SeedyROM

NOTE: This is not a custom LED wiring/replacement thread. This is an LED bulb replacement solution I found since 5.5 owners don't have as many options as earlier models. That is, until now. Total cost being around ~$15 and a half an hour of time.

EDIT: Installation notes/updates at the bottom of this post

First some history. In TunerMaxima3000's custom LED thread (link here) we found out that these later 5.5 clusters are more restrictive and only have two illumination bulbs for the actual gauges (+2 more for the odometer/trip). This means that traditional drop-ins, narrow beam LEDs, etc look terrible in our clusters. I myself tried to use various #74 bulbs from O'Reilly and the same #74 LED from SuperBrightLEDs.com that some '00 guys used. All of these either did little or looked even worse. However, I decided not to give up and bought every version of #74 LED that SuperBrightLEDs sold, figuring if I could create a similar beam pattern to the stock bulb I might get close enough to live with it.

Well I'm pleased to report that I found one specific LED that worked and is MUCH better than stock. First off, be warned that you will get some slight hot-spotting in that certain areas are a bit brighter than others. However, if your cluster is like mine, there's already hot-spotting with STOCK bulbs (see pic). After the upgrade, overall brightness is at least triple what my stock lighting was and it actually smoothed out some of the hot-spotting. Overall I am very happy with it for a total cost of around $15 (four LEDs).

These are the exact LEDs I found that worked the best as a pure solution. I chose the Cool White color (#74-CWHP3) which ends up being a mild blue as seen in pics below.

Model: 74-xHP3 - YOU WILL WANT FOUR OF THEM (2 for gauges, 2 for odometer/trip)
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...2F74-xHP3.html

They might be a bit loose in the bulb holder but a flathead screwdriver can be used to push the metal leads together a bit and get a good fit. Also be warned that the 5.5 has a blue film that means changing colors probably wont work well so stick with the Cool White when you choose the color. Any other color is at your own risk. (UPDATE: Warm White pics below)

Anyway, here are the results. Same camera, same dark garage just a few weeks apart. The pics are 100% untouched in Photoshop other than to reduce the image size. The pic was actually brightened a bit because the photo was darker than reality. The difference is night and day on my Max.

100% Stock '02 cluster. Note how there are hotspots even from the factory.


After pic, 100% unmodified. Note the hot spots which are still there but actually a bit less obvious than stock and blend better. The temp gauge though does appear overall darker than the rest.


Here are a few closeups, also 100% unmodified. The bulb actually sits right behind the 5,000RPM area which is why that's slightly brighter.


The other side. Again like above, the bulb sits behind the 60mph area causing it to be brighter. Still looks great compared to stock!


So there you have it. A possible very cheap solution to get a noticeable improvement in your stock 5.5 gauge cluster lighting. Please take note that I just finished this tonight and have no guarantees on longevity or that my results will be exactly the same as yours. I have also not tested on other year clusters. That said, you really aren't risking much (around $15-$20) in attempting this as long as you're comfortable removing the cluster, which is not difficult at all.

Post up any questions or concerns and I'll do my best to answer them!

Video of the dimmer switch functioning properly.




UPDATE#1 - Installation info

NOTE: Be gentle with the twist-off bulb holder/bases. They are reportedly hard to find.

NicoClub guide to getting into the cluster area.
http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/max...uge-rings.html
A tip from nelledge.
The LEDs only work when installed one direction, so you may have to flip them if they don't light up. Here's the easy way.

UPDATE#2:
DLO came through with pics of the Warm White LED choice (74-WWHP3) instead of Cool White. It closer to pure white is your goal, these might be what you want. Note he said the hot-spotting is exaggerated by the pics, seems smoother in person.

SeedyROM

Closeup pictures of the actual wedge bulb holders. They really are easy to replace once you get the cluster out. You re-use the black holder, just pop out the old bulb and install the new LED as seen in the pic. Thanks to nelledge for the photos.




