I couldn't find anything for the polarity of the instrument panel circuit board so by trial and error here it is. Note: LEDs unlike regular bulbs must be oriented properly by polarity.
Instrument panel lights from right to left (as seen from the circuit board)
1) up -
2) up +
3) up -
4) up -
Right Turn Signal) up +
C Diff Lock) up +
Bright Indicator) up -
Left Turn Signal) up +
Cruise) up -
AT Oil Temp) up -
ABS) up +
Low Fuel) up +
Battery) up -
Brake) up -
Air Bag) up -
Seatbelt) up -
Door Ajar) up -
Low Oil) up +
Check Engine) up -
Some notes:
Tried blue for the panel lights but they washed out the gauge needles making them hard to see, tried red and it works and looks great.
Red didn't work so well in the AC controls, tried blue (see night photo) but it isn't quite right either so I'll probably go back to white.
You can put any color you want in the indicator/warning lamps and the LEDs will make it that color even if a color filter is there. Exception of course a white LED behind a color filter would be the color of the filter.
Blue turn signal indicators look great.
I have a 5 speed so I didn't put an LED in the AT Oil temp position, left a bulb there.
- Installed T-5 LEDs in the instrument panel and ac controls (ordered some spares because I wanted to try different colors out)
-- 13 ea - 74-RHP3: Red 3 led (https://www.superbrightleds.com/)
-- 9 ea - 74 - WWHP3: Warm White 3 LED (https://www.superbrightleds.com/)
-- 5 ea - 74 - BHP3: Blue 3 LED (https://www.superbrightleds.com/)
- 2 ea - LEDs in front dome lights BA9S-CWHP5: Cool White (https://www.superbrightleds.com/)
- 1 ea - LEDs in rear dome light JDM ASTAR Extremely Bright 31-EX Chipsets DE3175 DE3021 DE3022 1.25" LED Bulbs, Xenon White (amazon.com) This is an awesome bright white light, it is slightly longer than stock, I just bent the retaining clips
- Installed T-5 LEDs in the instrument panel and ac controls (ordered some spares because I wanted to try different colors out)
-- 13 ea - 74-RHP3: Red (https://www.superbrightleds.com/)
-- 9 ea - 74 - WWHP3: Warm White (https://www.superbrightleds.com/)
-- 5 ea - 74 - BHP3: Blue (https://www.superbrightleds.com/)
- 2 ea - LEDs in front dome lights BA9S-CWHP5: Cool White (https://www.superbrightleds.com/)
- 1 ea - LEDs in rear dome light JDM ASTAR Extremely Bright 31-EX Chipsets DE3175 DE3021 DE3022 1.25" LED Bulbs, Xenon White (amazon.com)
By the way, be careful with the turn signal LEDs the one's I bought (blue) are too bright and I'm getting dimmer ones. The blue is ok in the headlight high beam spot because it has a blue filter and it dims it quite a bit. The turn signal position has no filter, the bulb had a green sleeve over it.
This is the blue LED I'm replacing my turn signals with: YITAMOTOR 20 X COB T5 0.5W Speedometer Dashboard Instrument Panel Blue LED Light Bulbs 74 (amazon.com)
@eodgator I tried changing to a white T5 single led bulb. And it's grounding my 10A fuses. It's not bright, just white in color. If that weak, cheapo single led is grounding my 10A, how is yours doing? No grounds yet? Is yours just plug and play? Or you have to ground something also to the body? Is your T5 single led but bright or dual led?
Sorry for the questions, my cheapo T5s are really getting on my nerves.
Make sure the LEDs are in straight, the T-5 doesn't have the bulge that a standard T-5 incandescent bulb has so it can be put in at an angle which may let it short out. Or, the LED could be bad and causing a dead short as well. Fortunately I didn't have any problems at all with mine. Good luck with the conversion.
The LED I put in the rear dome light JDM ASTAR Extremely Bright 31-EX Chipsets DE3175 DE3021 DE3022 1.25" LED Bulbs, Xenon White (amazon.com) and they are a really bright white light, slightly longer than stock so I bent the retaining clips a little and it works just fine.
Ahya728, I Just realized that I didn't fully answer your question the first LED's listed as 74 have three LEDs. They are plenty bright for all applications in the dash except for the turn signals which are way too bright. I have replacements on hand but I'm working on other projects at the moment and haven't installed them yet.
Well, here's my LED work so far! I didn't bother changing the bulbs in the cassette/DVD players since I'll probably get them changed soon. Anyone know what kind of bulbs are in the AC/Defogger/ECT buttons? I would love to rid the car of as many green lights as possible. No offense, but it just looks bleh... It's crazy to think that 8 months ago I thought I didn't have enough car smarts to make any mods to my car, and here I am now.
Muppetseb: A single white T-5 LED will do it for the background of the climate controls. As far as changing the colors of the clock, AC/Defogger/ECT buttons, they are sealed as far as I can see and would require risky disassembly to change if they are changeable. One day after I complete several other projects, I'm going to give it a shot.
Congratulations to pushing your envelope, looking great.
A single white T-5 LED will do it for the background of the climate controls. As far as changing the colors of the clock, AC/Defogger/ECT buttons, they are sealed as far as I can see and would require risky disassembly to change if they are changeable. One day after I complete several other projects, I'm going to give it a shot.
Congratulations to pushing your envelope, looking great.
Thanks! While putting the led in the climate control, I popped out the button and saw a really tiny bulb, not sure which one it is. I'll try to take some pics next time I open up the dash. As for the clock, I'll leave it green lol. It always seems to go off and on. There is a guy on eBay that can fix it, but not sure what it entails.
The rear defroster and the ECT switches are easy.
Unplug the switches, pull them out and on the side there should be two grey circles. With the help of a flat blade screwdriver, unscrew them 1/4 of a turn and they should fall down. You can replace them with commercially available leds like these: Definitive led thread for 80s | Page 16 | IH8MUD Forum (browse through the whole thread, you will find it very helpful)
The AC button is substantially more difficult, as it requires disassembly and soldering, but certainly doable.
As for the clock, you could always buy a similar sized unit and find a creative way to place it in the factory slot: Factory clock - replaced to change color | IH8MUD Forum
