The left 1/3 of the dash instrument lights on my '97 Toyota Corolla DX are out. I'd like to replace them with LED's. Are there any tricks to this or "gothca's" to avoid? Any suggestions beyond watching "how to" videos on Youtube?? TIA!!!

When I last looked into it, one of the main issues was that LEDs would cause hotspots & not the more even consistent lighting of an incandescent.

I'm sure LED tech has improved significantly since then.

Luckily, pulling the cluster on tours shouldn't be too tough compared to a newer car.

I see no reason for LED illumination lights in an instrument cluster that wasn't made for them, even if they do exist. LEDs have a different quality of light than incandescent bulbs. IMO they will make the cluster glare at you at night.

If I'm proven wrong I won't mind.

Had a Honda CRV with a similar lighting problems.
Turned out the issue was a loose plug. Occasionally, a bump would cause them to turn on.
The point is, when I looked repairs the estimate was several hundred dollars. Pretty much the dashboard had to be pulled.

Might have lost the ground on that part of the board (assuming they aren't hard wired, I honestly don't know).

Two things. How competent are you as a mechanic? The reason I ask, this repair will involve a lot of disassembly to get to those bulbs (essentially you'll be pulling most if not all the instrument cluster and mouldings). Two, I'm kinda going to go along with those who recommend against LED's. I think they'll put out too much light just beneath your line of sight at night. Heck, I use the dimmer dial in my old Ford truck to back off my incandescent dash lights a bit because I find them annoying at full brightness at night.

My HVAC control knob lights are getting changed out on Monday. 1 lamp is out other 2 working. 70.00 was quoted to me at my local Honda dealership. Getting all 3 done since all the bulbs are original. Going on my fake truck 12 y.o. Honda Element. Pickle Rick.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pickle Rick,

As far as complexity goes, I did this on my 2000 Acura TL. Even the most PITA lamps. Went with OEM bulbs and cannot remember details of doing the job, but it did get done. Very satisfying at night afterwards.

I was gifted the car at 100k miles. No services had been done since 60k. Even the cabin air filter was original. Ewwwwww! The dash lights was one of the last services I did.

I replaced mine with LED's once and hated what they looked like before I put it back together. I ordered some replacement 'peanut' incandescent bulbs with the bayonet connections that let them fit into the stock bases. The factory ones lasted more than 15 years so I may never replace them again.

Later, I did have one of my main 4 general illumination bulbs go out and it wasn't the bulb. I traced it to a surface mount diode (resistor) that had no continuity. I eventually just soldered in a regular axial resistor of the same value, leaving the bad one in place. Works like a charm for five years hence and counting. The alternative was living with it out or replacing the cluster.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 83v45magna,

LED's swapped for the standard bulbs shouldn't be an issue, just plug n play, you get into issues when you have modules that have to interpret the signal from a bulb such as swapping LED bulbs into turn signals with incandescent bulbs. In many cases the TS module can't see the bulb resistance with an LED and then goes into a fast flash mode, which is the module thinking a bulb is out.

Dash bulbs, should be straight swap, probably a 194 bulb. I used these guys when I converted my 09 HD dash lights from stock to Blue.

https://www.superbrightleds.co...MEAAYASAAEgI0O_D_BwE

Plug n play.

You will also lose most of your ability to dim them. (unless they've figured out a way around that) At least you will with cheaper LEDs.

(I did it recently, but didn't care about being able to dim them)

Our 94 Volvo 850 had an absolutely silent cabin after 23 years use. Several of the dash lights went out & my Sweet Bride could not tolerate it after a year or so. She had the actual certified dealer replace them in concert with some other service. The lights worked fine, but there was a persistent squeak in the dash board after that.

Even after several major efforts, dealer was unable to chase that down & prevent squeak.

After a couple more years & a couple additional issues arising, after nearly 27 years of nearly flawless service, enough minor tics & groans accumulated such than she traded it in on a Subaru.

She thought 'fixing the lights' would end her annoyance over a very small thing. It didn't.

Thanks for all the replies, y'all. I'll probably just approach it with the KISS philosophy and not bother with LED bulbs.

And the process doesn't look all that difficult. At least you don't have to pull off the ENTIRE dash assembly...

New incandescent bulbs may give the desired result, over aged bulbs that are there currently.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
New incandescent bulbs may give the desired result, over aged bulbs that are there currently.

That was my experience too.