Gen 5 Dash And Heater Light Conversion

[mikeb]

Finally sorted this one out. I'd been considering it for a while, and after reading gt4 booster's write up on the gen 6 lights, I thought it looked easy enough. If only the gen 5 were the same... They're not, and it really is a nightmare. I would do a write up but I don't recommend this job to anyone (if anyone seriously does want to try, just say so and I'll happily give some instruction).

Removing the trim isn't too bad (it's easy after the first time - when you know where all the clips and screws are). Removing the heater control panel is a fiddly job - there are two control cables that must first be released from their opposite ends (one is in the drivers footwell, the other under the bonnet).

The leds aren't bright enough to backlight the control buttons in their original location, so I added an extra load of leds, one behind each button. It's a bit too bright now, so I shall add a resistor to dim them down at some point. The same goes for the red indicator leds.

Changing the bulbs in the dash to leds is quite simple, although they end up a bit dim. I will try and get some more powerful leds, and maybe add a few supplementary ones although it will require dismantling the clocks. The good news is that the dimmer still works (must work on duty cycle rather than resistor).

Oh, and I also changed the led in the ign barrel illuminator to red:

[GTForbes]

thats one good thing about having a JDM car, the heater controls are electric so no cables :P

what size of LED did you use for the heater controls? as i've just blown my heater matrix the dash has to come out, i know i can get away with only removing the bottom but any chance for an improvement ;)

[GTForbes]

mike, would really appreciate the info, getting to work on my heater matrix this weekend and it'll save me taking the dash apart again if i change the bulbs when it's all apart

[GT4 BOOSTER]

my leds are only super bright with the side lights off , dim down when i switch on the lights. weird.

gen 5 owners can go here - - all credits to the celica club

- http://www.celica-club.co.uk/modifications...olourchange.htm

[GT4 BOOSTER]

double post - sorry

[GTForbes]

they dim down so not to be too bright and distracting at night, cheers for the info :D

[GT4 BOOSTER]

yes i know but mikes are super bright with his lights on.

[mikeb]

my leds are only super bright with the side lights off , dim down when i switch on the lights. weird.

gen 5 owners can go here - - all credits to the celica club - http://www.celica-club.co.uk/cgibin/phpbb2...pic.php?t=22410

and here - http://www.celica-club.co.uk/modifications...olourchange.htm

Those links appear to be for gen 6 and gen 7, not gen 5 (unless the first one is for a JDM gen 5 - but it looks totally different to the uk one).

yes i know but mikes are super bright with his lights on.

Which ones? The red ones do dim down when the lights are turned on - they are even brighter the rest of the time! The blue backlights behind the air direction buttons are totally modified so that there is one blue led behind each button. The standard config has a peice of clear plastic and two bulbs for the whole lot, but there's no light at all if you just replace the two bulbs with leds. However they are now slightly too bright. The clocks are too dim, so I need to add some extra leds in there, and then replace the reisistors to balance the heater controls with the clocks.

I used 3mm ultrabright leds all round. For the 12v ones (in blue on mine), I found the best way was to buy Ultraleds 286 dash bulbs and pull them to peices - you end up with an led with the resistor and diode already soldered on:

[GT4 BOOSTER]

so it is -- anyways i used these bulbs for my dash http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/product_info.ph...40027b72dd9bd73

but they now do a 5 led cluster

you could also try a black permenant marker on the tips of the bright lights to shine left and right , not forwards