Check out all my LED mods!

[Metal Maxima]

Originally Posted by nzelinsky

nobody reads threads man why would they do that? its so much easier to skip the reading and ask a bunch of questions that are already answered a few posts prior

My bad, I know. Reading is SO 20th-century

[Skier]

Very Nice!!

I have my shift indicating plate off right now for paint.
Specifically what bulb was used to light up the shifter indicator plate? (w/ numbers and letters)...

Thanks...

[J-Rod]

Originally Posted by Metal Maxima

Doesn't anybody actually READ thread content anymore?

No, makes me sick, because I'm re-reading the answer to the stupid question that was answered already.

[Metal Maxima]

Originally Posted by J-Rod

No, makes me sick, because I'm re-reading the answer to the stupid question that was answered already.

404: Invalid Argument.

Rereading would cite the precedence of an initial read whereas the query asked if the initial is still performed as of late.

Just sayin'.

[jowo9]

or... you can just buy a 100 pack of LEDs and resistors on ebay ... that's what I did.

[jowo9]

Very Nice!!

I have my shift indicating plate off right now for paint.
Specifically what bulb was used to light up the shifter indicator plate? (w/ numbers and letters)...

Thanks...

Actually, I just used 7 5mm LEDs and resistors all wired in to the wire from the original light for that plate... I'm not exactly sure what the original bulb was...

[Skier]

Thanks jowo9. I had read your entire write-up, good job by the way, but wanted to make sure the shifter light was not from V-LED’s. I have several leftover, so I figured I’d be sure.

Thanks for the response and your time…

[Rochester]

Originally Posted by Metal Maxima

Single #74 bulb facing towards and acrylic diffuser. You can remove the diffuser and make your own very easily using 4 leds and a small piece of acrylic

Excellent. Can you do that externally, or by pulling the center console, or by pulling the center stack?

[NissanMan97]

i wanna do this...but i also want a car!!!

B

[jowo9]

Originally Posted by Rochester

Excellent. Can you do that externally, or by pulling the center console, or by pulling the center stack?

You have to take the trim around the shifter out, take out the head unit/climate control combo, take the HU/CC combo apart, take apart the CC (partially) so that you can get to the clear plastic diffuser. Then, drill holes in the diffuser and insert LEDs

[ecrash]

Originally Posted by knight_yyz

how did you get the clock white? I took mine apart and it still wants to be blue/greeny color


For resistors type resistor calculator on google, type in the number of led's in the string the voltage from the battery, and the voltage drop across the led.

He used red cellophane to make the clock, HU and climate control white.

[Metal Maxima]

Originally Posted by jowo9

You have to take the trim around the shifter out, take out the head unit/climate control combo, take the HU/CC combo apart, take apart the CC (partially) so that you can get to the clear plastic diffuser. Then, drill holes in the diffuser and insert LEDs

this

[M1RAG3]

props for the DIY. The blue leds look SICK....

[jowo9]

Ok, here's my best attempt to answer all your questions...

Very nice leds... going to do mine when I am free. Whats the mcd on those blue led? around 8000mcd?

-I'm not sure the exact mcd on my LEDs. I ordered a 100 pack on ebay that came with 100 resistors. I would advise doing that because it's much easier than trying to find the right resistors. It's cheap too. In my opinion, most of the sellers just throw out a number between 8000 and 20000 for mcd... so it probably doesn't matter... just type in "blue led resistor" in the ebay search and you'll find something good.

jowo... Do you have a parts list for all the bulbs needed?

-which bulbs? all of the blue ones except in the bottom of the doors are 5mm LEDs from ebay. The ones in the door are just #194 wedge LEDs.

Where'd you get the red cellophane from? Got any extra you'd like to sell to me so I can do my clock and HVAC as well? Looks good for sure! Good job!

-I got it from a craft store. I tried a couple shades until I found what I liked (the most white) and used 2 pieces doubled up. I'd be willing to mail you a bit of the extra if you want. You might want to check a craft store first though... quite inexpensive and easy to find. Let me know.

What's that light above your ashtray glowing down on your shifter? Did you create that?

