mikochu: Please be advised that you should use a low watt soldering iron. If you do not know what you are doing, do not do this modification.

Perform this at you own risk, I will not be held responsble for screw ups.

Alright, all y'all that want to change the color of your clock, here are some pics and info that might help you out. You will have to change LED's which means a little solderings gonna be required. Especially if you want some bright exotic colors, no sharpie tricks here.

Here is the updated version of how to change the color of your clock LED's. :D

First you will need to pull off the gauge cluster bezel by removing the plastic screw that is located in the top - middle of the light cluster area. I believe this is only for the '05 model so if you don't have it don't worry about it. I used a small philips tip to remove this screw first. After removing the screw, grasp the bezel and pull it towards you, you will feel it come loose and then you may just have to pursuade the other clips to come loose as well.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0146.jpg

After the bezel is off, you'll need to unscrew the 3 screws that hold the gauge cluster in place.
This pic shows the screw at top and to the right.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0149.jpg
This one shows the other screw at the left side of the speedo.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0150.jpg

Now with the screws out, you can wiggle the gauge cluster out. On the back of the cluster you'll see the wire harness that's plugged in. Unplug this harness and you will now have your speedo removed and ready to work on.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0152.jpg

Find a flat clean surface to work on and then begin removing the 4 brass screws on the back.
Here you see the one screw by the wire harness.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0154.jpg
And here are the other 3 brass screws
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0155.jpg

With the screws removed, you'll need to unclip the plastic tabs to remove the white rear cover.
These are pics of all sides of the gauge cluster where you need to undo the clips.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0156.jpg
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0157.jpg
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0158.jpg

Now with the cover removed, you should be able to see the circuit board. Before you can just yank it out, you'll need to bend the metal tab up and also undo the ribbon cable that is connected to the speedo. You can do this easily by gently prying the left and right side of the black connector up to loosen the clamp.
Picture of before bending the tab and loosening the clamp.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0160.jpg
Picture of bending the tab and loosening the clamp
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0161.jpg
Picture of ribbon cable disconnected.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0162.jpg

Finally, gently undo the white clips that hold the circuit board in place. Just pull up on the board slowly making sure that none of the clips are in the way. it's ok to feel a little resistance, this is because the LCD clock has pins that plug into the connector on the circuit board. Just pull up evenly on all sides of the circuit board until the entire board is free.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0163.jpg
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0164.jpg

Now you have the circuit board available to work with. In the following picture it shows I took off the clear speedo cover, the black instrument template, and the LCD clock. But removing these items is not necessary.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0133.jpg

Now if you look at the front of the board where all the LED's are, you will find the 4 yellow (they just appear orange because of their low luminous value(mcd)) LED's. You need to unsolder these leds to reveal the soldering pads that you will use to solder the new led's. I can't explain how to unsolder properly as everyone has their own technique but if you look online their should be plenty of sources that may show you how to do it properly. I used something called hot tweezers to remove mine, for the budget minded, you might try to use a solder wick.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0135.jpg

Measuring the size of the LED's they measure approximately 3.0mm x 1.5mm which should be a 1106 sized SMT LED.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0136.jpg
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0137.jpg

Links I've found to purchase LED's in small qty's.

http://www.lc-led.com
http://www.eled.com

If you want the more exotic colors such as white, blue, or purple, expect to pay a premium for these LED's compared to the normal yellow and green led's because of the special manufacturing process used to create them. Also, the blue and white LED's require slighlty more voltage than normal color LED's for them to operate correctly but since the white ones that I have work fine, there shouldn't be any worries about using any color you prefer.

Here's a close up pic of my final masterpiece.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0143.jpg

Here's a shot of all my work so far.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/clock_led_mod_xb/IMG_0139.jpg

Hope this helps anyone that wants it. 8)
Stay tuned for our next episode when I change something else. hehe :wink:

Whoah, hold on guys. Actually I haven't bought the LED's yet. I meant to say that I got my LED's for my wife's navi at http://www.eled.com. I want to buy some white ones to match the speedo but they don't carry any and also apparently they are very expensive. Especially since most places put minimum order requirement. Here's one place I'm considering http://www.lc-led.com/View/itemNumber/39. I'll update everyone again when or if I get them.

