legacycentral bbs

So I searched and it seems that information is all over the place and a little incomplete, so I thought it would be nice to have it all in one place for folks to reference.

That being said, I don't have any information to supply so I was hoping people could jump in.

What I am trying for is a complete list of bulb types for the instrument cluster (speedo, tach, fuel, temp and dummy lights) including, oem replacement and led replacement.

Thanks guys.

Have you already checked the parts catalog posted in the Stuff you need to know forum?

Parts book will have all the subaru part #'s.

This lists the wattage, which may not be hugely useful...

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/s ... ns/120.jpg

Is there a way to reference the oem part number and find the equivalent LED bulb? I am looking to redue all of the lights for my interior with led but want to make sure i get all the right bulbs before I tear the cluster out.

That I don't know. Where are you purchasing LED instrument bulbs?

Drop in led bulbs will give you "hot spots" in the cluster. If you feel up to it, you can solder in led strips. Its not easily reversable but its the best way to go in my opinion, heres a link to a D.I.Y write up http://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=21431
And since that write up is second gen based, heres a picture of the back of my cluster with the positive and negative marked.

Heres a crappy phone picture of the whole cluster back.

The HVAC controls take two 74 bulbs, the shifter indicator (auto) takes one 194, the cluster takes two 194 bulbs and four 74 bulbs, and the ring around the cigarette lighter takes one 74. Also, as a note, you can't totally remove all of the green coloured film on the gauges as some is in the plastic.

Heres how my cluster turned out with a 36 inch strip of white leds installed, the shade of blue is caused by the bit of colouring in the gauge plastic. I did cut the strip in half to make life easier.

Thats on full brightness and I can see the colour during the day.
If you decide to go the led strip route and theres anything you need to know, I should be able to help out.

Hmm, that looks really good. Danny I might have to require your assistance when I tackle doing this. Where did you purchase the LED strip from?

Also my issue is that it is going to be too bright, I dont want to have to turn my illum all the way down because I have a few gauges wired up that would show up too dim if that was the case.

I got the strip at Autozone and, myself, I always have the lights turned all the way up to keep the leds from looking like they are in five places at once when I quickly glance down at night. As long as you don't get some crazy bright leds full brightness should be fine.

In case i decide to go with just bulb replacements, does anyone happen to know the bulb types that make up the cluster illum.?

Hey Danny, do you know the part number or model number for the strip of leds you purchased? I think i'm going to try to do this this summer. A lot of my bulbs appear to be burned out.

On my second gen I was able to gently sand the green coating off the back of the gauge face, and with just that done and the green condoms removed the gages where white, it actually looked decent.

I have a spare first gen cluster here that I am going to try to give the same treatment to....one day.

I think in the sl-i thread danny said that wasn't very feasible on the 1st gen clusters, but i probably should re-read it. I was hoping the originator of the sl-i thread would mention what set of smds he got. I'm trying to figure out what the brightness should be and if they were the top mounted ones or the side mounted ones.

Danny-G wrote:Drop in led bulbs will give you "hot spots" in the cluster. If you feel up to it, you can solder in led strips. Its not easily reversable but its the best way to go in my opinion, heres a link to a D.I.Y write up http://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=21431
And since that write up is second gen based, heres a picture of the back of my cluster with the positive and negative marked.

Heres a crappy phone picture of the whole cluster back.

The HVAC controls take two 74 bulbs, the shifter indicator (auto) takes one 194, the cluster takes two 194 bulbs and four 74 bulbs, and the ring around the cigarette lighter takes one 74. Also, as a note, you can't totally remove all of the green coloured film on the gauges as some is in the plastic.

Heres how my cluster turned out with a 36 inch strip of white leds installed, the shade of blue is caused by the bit of colouring in the gauge plastic. I did cut the strip in half to make life easier.

Thats on full brightness and I can see the colour during the day.
If you decide to go the led strip route and theres anything you need to know, I should be able to help out.

Is there any way you could show pictures of what it looks like in the back? With the strips you sauldered and where did you get the led strips.