INT: Changing gauge cluster illumination color

[accordtunerx]

How-To: Change your instrument panel light colors

....thanks to accord9004, and whomever he found this from (or if he wrote it himself, again... thanks to him, lol)

Some of you may have done this, but I got bored, so I figured I would play with the lights on my dash.

1. Remove the trim around the dash, including the guages and climate control. Take a small, flathead screwdriver, and pry out all of the buttons on the dash, such as cruise control, dimmer button, hazard switch, defroster, tec. Unplug them and remove them completely. Remove the air vents, and you will find small screws holding the trim on. There are also two screws under the top of the gauge panel, as well as screws under the CDplayer/tape player/whatever. Anyhow, you should now be able to remove the piece completely. Now, its time to remove the gauge cluster itself. There are 4 phillips head screws holding it on; I suggest using a magnetic screwdriver to keep from dropping them.

2. To change the bulbs, unplug the cluster, and remove it. The bulbs that are in the back are 194A and the smaller ones are just sold at AutoZone as "instrument" bulbs. I bought them all in amber, but use whatever colour you like.

3. Replace all the bulbs in the back and top of the cluster. There should be a blue piece on top: take it off, so the blue wont show up anymore.

[Onlyhyper]

Do you have Pics

[accordtunerx]

Originally posted by Onlyhyper
Do you have Pics

nope, i didn't write this DIY... someone sent it to my e-mail. i forget who it was even - it was a long time ago.

but i am going to try this DIY soon. i'll post pics of my own as soon as i'm done!

[texasvtak]

How much would the all the bulbs be?

[91accorddoor4]

do they sell white bulbs,no pics of yours?

[deevergote]

I like Mikey's way better, even though this one seems to me MUCH less work!

[texasvtak]

Where did you find the blue plastic?

[cp[mike]]

Originally posted by deevergote
I like Mikey's way better, even though this one seems to me MUCH less work!

putting different colored bulbs BEHIND the gauges wont work very well, because the gauges have a blue layer printed inside of them, and you cant remove it. so putting like amber bulbs behind them wont work too well... but if you also put amber bulbs up top, i GUESS you could get it looking sorta amber... just... dim... and kinda blue. you can try, but dont be surprised if it doesnt come out like you expected it to.

to get blue plastic, try a fabric/crafts store, they might have blue Acetate (which is a thin blue plastic film), or you could probably find something similar that would work. if you cant find anything, run to Office Depot and grab a clear-blue flexible binder and cut it up, thats what i did.

[AccordWarrior]

Just a note tho...even having blue bulbs behind the cluster will not make them much more blue than they already are...and they dim the gauges a lot. I don't know whether you woudl get better results using a LED, but changing out the main bulbs to 194's in blue did not give the results I wanted.

[cp[mike]]

Originally posted by AccordWarrior
I don't know whether you woudl get better results using a LED, but changing out the main bulbs to 194's in blue did not give the results I wanted.

same here. putting LEDs wont work either, because the layout relies on the fact that stock bulbs throw light everywhere, LEDs dont... if you put LEDs in, it only lights up a few of the numbers (ask accordztech, lol)

if you want the gauge face numbers to look blue, solder some LEDs up into the top of the cluster... having deep blue light shining on the front of the gauges will make the stock greenish blue look a ton bluer, if thats a word. most of you have seen my cluster, either in person or in pics... thats what it looks with stock bulbs in the back, and LEDs up top.

[92accordf20a]

im almost finshed with my instrument panel, and I would like to say that it's true. The actual dial face has a aqua layer built in. But, i installed (3) 5mm blue leds (superbrightleds.com) and 2 3mm blue. And for the top I installed (2) 5mm UV. I painted the needles with a UV flourescent red paint. My gauges have a deep blue to them and my needles stand out almost like the new accord ones.. I will take some pictures for u all to see.. Im vey happy with this set-up. It was cheap, and looks better than I thought..