-See previous posts of mine in this thread. The info is there.

I just went out to the parking lot to look... OMG, there is a light panel there, and you're right that it's incredibly weak. I need to look at this later tonight, after dark.
Wow... 7 years later, and I just found something on my car I never knew was there. Thanks, bibpopaj!

-Hahaha, I know! I had the same reaction a while ago when I saw it. Stupid stock light...

sweet thanks. one more, just wondering what bulbs you used for all those replacements and where did you buy all the supplies?

-see above answer. as for all of the white exterior lights, i got them at v-leds.com
I can specify the exact ones if anyone wants.

[el_colombiano]

very nice dude iv been wanting to do some thing like that wit my maxima but have not had anytime

[jowo9]

Here's a PM that I am just going to answer in the thread so I don't have to do it again Thanks Kquezada28 and everyone else for the compliments!

Originally Posted by Kquezada28

wow bro i saw your LED pics and you took that to another lever man...im really liking hoe it looks....the main things i want to know how to do is the shifter light, the ring around the ignition, and how you turned the green displays to white....im in love with the look! i would a ppreciate it if you could help me out! thanks

The Shifter Lights:
You need to get at the light. Remove trim (1 screw under the ashtray... then you can just pry it up carefully with a small flathead screwdriver). Then pry up shifter plate (i think there are 4 places it's snapped in, and you may have to take out the 2 screws of the center console under the shifter trim so you can lift up the front of the center console and get the shift plate out... I'm not sure). Then I put 7 LEDs + resistors (1 for each little window and 2 for the 3-D window) in the little black thing that held the light under the plate and spliced them in to the power wire for the original light. I grounded them on a screw somewhere in that hole under the shifter(can't remember where)

NOTE: For ALL of my blue LEDs, I sand them first. It gives them a cloudy appearance and makes them distribute light evenly so you don't get hotspots as badly

Ignition Ring:
You need to pop off bottom of steering wheel trim. There are 3 screws underneath it you'll have to remove first. Also, the black ring around the clear part of the ring will just pop off. Then take the clear part out, splice in 2 LEDs +resistors to the original light power cord and fit them in to the hole the original light went in to. I grounded these on a screw underneath the trim under the dash on the driver's side (had to take it off, but not hard to do) because if you ground 2 LEDs to the original light's ground wire, they are dimmer...

Green displays changed to WHITE
You'll need to remove the Head Unit/Climate Control combo, and the clock. (there are write-ups on how to do this) You then proceed to take the face off each (not too hard to figure out and usually involves a few screws that hold the face on, and some snaps. just make sure you get all the screws before you try to pry the face off...you'll also need to separate the HU/CC by removing the metal brackets on the sides that also hold it in place).. Put in red cellophane to cover the display (i used 2 layers, but it depends on the type of cellophane you find and use.. just try different ones/combos)


Sorry if these descriptions are unclear or lacking... it's just hard to know exactly what you need to know as you may already know/are able to figure out how to take some things apart. Also, each of those 3 things could have its own writeup with pics and be more effective, but I didn't take any pics when doing it. Sorry if my directions are unclear. I'm happy to clear any of it up or answer any other specific questions though!

[nzelinsky]

Originally Posted by jowo9

or... you can just buy a 100 pack of LEDs and resistors on ebay ... that's what I did.

link? also, what grit sandpaper works best for the leds?
AND, how do you know how many resistors to use? can you give a specific example. for instance the shifter LED's you put in how many lights and how many resistors in what sequence. and what strength are the resistors?

thanks for all your advice on this. led's are a great affordable mod to customize the car and update the looks.

[gofastermax]

badass man very badass you just gave me sumthing to do on my birthday weekend, since my b-day is my cars b-day!!!

[knight_yyz]

Originally Posted by Metal Maxima

Doesn't anybody actually READ thread content anymore?

Oh my ****ing god... excuse me for missing a post in the thread... wow the world is coming to an end folks!!!