For those curious about the backside cluster differences, here are the pics from the original thread. First is what you earlier model guys have. I think these are from an '00 that TunerMaxima3000 posted. Note the center bulbs you can change out with a much better layout.



And here's what my '02 cluster looks like. I removed the black plastic cover but you can see that we don't have the same center bulbs for easy lighting. Instead we only have the top two corner black ones to light all four gauges and you need a perfect beam pattern to do it. The bottom two corner bulbs are for the square odometer/trip meter only. I don't think you HAVE to replace those but it wont look as clean since the odometer/trip meter will be yellowish/white.

datsunzcar84

iTrader: (1)

Good stuff man thanks for the info . I will give this a shot I'm going with blue LEDs though.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

I'm going blue but I will be doing this for a fact.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Nice find Man. I'm surprised with the brightness, especially from only 3 SMD 'bulbs'.

Because of the beam pattern being not overly bright, they don't hotspot in the LCD display as bad as some options I've seen. Glad to see you found the 'ideal' brightness to reduce hotspots.
I am curious how it lights up with just the uppers replaced though.
The lower bulbs shouldn't actually allow light into the gauge portion much, so they normally make little to no difference in the gauge face, just in the LCD display. That's based on testing on a 2001-2002 Maufacture date though, maybe the 02-03 is slightly different. I'll know next weekend.

The downfall is you can't really go any brighter than you showed without modification.

Here's a pic with just one custom made 'bulb' retrofitted into the upper position on the speedo.

This is a 2001 gauge but it's the same Stock Illumination set-up (2001-2002 Manf Date). I do have plans to eliminate or reduce the hotspotting, I just haven't had time to get at it.
It's also more accentuated because they're white faced gauges, and the point and shoot magnifies the localization area, it's not that bad in person.




I'm doing a 5.5 GLE next weekend with the above method, I am going to try doing the bottom as well to see if they are in fact different than the 2001-2002 Manf. Date gauges.

I'm sure this will be great info for everyone! An excellent option on the cheap.

K-Ryder

iTrader: (1)

After a certain amount of time do thes lights flicker as if they are going to die. What is the lifespan of these bulbs. I would like to know.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

^That is common for Cheap mass produced SMD's. Which is the majority of what you are going to purchase, especially at that price. Good ones are very hard to find.
That's why I made my own

SeedyROM

Yep, you are correct. I made mention of it in my second post but wasn't entirely sure. So I went back out and checked and yes, if you leave the bottom two out (stock yellow/white) the gauges still light up the same. Looks a bit ugly with the odometer/trip meter mismatch but confirms what you thought.

Great info on the rest of your post. Good luck with the GLE and let me know if that cluster is different from the rest. I really don't know the difference between SE, GLE, etc when it comes to the gauges per year.

SeedyROM

I really don't know the exact lifespan but LEDs in general last a very long time. However, and as Tuner mentioned, these SMD ones are more than just a regular LED so it'll only be as good as the manufacturer. SBLEDs.com has been good to me in the past (I'm at 3+ years on my Z with their lights) but I've also heard others claim SMDs died. It sounds like there's a little bit of luck involved.

If you have a little to spend, going with one of TunerMaxima's custom jobs would avoid all these concerns and look great. If not, you might pick up a few extra when ordering since they are so cheap. Even if I have to replace mine once a year it beats the crummy stock lighting

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

^ Good points on the product, if it's cheap enough, and you don't mind/have the ability to remove everything and replace them.

Normally, if they're no good, they die within the first few hours of life. It's a quality control issue, they pound these things out in the hundreds of thousands, and if they get tested at all, it's for a split second and no more. Most of them come from the same factory, there's only a few major factories, they just make different products for different distributors (sometimes, a lot of the stuff is the same, just sold by different people.)

UGAd13

Damn you... you just added another to-do on my list.

MaximusTi

iTrader: (1)

Well done Seedy !

I replaced the bulbs my bulbs last year with OEM replacements and while it is slightly better this looks MUCH more attractive.

This may be a dumb question but do they dim like the normal bulbs? On long night drives I sometimes like too shut all my lighting off or turn it way down.

