DIY Change LEDs in Speed/Tach Gauge

[MackMan]

I believe I am going to tackle this one Found a speedometer for a decent price might jump on it and do this int he next few weeks.

I guess I will just order these LEDs? I've read through the thread just making sure I've got everything situated... http://www.oznium.com/plcc-2

I need 22 LEDs for the speedometer & tacometer (blue)
I need 5 for the LED screen (blue)
and I need 6 for the needles lights turning to white?

For the LED screen since we can't find the angled LEDs how do we put these in it's place? Thanks!

[Rhyder]

Originally Posted by MackMan

I believe I am going to tackle this one Found a speedometer for a decent price might jump on it and do this int he next few weeks.

I guess I will just order these LEDs? I've read through the thread just making sure I've got everything situated... http://www.oznium.com/plcc-2

I need 22 LEDs for the speedometer & tacometer (blue)
I need 5 for the LED screen (blue)
and I need 6 for the needles lights turning to white?

For the LED screen since we can't find the angled LEDs how do we put these in it's place? Thanks!

this was somewhere in the thread

"I'm the one that's been helping anglwings with her swaps, and we both looked everywhere and could not find the proper right angle leds, I spent over an hour on the phone with multiple companys trying to figure it out, so instead we just cane up with the idea of turning the plcc2s on their sides and it worked perfect..."

[572HP]

Originally Posted by Rhyder

this was somewhere in the thread

"I'm the one that's been helping anglwings with her swaps, and we both looked everywhere and could not find the proper right angle leds, I spent over an hour on the phone with multiple companys trying to figure it out, so instead we just cane up with the idea of turning the plcc2s on their sides and it worked perfect..."

Yep, this does work perfect. The pads on the side of the LED run the whole length, so it is very easy to get solder to bridge between the pad and the LED.

[MackMan]

Got the LEDs in. Definitely not what I was expecting. They're SUPER small haha. Never worked with any LEDs like this before. Hope for the best. Might try to get some done tomorrow or Friday and see what happens.



There are no leads or anything so how do I solder these? Do I remove all the solder from both sides removing the LED as well. Then put the LED on the correct side and solder on the back side letting the solder go through the tiny hole to the other side? I'll check out YouTube and see if there are any videos of how to do this as well. Just wondering if anyone has some tips.


EDIT:
Nevermind I believe this video helped me out. Looks a lot simpler than I thought.

[Rhyder]

cool, thx for everyone posting, I know your helping me with my planned work

[MackMan]

Very tedious!! Got one side done but I may resolder them as it doesn't look pretty........ I used too big of a solder cause I can't find my smaller roll. Also going to buy a sharper tip for my soldering iron today.

For those of you that painted the tac needles, how'd that go? Thought I saw someone do this but I'm not sure.... maybe I dreamt it. Lol.

[MackMan]

I am finally done soldering and went to plug in the new speedometer. All is great except there are 8 LEDs that aren't lit. Are these for something else? They are the same ones on both sides - looks like the ring around my speed is missing some lights but my rpms ring is complete. Help!




Other pics





Update: got everything fixed and installed. Overall not a bad project. Now I've just gotta find a stock radio to do this to in case i mess something up.

Also for some reason my Service Power Steering notification came on after swapping the speedometer. Not sure what's going on with that... :(

[masons2199]

I can not remove the board from the back. Do i need to remove the needles first? If so then what?

[creektrack]

Originally Posted by masons2199

I can not remove the board from the back. Do i need to remove the needles first? If so then what?

Just a lil bump for the thread....if you follow the instructions at the beginning of the thread, you should have no issues...the only thing is I believe anglwngss redoes the explanation on how to remove the bezel, that's the only part that's a tad difficult. ..

Once again, if anyone has any issues, please feel free to contact me and I will help you as much as I can, and I'm sure anglwngss will too...

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[hall92]

Can you just do white needles?

[anglwngss]

You mean the white LEDs under the needles?

Yes, you can just change them, but the only effect it has, is a lighter semi red for the needles.

[creektrack]

You should be able to...don't remember the type of needles the cluster has, but you can change the leds under the needles to white and then take the actual needle apart and scrape the paint off and repaint it white...

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[creektrack]

Here's a link on a detailed writeup of how to do it on a scion tc...same concept applies to the camaro...
http://m.scionlife.com/forums/showth...694&styleid=11

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[creektrack]

Here's a pic of how I pull the needles off of the cluster...I use 2 spoons so it puts equal pressure on the needle and gives you good leverage using the bottom of the spoon as a fulcrum...



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