just saw the pictures and assumed that was you doing all that.......... :D

Actually I disassembled the gauge cluster to show everyone what would be involved with changing the color of the clock. It's really not a hard operation at all. I'm currently searching for some LED's right now, so as soon I get them, I'll give everyone an update. You can pretty much have any color you'd like in there. the current color is actually yellow and not orange, it just appears orange because of the low luminence (mcd) of the LED's and the piece of white plastic sitting behind the LCD clock. Typical voltage is about 2-3 volts for the standard colors (yellow, red, green) up to about 4-5 volts for the white and blue colors. I'll probably try the white's to see if they work. Since the yellow LED's require less voltage than the white's, I'm kind of concerned if the white's will have enough voltage to operate after I swap them. If not I suppose I can solder a resistor between each positive pad and the anode of the LED. Well, I'll see how it goes. In the meantime anyone's free to try it on their own. If we can get enough different color combinations, we'll know what works good and what doesn't.

Here's a source for LEDs... www.sloanled.com

And one more thing. To get this color you won't be able to use colored filters, sharpie pens, or led condoms. Other colors might be possible but not white. I actually used white leds for these and they're expensive too. :D

First off, awesome job and thanks for figuring it out. Can anyone point us in the right direction as to where to find these LEDs online?

What size bulb did you finally end up with?

yeah bulb size , place of purchase and price. how do you remove/install the leds? a sharpie over the stock ones does not work just looks dull and ugly. i'm interested in white or blue soo. thanx for the great pics . would like to see some of the removal/installation. also where do you get your led condoms cuz i went shopping all over town at every electrical store/radioshack/computer stores to no avail . what gives . no one even knew what i was talking about.

First off, awesome job and thanks for figuring it out. Can anyone point us in the right direction as to where to find these LEDs online?

I got the LED's for my wife's navi at http://www.eled.com but you can also try this one too, http://www.lc-led.com/. They also have several unique colors too like blue, purple, and of course white.

What size bulb did you finally end up with?

I ended up getting 1210's because that was all my local electronics shop had. It's just slightly bigger than the original led's but it's significantly wider (almost 2x). :shock: So I was kind or worried if they would fit, but they fit just fine. I would honestly try getting 1106 SMD LED's if you can though, these would be the most ideal size to work with. Also I was worried if the voltage was high enough to operate the white color as it requires a higher operating voltage than the yellow led's. It work out quite nicely in my opinion. :wink:

yeah bulb size , place of purchase and price. how do you remove/install the leds? a sharpie over the stock ones does not work just looks dull and ugly. i'm interested in white or blue soo. thanx for the great pics . would like to see some of the removal/installation. also where do you get your led condoms cuz i went shopping all over town at every electrical store/radioshack/computer stores to no avail . what gives . no one even knew what i was talking about.

These are not the standard type of bulbs you just twist off and replace. You will have to de-solder the old ones out and the new ones in no shortcuts here. The price was around $0.95 which are very expenisve for LED's but because white LED's are expensive to produce, this is normal. Most of the remove instructions are up in the first post. I'll see if I can do a more detailed how to tomorrow. As for the LED condoms, I don't have any, all the lights I have are either stock or I changed the LED's.

so, if the voltage of whites worked, then blues should work too, eh? I wonder if there'd be enough contrast with the blue though. You can actually see all four leds in the closeup you took :)

That looks sweet bro. I had my dad look at it because he does soldering work. He said he could do it with no problem Thanks for all the info, it helps alot 8)

so, if the voltage of whites worked, then blues should work too, eh? I wonder if there'd be enough contrast with the blue though. You can actually see all four leds in the closeup you took :)

You're correct Jere. The white and the blue require similar operating voltage with the white being a little more because it's esentially a blue but with a phosphor coating to make it appear white. But traditional LED's, yellow(orange to yellow depending on luminous value(mcd) ), only require somewhere around 2..4V and the exotic bright or ultra colors such as blue, white, and purple require around 3.5V to operate.

I'd imagine the blues would look very good because you would be using a true blue light source rather than coloring the led with a sharpie.