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

This made me sit up and take notice. Well done, SeedyRom!

I've never removed my cluster before. Easy, huh? Do you have a particular thread that lays out easy instructions?

MaximusTi

iTrader: (1)

Its fairly simple John, I've had my out 3 or 4 times trying too make different bulbs amp up the weak stock lighting....4-6 phillips screws that are pretty much self explanatory once you get in there.

I can't provide a link but in a few weeks we can yank it out easy enough.

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Hmm. This is seriously gaining traction as another little mod project.

I particularly like the idea of drop-in bulb replacement. Tuner's skills at drilling and soldering are far too intimidating for me.

You know, I wish all noobs to the our section of the Org were like SeedyRom. Alas, these are 10 year old cars.

K-Ryder

iTrader: (1)

READ HERE

If it doesnt kill you. As simple as can be. And since it was made for the 5thgens It'll help you even better. Since you're not installing the Chrome Rings, skip those steps. You're just removing the bulbs only.

K-Ryder

iTrader: (1)

At least he found out better bulbs, the ones I had died within a month. But they seem to last longer on my side markers. Well blue it is for me.

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

HouseCor has a write-up? DOH!

Thanks, K-Ryder.

datsunzcar84

iTrader: (1)

Many seem to question quality . I can say that you won't have any issues using LEDs from superbrightleds.com .
They fit great and they are alot better quality then your average eBay special .

zero2sixtyZ

iTrader: (30)

Sold me on this. Thanks for the great thread and review. Please keep us updated on longevity if you could.

Clashez

iTrader: (5)

You did it i went the same route as you the first time around and orderd the T5 wedge type leds from superbrightleds.com by the time i got them and u told me they didn't work out for u i just trashed them ..... Great write up going to be ordering them right now in blue

knight_yyz

iTrader: (40)

Led's and Smd's can be dimmed thru the dimmer switch to a certain point. But they do have a minimum voltage. So they will turn off before the dimmer switch is all the way to minimum. Usually 1/2 voltage will cause an led/smd to "switch off". This is assuming you use the original gauge power source.

AFAIK all the 02+ gauges have a blue face. So if you use a white bulb you will have a brighter gauge than if you use a blue bulb. Using a blue bulb with a blue face loses some intensity due to blue filtering blue.

The reason our gauges look green is the incandescent OEM bulb gives off yellow light. Yellow + blue = ugly green

Non SE guages with blue face can be scraped/sanded off. SE gauges cannot be sanded. If you wanted red gauges on an SE and put red led's back there you would end up with purple.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Very helpfull post^^^^

I suspect a lot of guys were going to try to pop in different colours and expect positive results. It won't happen. The OP's method will only provide these results with white.

As for the stock Set-up, The tint is blue to filter the Incandecent bulb to a White colour. In the 4th gen days, they did this with blue tinted 'condom' over the bulbs.
When the Incandecents get old they change colour and dim, causing the ugly green/orange colouring you guys experience. This is amplified the older they get. Usually changing bulbs to new ones will make an incredible improvement by itself.
If I had to guess why they changed the method, this would be my guess:
They thought installing a blue tint on the gauges, and 2 or 4 bulbs without the condoms would create the same light, and as such, they wouldn't need to use as many bulbs, the stock 4th gen had quite a few more bulbs IIRC. This was a great plan for Nissan, and worked well when new, but as we are experiencing, once they dim they get VERY dim, and hot-spot.


As for colour changing:
Red, Yellow & Blue are Primary colours, unfortunately, Blue/Red are the most desired colours. When working with a Tint, they are unacheivable in most cases without removing the tint.

Two Clarifications:
- Manufacture dates of 06/99 Through 01/2001 (estimated) SE gauges have removable tinting, it's the 5.5 SE gauges that have the solid tinting.
- All 5th gens have a blue tint/film

Tyutyunnik

iTrader: (1)

Very interesting, it looks like they should work just as well for other clusters just as a plug and play bulb. I may do some experimenting with this myself, thanks for the info!

