I asked this in another thread but no one seems to be answering or even lookin at that thread anymore (i also did a search, didn't help). Anyway, i went up to a parts store and asked what kinda light bulbs are in the gauge cluster (instrament panel thing w/the mph gauge). They said that it was 194. So i bought a couple 194's right. Well i take out the gauge cluster and replace the 194 bulbs BUT!! The 194 bulbs aren't the only ones back there. So my question to you is...what is the size of those other bulbs (the tiny ones)? Anyone know??

 

I think these are mostly signal bulbs, but it might help you narrow it down a little...

http://store.yahoo.com/racinglab/test.html

 

Yeah hey 99ProES, I have been posting up a very similar post look at mine re : Panels like VW golf, no 1 seems to give a {wind in the willows } about interior gauge cluster lighting. Those small bulbs are LED's, you know lights like in your PC.

My question is does any one know where to get blue ones that look like the interior of a VW golf

 

I'm also interested in finding out. I find the blue is much easier to look at in the dark than the red is.

They are just LEDs that you can probably get from Radio Shack. I don't know part numbers or anything like that.

How hard was it to pull apart the gauge cluster? Got pictures?

 

If the bulbs are anything like they were in my old nissan, they're NOT LED's. Generally they're a miniature incandescent bulb that can only be gotten at Radio Shack- their color comes from a plastic cap. If you wish to change your gauge color though, its generally not that easy, as the reverse side of the gague faces are colored.

 

Car makers used to use normal bulbs for lighting the gauges (and other areas of the vehicle like brake lights), but with LED technology becoming much cheaper, they're moving to them for a multitude of reasons:

They don't give off a lot of heat
They don't burn out (well, at least not in your lifetime! )
They use FAR less power to run than an incandescent bulb.
They turn on and off faster than incandescents (important for brake lights)
They're cheaper in the long term than incandescents

Blue LEDs are the most expensive color to produce right now, red the cheapest. You can buy blue LEDs from radio shack, but they're about 4 bucks a piece (reds go for 1$ or cheaper). I'd have no problem paying that price if I knew they would work...

 

Yeah thats great that LED's are cheaper and more reliable blah, blah, blah. But last couple cars I changed bulbs in had incandescent... bottom line is if you're gonna do anything re: dash lighting, check first! Either by getting your hands dirty or perhaps a call to the right parts person at your dealership.

 

Yeah for sure!!

I wan't trying to imply that all newer vehicles have LEDs in them, but you'll find that more and more are moving to that technology. It's my GUESS that mazda is using LEDs or a mixture of, but you're absolutly right. You'll never know unless you check!

 

it wasn't hard. no i don't have pictures sorry However i removed it with out removing the plastic around the steering colum (or however you spell it). So i have scratches on that.

 

I don't know about the Protege, but I was browsing the Focaljet forums the other day, and some people have discovered that the green/red color from the gauges is from a film applied under the cluster. The actual bulb is white. Now, if the Protege was the same way, all we would have to do is take off that film, and put some type of clear blue plastic sheet in there. Kind of like overhead projecter transparencies but colored...

I'll head back to the Focaljet forums and try and find the post...

 

Here's the thread: http://www.teamfocaljet.com/cgi-bin/...c&f=6&t=001061

Read the ENTIRE thread. There's a few posts about the "Stage Lighting Gels"...that's what I'm talking about.

 

Here's some more stuff I found...

http://www.jwardell.com/focus/guages.html

http://www.teamfocaljet.com/cgi-bin/...c&f=6&t=001887

 

Excellent!! Now I just gotta work up the testicular fortitude to break into my dash... Might have to wait till it warms up outside so I can work in some kind of warmth though!

99proES - were the bulbs colored or was it a colored film like the focuses? Or was it both?

Thanks for the links negatize!

 

No problem!

 

Sandman, I think I can answer that. I just pulled apart my gauge cluster. The bulbs that actually light up the speedometer, tachometer, gas, and engine temperature have those sleeved 'condoms'. The other lights like the e-brake, ABS, Cruise Control, etc have the film that looks like it could be sanded away.