[jowo9]

Originally Posted by nzelinsky

link? also, what grit sandpaper works best for the leds?
AND, how do you know how many resistors to use? can you give a specific example. for instance the shifter LED's you put in how many lights and how many resistors in what sequence. and what strength are the resistors?

thanks for all your advice on this. led's are a great affordable mod to customize the car and update the looks.

-It was a while ago that I bought those LEDs on ebay, but i just searched "blue led resistor" and came up with a bunch of good hits. any of those would be good.. the ones that include resistors... just use your best judgement because the exact ones i bought are no longer there.
-I used 220 grit, but basically anything to "cloud up" the led.
-since the LEDs are usually around 2-4 Volts each, you can only add as many in series as the 12 V voltage of the car. For example. If the LED is rated at 3V, you can put 4 in series before they become dimmer. It won't hurt anything if you do more...but they won't be as bright. So what I did just to be sure they were all maximum brightness was to wire each LED individually with it's own resistor. As far as I know, you're supposed to use a resistor with EVERY LED. So in series, you could do [positive power source to resistor to pos. LED lead to neg. LED lead to resistor to pos. LED lead and so forth] .....
the way I did it was positive power source to all resistors which went to all LEDs. The negatives all combined and spliced into the neg wire or grounded on a screw.
-I didn't want to bother calculating the resistor rating etc. That's why I bought LEDs on ebay that came with them. That way someone in china calculates it for me

[knight_yyz]

http://www.hebeiltd.com.cn/?p=zz.led...tor.calculator

[jowo9]

So right now I'm doing what metalmaxima did to brighten his gauges (removing old bulbs, dremeling the hole to make it bigger, and soldering in bigger #194 lights instead) I had to drive 20 min to get the last bulb (i ran out! gaah!) and I'm going to finish it tonight. I am not removing the needles and sanding the blue filter because 1. I don't want to chance wrecking my speedo and 2. I don't have the 'superwhite' 194's... just the regular ones... from what I've done so far, it looks like it will be noticeably brighter...even without sanding the blue filter. Will finish tonight.

[Kquezada28]

need to tech my the ingnition ring and how to use the red cellophane to change the light color!!!!

[Metal Maxima]

Originally Posted by jowo9

I don't have the 'superwhite' 194's... just the regular ones... from what I've done so far, it looks like it will be noticeably brighter...even without sanding the blue filter. Will finish tonight.

I highly recommend waiting until you can have access to the Polargs - the output canno be compared to any other 194

[nzelinsky]

Originally Posted by jowo9

-It was a while ago that I bought those LEDs on ebay, but i just searched "blue led resistor" and came up with a bunch of good hits. any of those would be good.. the ones that include resistors... just use your best judgement because the exact ones i bought are no longer there.
-I used 220 grit, but basically anything to "cloud up" the led.
-since the LEDs are usually around 2-4 Volts each, you can only add as many in series as the 12 V voltage of the car. For example. If the LED is rated at 3V, you can put 4 in series before they become dimmer. It won't hurt anything if you do more...but they won't be as bright. So what I did just to be sure they were all maximum brightness was to wire each LED individually with it's own resistor. As far as I know, you're supposed to use a resistor with EVERY LED. So in series, you could do [positive power source to resistor to pos. LED lead to neg. LED lead to resistor to pos. LED lead and so forth] .....
the way I did it was positive power source to all resistors which went to all LEDs. The negatives all combined and spliced into the neg wire or grounded on a screw.
-I didn't want to bother calculating the resistor rating etc. That's why I bought LEDs on ebay that came with them. That way someone in china calculates it for me

Okay sounds good! thanks man.
So if you wire each led seperate power with a resistor, that resistor brings it up from 3v to 12v? sorry Im so noobish with this electrical stuff.... cool I found the ones on ebay that come with resistor.

Im going to do all my lights and gauges with red led's.... I like blue but I think red will have a very distinct look that should make it stand out.

Anybody know if there is a way to make the clock and climate control red? I read you used red cellophane to make clock white... so could you use extra layers to make it turn red? how about the climate control display? I dont know if that is lit by bulbs or if it is some sort of LCD display... anybody tried messing with it?

