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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.)
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. Dim
Bright
Last edited by Wipeout; 11-14-2014 at 10:19 AM.
Reason: Clarity; numbers.
And great idea on making the [ ! ] light super bright. I also run my lighting at minimum, but during the day that light should grab my attention even if I'm looking in my rear-view.
And great idea on making the [ ! ] light super bright. I also run my lighting at minimum, but during the day that light should grab my attention even if I'm looking in my rear-view.
Yo!
It will be a bit brighter than stock on dim for sure (got to drive it for a bit tonight), but still not overly bright.
I have just ordered the 3 main lights based on your recommendation ...how can I be sure I get the polarities correct when installing?
I did two things with the bulbs... 1) test them with a 9v battery to see which way they light up, 2) test the contacts on the back of the gauges with the lights installed to make sure they light up.
Also, don't screw everything down until you're sure it all works.
EDIT: The gauge illumination bulbs aren't polarity specific. The tips above are for the other lights.
I also used all Superbright LEDs to do this replacement several years ago. Now the master warning light faintly flashes continuously. Have you noticed this at all? The other LEDs work fine.
I also used all Superbright LEDs to do this replacement several years ago. Now the master warning light faintly flashes continuously. Have you noticed this at all? The other LEDs work fine.