As for seeing the LED's, it really only shows up on the digital camera. When looking at it at normal viewing distance it appears very evenly distributed and you can't see the led's. It looks very nice :D The other thing that could explain this is that I used slightly bigger led's than the original. I used 1210's because that's all the local shop had and I wasn't about to mail order 4 led's. The shipping would cost more than the led's themselves. The proper size is 1106 if you were planning to change them.

Lets' Place an order as a group.

I want blue or hyper blue. Anyone in? I will buy and ask you to PayPal me or send a money order. I will only charge exactly what it costs me. Shipping should only be like 40 cents.

Nice job.

I love the 2004 Camry Navigation system.
How much was it?
How difficult was the hook up?

What happened to the CD/radio?

Nice job.

I love the 2004 Camry Navigation system.
How much was it?
How difficult was the hook up?

What happened to the CD/radio?

Here ya go man, all the information you wanted and then some... 8)
http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23214

But the concise version to answer you questions.
it cost me about $1500 from Troy @ http://www.oemvalue.com because I was supposedly the first Scion to purchase from him and get him pics of my installation.

It was very easy to install, I've helped saicow install his and I know coasterlvr has installed his and has his own pics also. He's connected an IPOD to it and also a reverse camera. You really only need to hook up the reverse wire and the speed sense wire, everything else was plug and play.

As for my old single cd head unit, I traded it in to Troy for credit so I could cut the cost of that system even more.

Hope this answers all your questions.

does anyone know where to buy the led's mentioned above and the led condoms also?

does anyone know where to buy the led's mentioned above and the led condoms also?

Was there a particular color you were looking for? The 2 links I included above have all the standard colors and the lc-led link has white and blue colors. Just be sure to order the chip type Surface Mount Device LED's around the 1106 size. you can go 1206 also but the length might be a tighter fit over the pads so it might be difficult to get your soldering iron tip in there. The ones I used are 1210 power top's which are bigger than the 1106 but I still managed to fit them on there without much difficulty.

As for the led condoms I'm not sure how many places carry them anymore because some complained that they melted and others were saying the light became too dark for comfort. I believe someone posted a link on where to get replacement leds in several different colors for the center console portion but I can't seem to find the link. Perhaps anyone reading this can contribute to help hotbox05 out? :D

Alright hotbox05 after some looking around the web, I think I've found what you were looking for.

LED Bulb covers
Autometer Light Bulb Covers (http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=eproduct.asp&N=120+4294925228+4294923437+302531)

Colored LED replacements:
http://autolumination.com/74.htm (#74 LED)
http://www.superbrightleds.com/1157.htm (second from the bottom)
http://www.lightlens.com/coloredbulbs.htm (last table at the bottom of the page)

Alright hotbox05 after some looking around the web, I think I've found what you were looking for.

LED Bulb covers
Autometer Light Bulb Covers (http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=eproduct.asp&N=120+4294925228+4294923437+302531)

Colored LED replacements:
http://autolumination.com/74.htm (#74 LED)
http://www.superbrightleds.com/1157.htm (second from the bottom)
http://www.lightlens.com/coloredbulbs.htm (last table at the bottom of the page)

I personally haven't tried any of these so I don't know if they are the exact fit. But that's the whole point of the game, "You have to pay to play." So if you do decide to order them, tell us if they are correct or not. I'm fairly certain that these are it but I don't have any and I don't intend to change the color of my console because I've struggled enough to get the Navi LED's to match. I'm not about to go through that ordeal anytime soon. 8) Hope this helps you out.

how much of a difference in brightness will there be between the glass #74 bulbs and the led #74 replacements?

Nice job.

I love the 2004 Camry Navigation system.
How much was it?
How difficult was the hook up?

What happened to the CD/radio?

Here ya go man, all the information you wanted and then some... 8)
http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23214

But the concise version to answer you questions.
it cost me about $1500 from Troy @ http://www.oemvalue.com because I was supposedly the first Scion to purchase from him and get him pics of my installation.

It was very easy to install, I've helped saicow install his and I know coasterlvr has installed his and has his own pics also. He's connected an IPOD to it and also a reverse camera. You really only need to hook up the reverse wire and the speed sense wire, everything else was plug and play.

As for my old single cd head unit, I traded it in to Troy for credit so I could cut the cost of that system even more.

Hope this answers all your questions.


