Gauge lights LED upgrade

LSM360

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I got it right this time. Used green LED bulbs instead of white so they don’t wash out the color. Looks like stock just brighter. I’m so pleased with it. This is full brightness.

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LSM360

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First AHB I've had that didn't come with the oil pressure gauge but the Headlight Flasher switch is mounted there.
 

Duke5A

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This is something I still need to do. What style LED did you use?
 

88_AHB

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When I was replacing my light bulbs with LED's I decided to do some testing to see the difference. Green LED wedge bulbs for the speedo/gas, the tach and temp had cool white LED while the rest had the regular incandescent. Soon after I replace the remaining bulbs with cool white LED's, what a huge difference in visibility. Even though they're really not able to be dimmed if you wanted to.



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old yellow 78

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Used green LED bulbs instead of white so they don’t wash out the color. Looks like stock just brighter.
Wow, I like that! One of these days when I finally get back to work on my wagon, I will do the same replacement with the green LED's. Very nice - Thanks for the picture!
 

Duke5A

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BudW

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The bulbs mentioned in post # 8, put out 135 Lumens.
A normal 194 bulb puts out 25 Lumens (actually puts out 2 candlepower, which 1 candlepower is = to 12.57 Lumens).
 

LSM360

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No they just plug right in if they don’t work just flip them around the other direction because of polarity that’s all
 

88_AHB

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Only downside that I've found is that you can't really dim/adjust them on the headlight switch. For me personally it doesn't bother me since the LED swap is why I wanted them to be more visible and brighter etc. Another thing that I did since the cluster was out, is take off the lenses and cleaned the insides of dust and grime that have accumulated over the last 30+ years.
 

Aspen500

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Mine dim from headlight switch no problem.
Same here. Mine dim just fine. My rheostat is worn so it's a little herky-jerky, but they do dim. Like any other LED, some are dimmable and some might not be(?). How you know one way or another on automotive lights though, not sure. The product specs never say (far as I've found).
 

LSM360

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Same here. Mine dim just fine. My rheostat is worn so it's a little herky-jerky, but they do dim. Like any other LED, some are dimmable and some might not be(?). How you know one way or another on automotive lights though, not sure. The product specs never say (far as I've found).
Yes that seems to be the problem with LED's. It's a crap shoot finding the right ones. That's why I wrote "got it right this time" lol. I've tried a few and got ones that didn't work at all, wouldn't dim, or just didn't look right. These hit the sweet spot.
 

Aspen500

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Went through the same thing with mine, too. Biggest problem is "Made in China" and as you know, only the best quality products come from the communists, major sarcasm intended.
 
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The_Red_Baron

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So, I know it's been a few months since anyone replied to this thread, but I have 2 questions.

1.) Do all FMJ Bodies share the same gauge cluster (GC) and climate control (CC) bulbs? I looked at O'Reilly's and Auto Zone, neither had the CC bulb. However, they both had the GC in their systems. But AutoZone listed 1 bulb, and O'Reilly's listed 3 bulbs, all different numbers.

2.) on an 80's model FMJ, do the GCs have green lenses for the lights? I know there isn't one for the CC, that had a white bulb, and I assume originally it was supposed to be green?

I've been driving around for the past few months without any dash lights, and I don't exactly want to tear half the dash apart to fix this, only to find I've got the wrong bulb or there's an unexpected snag too big for me to deal with while I'm on campus.
 

Camtron

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GC and CC bulbs are the same. GC will have the blue/green lenses on the lights, CC should just be the bulb with no blue/green lens. At least that’s what I’ve found working on my, 5th Ave.
 

Oldiron440

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Silly me I thought this was going to be about garage lighting. I bought new lights but haven't put them up yet.
 
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