S4ordie

The dash pod and the console on the Zyclamrot car are going to be moved around a bit during the next week. Trying to think of WYAIT stuff that makes sense to do. One of the things that I am interested in is replacement of of the incandescent bulbs with LED's. As several have now done this what are your thoughts about the outcome and the effort to do it?

Also interested in any LED replacement "Kits" the vendors may have created for just such a task.

I did read Keith Widom's mostly excellent write up on his LED replacement. Seemed pretty complicated but the effect was awesome.

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...-looooong.html

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

Gary Knox

Dan,

I followed the procedure etc. that Keith did for his GTS on my '94. I really like the results. They are dimmable, and replaced all the bulbs. I also replaced the bulbs in the AC switch, and installed LED's behind the fan speed "dial" (not the ****) for the HVAC. It's not difficult to do, especially once the pod is removed.

Glad to hear it's coming along.

Gary

PS: I installed mine last winter, no problemo with the installation, or the service of the bulbs so far. I bought the bulbs from the supplier that Keith referenced in his writeup (see Dan's post above).

S4ordie

Bump..... Anymore comments and knowledge about the existence of a LED light replacement kit for a 90/91 S4?

Is it my e-breath? I'l go brush.

blown 87

I am also interested in this, but for a 87.
I have Nicoles kit for the panel lights, but have not installed it.

auzivision

For what it's worth... I installed one of these kits about three years ago. After six month one LED went out. The second quit about 1.5 years in. Now, my pod is totally dark and I need to pull it off to investigate.

Make sure the ‘wedges’ make good contact in the ‘sockets’… I’m guessing/hoping mine jiggled loose. Not really looking forward to this project since I’m too stiff to get under the pod without removing the drivers seat.

blown 87

Man that sucks, were you happy with the results when they worked?
I may wait until you diagnose yours before I install mine, because it looks like it has to be modified to install the wedges, so once it is done you can not go back.

auzivision

Honestly Greg, I wasn't all that happy with them. I installed them just before SITM 2007 and on my way into Banner Elk around dusk I didn't think they were working at all.

Once it was dark out they were fine, but one started flickering almost immediately. I took the dimmer resistor wheel under the pod out of play so it wasn't that. First they would flicker for a while, then quit.

If it turns out to be loose wedges, I probably just solder them back. Although, pod project for me isn’t going to be anytime soon. Think I’ll throw a couple free Harbor Freight flash lights to get by for Sharks in the Bluegrass.

Need to get a little more driving in before the weather turns… maybe have 12 days total this year behind the wheel and could count on one hand how many with the blower going.

blown 87

Thanks Kurt, I may try doing the bulbs, I am not real keen on cutting up electrical stuff like the pod.

If you were closer I would give you a hand with getting it going again.

soontobered84

Dan,
For your model cars, the LED option is very simple: Just replace the incadescent illumination bulbs with LED bulbs. They have a wedge base that is a direct plug-in to replace the existing bulb. I believe it is a Superbrite part number WLED-X. (replace the x with G, B R, or W for the color you want). It is an amazing tranformation. If you want to replace the amber digital part (for color change or just to have all LEDs) the LED replacement number is(at least from SuperbriteLEDs.com), the B8.5D-X (replace the x with G for green, B for blue, R for red etc).

NOTE: This information is only for '89 and up cars equipped with the digital dash. Older cars will require a kit with the LEDs built into the fiber optic light bars. Any other option for these older cars does not work nearly as well and you will NOT be happy with the results. Trust me on this. I tried everything I could think of and many different LED bulbs. I bought my illumination kit for the Stepson ('84 Euro)from Nicole and am very happy with the results. The warning lights for the older cars can be replaced by LEDs. There are 14 red ones, 4 green ones, and 1 blue one IIRC. The superbrightLED number is B8.5D-x.
Again, just replace the x with r, g, b,w,a, or uv (ultaviolet)

Hope this helps,

F18Rep

What? Maybe I'l reconsider the LED project. I love it when procrastination pays off.

side note: if you mean the little anodized aluminum ones, I agree they are the best HF product ever. I gave them to all my old geezer buddies at work for Xmas. They went over much better than last year's nose hair trimmers. Just a little humor along the way...Bruce

soontobered84

Greg,
It's not cutting up the pod. All you have to do is break loose the plastic weld that holds the existing fiber optic "wedge" and replace it with the supplied "wedge" with the LED built into it. It is absolutely nothing that cannot be reversed especially if you're careful taking off the original "wedges".

S4ordie

Thanks John. Very helpful.

auzivision

I should clarify about the wedges. Yes, I do recall replacing some sort of plastic triangular wedge and don't recall it being difficult. The 'wedge' I was referring to was made to plug into the lamp socket. I'm just guessing but think that maybe these ‘plugs’ have popped out or corroded over. Keep in mind my car is always garaged and maybe has 10K miles in three year… 75+% driven during the day.

Either way, I used to have dash lights and now I don't. They worked decent at first and slowly one by one quit working. I'm not saying I didn't do anything wrong, just saying I'm not all that excited about the product. I promise to follow-up once I get a chance to dig mine out, but for now I'm one data point to the negative for the pre digi-dash kit.

Tom in Austin

Hey John, what's the 'amazing transformation' in switching to LEDs in the dash? Seems discussion of this has mostly been about pre-digital dashes where there's sig. degredation over time (my 968 had this lighting solution).

Does it really make a big difference in the dig dashes?

soontobered84

Tom,
I originally replaced my incadescent bulbs with the LED illumination in my Blue '89. I used white LEDs and the difference was great to me. The color was crisp and clear and it seemed as if I had "woken" up the instruments. I subsequently changed the white LEDs to blue by changing out the 4 LEDs and the instruments were still crisp and clear and easily readable.

I guess my response to you would be, yes, it's a big difference. The instruments look much more modern to me with the better lighting.