Sweet! Thank man.
Nice job!

how much of a difference in brightness will there be between the glass #74 bulbs and the led #74 replacements?

I honestly don't know because I haven't really looked at it yet. But if the bulbs that are currently in our HVAC controls now are LED's, the #74 LED replacements should have a similar light output.. But honestly LED's weren't really meant for brightness, that's why you have to cluster a whole bunch of them together to get them bright enough to work as a tail lamp or something. The bulbs will probably be a little bit brighter, but since the size is so small, the difference is really minimal. Hope this helps you. :D

the ones in hvac are incandescent . i just bought 4 sets. 1 of hyper blue incandescent , hyper blue led , blue incandescent , blue led , so i'll try em out and report. i also was able to find red 7440 bulbs. for red turn signals. nice!!!. all in all it only cost me 23.00 or sumptin for all of the above. not bad . still cant find any white or blue smd leds for the clock tho.

the ones in hvac are incandescent . i just bought 4 sets. 1 of hyper blue incandescent , hyper blue led , blue incandescent , blue led , so i'll try em out and report. i also was able to find red 7440 bulbs. for red turn signals. nice!!!. all in all it only cost me 23.00 or sumptin for all of the above. not bad . still cant find any white or blue smd leds for the clock tho.

Hey hotbox05 thanks for the report, keep us updated on what you find. :wink: Anyway, here are the direct links to the SMD LED's you asked about. They are 1206 so they're just a hair bigger than the original but they will work fine.

Link --> Super White 1206 SMD LED (http://www.lc-led.com/View/itemNumber/39)
Link --> Super Blue 1206 SMD LED (http://www.lc-led.com/View/itemNumber/38)

Hope this helps you. :D

you can't buy less than 15? damn...... im not sure as to wheter i want blue or white ones shizer....................maybe i can buy the white ones and if i decide to go blue then i can sharpie them? ....... shoot is there any site that sells them singularly?

you can't buy less than 15? damn...... im not sure as to wheter i want blue or white ones shizer....................maybe i can buy the white ones and if i decide to go blue then i can sharpie them? ....... shoot is there any site that sells them singularly?

Yeap, that's one of the reasons I went to a a local shop instead. Anyway, since you are up in Sacramento, check these guys out. If they don't have any, they should be able to tell you another local place to get them.

HSC Electronic Supply of Sacramento
4837 Amber Lane
Sacramento, California 95841
(916) 338-2545
(916) 338-1689 FAX
Hours: Mon - Fri 9AM - 6PM, Sat 9AM - 5PM

It's either this or by 15 and keep/sell 11 of them as part's in the private section. 8)

Another thing that I just thought of too. You can look around for cell phone shops that do phone led color modifications. Usually I find a lot of the asian stores will do this mod and they will have whites and blues. I believe some Nokia and Moto phone's use a similar size LED also. It doesn't have to be exact but it does have to be at least very close to the original size otherwise you run into problems of trying to solder directly to the pads. Heck they might even be able to do the soldering for you if you ask. 8)

Measuring the size of the LED's they measure approximately 3.0mm x 1.5mm which should be a 1106 sized SMT LED.
Do you mean SMD?

Measuring the size of the LED's they measure approximately 3.0mm x 1.5mm which should be a 1106 sized SMT LED.
Do you mean SMD?

Yeah you could call it whichever way you want. I use the terms interchangeably because they both pretty much mean the same thing.

SMT = Surface Mount Technology
SMD = Surface Mount Device

Yeah you could call it whichever way you want. I use the terms interchangeably because they both pretty much mean the same thing.

SMT = Surface Mount Technology
SMD = Surface Mount Device
Rock on! Just wanted to make sure I had the right terms down. I have always heared SMD and was curious if it was the same thing. Thanks, great info on the DIY.

hsc didn't have em ......

found a place http://us.digikey.com/scripts/dksearch/DKSUS.dll?KeywordSearch. kinda expensive tho. i unno whatever pain in the arse.........

found a place http://us.digikey.com/scripts/dksearch/DKSUS.dll?KeywordSearch. kinda expensive tho. i unno whatever pain in the arse.........