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

SeedyRom, what's going on with your dimmer switch now that you have these bulbs in?

SeedyROM

I just went down and checked and yes they do dim properly. In fact, and as a complete surprise, they do actually dim all the way down to the click. Knight and Tuner are right that normally LEDs don't do that once the voltage is low enough (as on my Z) but somehow these do. Take note, once you get to the lowest dim settings the hotspotting becomes more evident with the upper right/left corners standing out more. Then again, it's like this with factory bulbs so it's no worse than stock.

Yeah I remember that so I'm glad there's another possible solution for you. I haven't tried these on an '03 cluster so I'm hoping you don't have any surprises. It seems the years/sub-models all have slight differences. Post up or shoot me a PM once you get them working since at this point I'm just one guy who tried it and got it to work.

Great info here, I'm learning a lot about the subtle differences between the years. Have you had any experience on '03 clusters? I hope those guys don't have yet another odd change.

Absolutely! If I run into any issues I'll be sure to post up.

djkevinnn

iTrader: (5)

Hey John, I also did my cluster using drop in LEDs, you'll see them next weekend. Kinda of hard to see in the day though.

SeedyROM

Dimmer seems to work fine. Since so many were wondering, I figured I'd take a quick video. It's daylight out right now but you can still get an idea. As I said above, the hot spot corners are more evident the lower you dim but that's no different than stock lighting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y-TLHMWJGs

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Thanks, Kevin. Then I'll wait until next week before buying these bulbs.

You, sir, are the Man. That's very cool that you did this.

girvinman

iTrader: (1)

Great job man, I'm curious to see if there are any "subtle" changes in the 03's. Actually... I might go fire up the heater in the garage and check it out for myself, that is of course if I can sneak away from the wife and kids.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Wow that's impressive, they dim very well, just like stock incandecents pretty much.

This is very impressive stuff for the price range, you've just given many people the push they needed to do this, very exciting, thanks for the valuable contribution!

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

I went out to the garage just now to assess the OEM cluster lighting. And yes, there is a slight hot-spot at 2:00 on the tack, and 10:00 on the speedo.

It's all I can do to keep from pulling the paypal trigger on a handful of drop-in replacement bulbs. But I've already blown through April mod money, so this is on the calendar for May 1st.

And I know that sounds silly, but it's how I stretch things out so I don't burn out doing mods all at once... even wee little ones, like LED bulbs.

This thread is awesome. I just rated it 5-stars.

datsunzcar84

iTrader: (1)

I think the hot spots seem a small deal for a brighter than stock cluster. Definitely going to order some.

SeedyROM

Glad you guys are finding this useful Looking forward to pics/feedback for whoever does it next.

Clashez

iTrader: (5)

SeedyROM Thats some really good work you have done thier. I'm beganing to wonder if thiers a led type bulb that maybe one level high in briteness then the ones your using.

Sneaky Green

The solid tint, what exactly do you mean? Is it that the tint can not be removed on the 5.5 gen?

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Finally did my testing tonight. little to No hotspot 5.5 job, Bright as *****, on a budget

Here's a crappy teaser photo, running at 9.2 VDC (LOW voltage, they will actually run at 14.0-14.2ish, which will make it much brighter overall. Ill post that when I get one hooked up to a battery that isn't dead. I can't wait to do this job Friday on the GLE, he was expecting the hotspots, and he's going to get little to no hotspots for the same price

Thanks for the motivation to go test my idea Seedy

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Based off what I've read, that's correct. 5.5 SE blue tint cannot be removed by any conventional methods.

I have not tried it personally.

6.5affiliate

Looks clean as a mf whistle

jeff5347

Ahhh roch, you stated after the RSTB you were done with mods.
Hahaha i knew you were just like the rest of use.. You are addicted hahah

Speedy, so are you saying that with these bulbs, if tyou get the white leds, that the cluster will be a bluish color like yours. I have an 03 GLE and that actually would interest me very much... another project.. i like