) Gently pry the top two clips.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2856/1...8e083ee8e5.jpg


2.) Gently pry the two side clips.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2894/1...ec964b9a77.jpg


3.) Gently pry the bottom clips and it should start to come apart.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7453/1...426770a9f8.jpg


4.) Once you have the cover off, it should look like.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7428/1...8bb0ee506d.jpg


5.) Using post-its I marked the spot of the needles.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7380/1...2edaba9743.jpg


6.) using a plastic pry tool, I gently pried off the first needle, from the back of the needle and pried it straight up.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5480/1...55eb469d39.jpg


http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5504/1...23b9272bc4.jpg

7.) Once you have all of the needles off, you should see this. Note the reference lines on the Post-its of where the needles are suppose to be.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3786/1...8565889e74.jpg

8.) After getting all of the needles off, the face should come off and you're left with.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7399/1...460e40af20.jpg

9.) Next remove the two LCD screens. I removed the small one first, by wrapping a small flathead with a tissue and then gently prying straight up on each side of the pins. Be very careful not to break the glass.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2856/1...7309ae07cc.jpg


10.) Next I removed the larger LCD by gently prying straight up with the tissue wrapped flathead. Be very careful not to break the glass.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3811/1...0de839245d.jpg


http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3675/1...52a6b3f805.jpg


11.) After removing the LCDs, you need to take off the white cover. There are 8 screws holding it down. Remove the 8 screws and then lift off the cover.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7332/1...0fee8eba80.jpg

12.) After removing the white cover, you are left with the board and access to all of the LEDs.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2881/1...7a313a9f24.jpg

13.) The Blue circled LEDs are all of the white ones on the gauges.
The red circled ones are the default red LEDs.
I decided to change all of these to the same red I used on my HVAC gauges, which is a darker red color vs. the stock red. In addition to all of these, I changed the various indicator lights that I wanted to be red to red.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2847/1...da8ebe6f51.jpg

14.) After desoldering and Soldering all of the new leds on. I assembled in reverse order of taking it apart.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3735/1...a256be8404.jpg



I haven't switched it out with my original gauges yet. When the weather is nicer outside, I will be using this post as a guide to take out my old cluster and install the new one.

I will update this DIY with before and after shots when the modified one is installed in the car.


Thanks for reading and good luck to anyone who tries this.

There's data that's only stored in the cluster that you're going to need, like the odometer reading. Ask @Acree for more details on the things to look out for if you're swapping out the cluster.

Thanks for the heads up.

Here are the before and after pictures.

Before:

https://v4s.yimg.com/so/7342/12552039395_f4c1afac33.jpg


After:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3714/...2ba5152332.jpg

So you wanted a BRZ look?

Nice, but wow that is bright! Is it just the pictures?

Actually never knew what the brz gauges looked like. I swapped the hvac and wanted to get the reds to match exactly. It's a darker deeper red.

It's just the pics. It's a deeper darker red than the original red that was on there.

Nice! thanks

Nicely done!

Nice DIY.

Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

Would be a good way to get rid of the pesky TPMS light as well....just saying.

Anyone able to chime in and tell me if these will work?

Power TOP SMD SMT Blue PLCC-2 3528 1210 Super Bright Light LED


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I desoldered it... And then just decided to change it to red.