[nzelinsky]

oh yeah for the bulbs what is best fit 3mm 5mm???

[jowo9]

-no, each resistor makes it so only ~3V gets to each LED, otherwise you'll blow it.
-I used 5mm LEDs all around, though if you're trying to attempt the actual buttons in the climate control (which i didn't cuz they're already quite white) then use 3mm for those. Otherwise 5 are fine and probably the best.
-Using more layers of Red Cellophane might work.. but would make the display considerably dimmer... if I were you i'd just do red everywhere and a white display... but it's your choice. just experiment with the cellophane.

[bigpopaj369]

heres my clock just did it

[knight_yyz]

I always considered the clock to be cyan in color. But that must not be the correct color, because in order for cyan to become blue in photographic terms you must add a magenta filter and the cyan will look blue. I have a whole swath of lee filters kicking around so i tried every magenta filter I have to make the clock and climate control blue. None of them worked correctly. So after reading that you need red for the clock to become white I realized I can make my clock blue... It's a little blurry but you get the idea.

does anyone know how to prevent the clock from dimming with the headlights?

[bigpopaj369]

Originally Posted by knight_yyz

I always considered the clock to be cyan in color. But that must not be the correct color, because in order for cyan to become blue in photographic terms you must add a magenta filter and the cyan will look blue. I have a whole swath of lee filters kicking around so i tried every magenta filter I have to make the clock and climate control blue. None of them worked correctly. So after reading that you need red for the clock to become white I realized I can make my clock blue... It's a little blurry but you get the idea.

does anyone know how to prevent the clock from dimming with the headlights?

yep! its called the always bright clock mod i did it to my max a while back u get access to the wires on the back of the clock and clip the red wire with the silver stripe and tape it off tuck it away. the dimmer will no longer dim the clock and it will always be bright

[jowo9]

I believe you snip a red wire that goes into the clock... Or one with red on it. I can't remember, I'd have to go look at what I snipped... If no one else knows I'll go look at my clock. My car's just not here for the next hour...

[knight_yyz]

cool, I checked the FSM and according to that, the wire to cut is R/L which is obviously red wire with a stripe, but I think the L actually stands for light blue IIRC. I'll be doing that because the filter is a bit too dark.

Now i have to take the climate control out of the car to do that too.

[bigpopaj369]

ya its red with a silver or lite blue stripe i gotta take apart my climate too i just got red leds for the buttons and red cellophane for the display

[knight_yyz]

I just went out and snipped it. It is red with light blue.

[Prophecy99]

Originally Posted by Metal Maxima

5mm all the way around; for climate control button indicator lights, 3mm.

Sounds like you mean LED sizes, but are the stock lights for that area LEDs? Nothing like the small halogen #74 bulb in the stock ignition light ring ? Just yesterday my Climate Control Button Indicator light went out only on the left side.
Thanks.

[DarrenHD]

[QUOTE
Ok, there are my LED mods I've done in the last while. What do you all think??[/quote]

Very nice! how did you power all that?

Why don't you put some LED's on the instrument cluster like I did... $20 bucks from Crappy tire



Again, as you mentioned, looks much better in real life. This is only a crappy pic from my iPhone camera.

[Merxima]

LEDs look real good! Specially the speedo, im very jealous haha. You obviously took your time, very nice!

[DarrenHD]

Originally Posted by Merxima

LEDs look real good! Specially the speedo, im very jealous haha. You obviously took your time, very nice!

Actually...not Took about 5 minutes to setup (or less!). The small LED's just stick to the outside of the cluster....hook up to the 12V cigarette lighter. But the end result does in fact look pretty good! Better in real life I will keep it

I just got my Maxima 2002 SE a few days ago...so I'm looking to mod/improve

[tmnails]

hey jowo i know u said u could specify the lights u got from v-leds...

could u post a link for the ones u used for the fogs as well as the reverse back-up lights?

thanks much

[01GLEMist]

This looks amazing. GREAT job man. Quick question, where did you mount all of these LEDs to? Did you have to drill holes in the circuit boards? I'm assuming they didn't just sit where the old bulbs did...