Wipeout

Looks like you can still get B8.5D bulbs that are 2 lumens: https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...panel-led/222/

I suppose I'll need to go edit the original post (they change their site enough that I'm not shocked this happened).

spacedoc

Only the amber ones are in stock- the green and red both show discontinued.

Given your experience using the 20 lumen bulb for the (!) light, would you say that using those bulbs in every position would be way too bright?

Wipeout

...that's what I get for not selecting all the different combinations...

The "good" news is they're only illuminated when they're on (when your parking brake is on, turn signal, etc). The /!\ light IS bright, but it isn't constantly on. If I was doing it over, I probably would still get the 20 lumen ones...but I don't mind the brightness.

spacedoc

Thanks, maybe I'll just give it a shot with the 20 lumen bulbs. Mine isn't a daily driver and I really don't drive it much at night, so the brightness probably won't be a huge deal to me.

PDubya958

[QUOTE=Wipeout;11799730]Hi guys!

It's been a while...but here I am, back again. I recently went through a bunch of research to figure out what LEDs were needed to swap out in a late 944 cluster...my S2 has suffered from a burnt out signal indicator and I figured while I was in there..... I couldn't find a post that told me everything that I wanted (what lightbulbs were which from behind, what color they were, etc)...so much like the H4 Lighting Roundup post from years ago...I wrote it up myself. Let's get a few things out of the way...

• Car is a 1989 944 S2. Your mileage may vary
• I sourced all the bulbs from superbrightleds.com (no affiliation, just a happy customer)
• My goal was to get the bulbs the same color as their warning symbol (more on that later)
• The bulbs do dim, no PWM dimmer required, though that would probably allow them to dim further...
• Low light photos are tricky; I do NOT feel these are too bright (I run my dash lights as dim as possible). I wanted the /!\ light, turn indicator, and high beams to be bright, but everything else feels "stock" to my eyes...
• ...but can't you just replace them all with white bulbs? Sure. I'm just...well...that guy.
• EDIT: No, I did not re-reflector the gauge illumination. It was in surprisingly good shape.
• EDIT: I did not replace the low/high bulbs for temp, fuel, oil pressure, or voltage. They are actually behind their individual gauges (you have to remove the gauge face to get there and they're slightly different bulbs.)

Onward!

My (perfectly fine) stock-lit dash:


It isn't bad, but it's not this...


Parts list (all drop-in replacements from superbrightleds.com):
Note - I've had old links to their site break, so hopefully by including quantity and part number, they'll be locatable even if their site undergoes another backend change.
- Dash illumination: 3 194 LED Bulb - 5 LED Wide Angle, Natural White (P/N: WLED-NW5)
- Warning lights: 9 B8.5D LED Bulb, Red; 1 B8.5D LED Bulb, Amber; 3 B8.5D LED Bulb, Green (P/Ns: B8.5D-R; B8.5D-A; B8.5D-G) NOTE: If you didn't want to add bulbs to the "Check Engine" or "Trailer Connection" sockets, you need 2 less red bulbs and 1 less green bulbs.
- (!) light: 1 B8.5D LED Bulb, High Power, Red (P/N: B8.5D-RHP)
- Turn signal indicator: 1 B8.5D LED Bulb, High Power, Green (P/N: B8.5D-GHP)
- High Beam indicator: 1 B8.5D LED Bulb, High Power, Blue (P/N: B8.5D-BHP)

Follow your usual steps to remove the cluster. See Clark's Garage.
This post gives you the polarities of the back of the cluster. Because LEDs are polarized, you can't just plug and play...grab a 9v battery and some leads, test the LED, and mark the positive side...it'll make your life easier.

Here's the back, with captions as to what bulbs are which.

Back


Left
(I did not replace the airbag bulb...I have a non-airbag wheel and I'd just as soon not mess with that circuit. It is a red indicator, in case you were curious. That "empty" slot truly is nothing; I shined a flashlight through the back and nothing lit up. You probably could skip replacing the "Check Engine" bulbs as well and reduce the count of red bulbs by 2. I had spares, so I put them in.)


Center


Right
(yes, the parking lights are white in this photo. Guess which bulb I didn't buy enough of? The Trailer Connection light I learned about in this thread over in the 928 forum...you can skip this bulb as well if you want.)

Yeah, they dim.


Awesome thread. I just completed my odometer gear and the LEDs. I used superbrightleds.com and bulbs recommended but didnt use the high powers LEDs. Only issue is the central warning "!" light quick flashes every 3-4 seconds. My next step is to replace the ! LED with the original bulb and see it ot still does it. Did you have this issue?

PDubya958

Hey, I am getting the ! warning flash after replacing with LEDs. Did you figure out the cause or a fix?

slinger569

Did you pull the airbag steering wheel when you removed the the gauges?
If you disconnected the airbag wheel without disconnecting the battery first, you've triggered a fault in the system. Also vice-versa, if you connected the battery before reinstalling the airbag you've triggered a fault.

here's how to clear it (it's a pain in the ****)
https://clarks-garage.com/pdf-manual/elect-12.pdf
The tool is easy to make, but you have to be dead on with the 5-second timing... or you just have to try over and over..

PDubya958

No I disconnected the battery every time I removed the steering wheel. Unless there is a required time to wait after disconnecting the battery prior to removing the airbag then iit shouldn't be the airbag fault. And I know about the reset! Definitely wanted to avoid trying to do that!!! I'm thinking it maybe the LED in the warning light, circuit may not like it there. I will put an original bulb back and see what happens. Think I will use the bulb from that trailer light, that one has never been used and should be like a new 30 year old bulb!!

slinger569

I think the recommended wait time is like 5-10 minutes to let the system fully discharge. But I've never had a problem doing it sooner than that.
I agree with trying a stock bulb.

PDubya958

Good news and bad news. The good news is after I switched out back to original bulb from the trailer light I started her up and no flashing ! light. Turned off, started and no flashing. Now the bad news.... turned off and tried to start again, there was a pop and loss all power. Think the negative cable to the battery loss connection. Reattached it and now the ! light is on, everything else looks nice. So disconnected the battery and will wait 30 min to see it it clears...

PDubya958

Waited 30 min and didnt reset. Drove to work, turned her off, restarted and normal dash display on start up. Once the other warning lights turned off, the Antilock flashed and then the ! light turned off. Turned off and started again, no ! light. Maybe the short when my battery disconnected triggered something and after driving it determined everything was fine and cleared it. Still no quick flash from the ! light so the led there is probably the culprit.

J1NX3D

[QUOTE=PDubya958;16379154]I had to check this out!

NorwE

Hi!
Great thread and forum

I'm about to order the bulbs from superbrightleds, but unfortunately the P/Ns: B8.5D-R; B8.5D-A; B8.5D-G are discontinued. The suggested replacements is the B8 LED Bulb - SMD Instrument Panel LED, which is High Power Led, same part nr as the ones for (!) light, turn signal indicator and high Beam indicator.

Is the B8.5D-RHP to bright for illumination, and warning lights? Any suggestions?

Wipeout

I'd argue that since those are only on when there's an issue (seatbelt's unbuckled, etc) they're probably not "too" bright. They're gonna be bright when on, though!

Dan Martinic

I guess I'm the only person driving with parking lights on at all times (in lieu of daytime running lights).. kinda glad that green warning light is old and barely visible lol