Yeah Digikey most certainly has everything. My work order's from them sometimes if we have no place else to turn to for parts. They're expensive because they're are a distributor and usually sell bulk items to company's. They're kind of similar to CDW or OfficeDepot. If there is no other alternative I guess this would be the way to go. Also I forgot to mention that if you are going to order off interenet. You'll probably want to order a couple extra, just in case some don't work or if you mess up, then you'll have some spares handy. Have you tried PM'ing some of the other people? Perhaps they want in too, than you can try to buy in bulk and then just split the cost. Sorry, couldn't be of more help, just been busy at work. When I get a chance, I'll see if I can look up some other places that might have them. :wink:

Alright I found some blue SMD LED's in 1206, which like I said should work fine.

The first one has a typical MCD (brightness) level of 8.
Link --> http://www.eled.com/product.asp?catalog_name=LEDs&product_id=EPTR3216MBC

The second one has a typical MCD level of 45.
Link --> http://www.eled.com/product.asp?catalog_name=LEDs&product_id=EPT3216PBC

The higher the MCD the brighter. Usually with darker colors such as blue or purple, you might want to try the the higher brightness. It might be a little too bright and overpowering though so you might also think about the first one. The one's I have are pretty bright, not sure of the MCD value as there was no spec sheet given, so if you look at it closely you'll see the 4 led's, but it doesn't bother me so I'll leave it be. So like I said, since there are 4 led's you probably could get away with first one, and it should give you a nice even blue. Just my $.02.

ok i tried the #74 bulbs for the ac and didn't work so it's back to the drawing board. i was able to take a sharpie to the light tubes and voila it worked. sweet. not like i wasted 16 bucks or nothin lol. oh wait i did

ok i tried the #74 bulbs for the ac and didn't work so it's back to the drawing board. i was able to take a sharpie to the light tubes and voila it worked. sweet. not like i wasted 16 bucks or nothin lol. oh wait i did

Alright thanks for the update man, sorry to hear it didn't work out. :( It's like I said, you gotta pay to play and sometimes it doesn't always work out but at least now the rest of us know. Anyway, what was wrong about the fitting of the #74 bulbs? Wrong size, socket didn't fit, not bright enough...? A comparision pic of the bulbs would be nice if you can provide them. :D

well i thought the #74's would slide into the socket but the socket and the bulb are integral. darn right bulb size tho

Hmm... I wonder if there is a way to retrofit them. I will have to look more into this when I get a chance. Not because I plan to change them but once I get involved with a problem I usually try to solve it using any means possible and I hate to see it unfinished. Thanks for the update though. Also I went ahead and updated the Blue LED thread too regarding the #74 bulbs. So I take it you just got the #74 wedge bulbs and not the ones with the base right? :D

correct i prolly shouldda got the other

I want to change the color of the speedo to orange to match the original orange led clock. Any info or pics on the sppedo leds? Is it the same process as the clock led's?

I want to change the color of the speedo to orange to match the original orange led clock. Any info or pics on the sppedo leds? Is it the same process as the clock led's?

To be honest, I haven't taken the speedometer apart yet because I'm scared of messing up the needles. But, I would imagine they used the same LED as to cut down on production cost. So far, I've only seen 2 types of SMD LED's on the gauge cluster and that is chip type and PLCC packaging. The clock LED's are chip type.

PLCC packaging...
http://www.nichia.co.jp/jp/product/images/led/topview/NSCW021.jpg

Chip packaging...
http://www.nichia.co.jp/jp/product/images/led/topview/NECWB205.gif

Also if you want the orange that is stock on our xB's, you actually want a yellow LED with an MCD level of 8. This is what I used on my navi and it looks the closest to our stock lighting. Hope this helps.

Anyone still trying to find single Surface Mount LED's, you'll probably have a better chance if you used google and searched for Nokia Cell Phone LED's. I found this one that sells both white and blue in 1206 size.

http://www.all4cell.com/led/led-install.html

A China manufacturer and distributor of all sizes of LED's at very good prices and no minimal quantities for normally carried products.

[ur]http://www.hebeiltd.com.cn/[/url]

Hey wgeee7478,

do you, or any one else know, if the LEDs for the gauge cluster the same size as those for the clock?

I have always wanted a brighter gauge and I am thinking of replacing the current LEDs with the super white LEDs.

To be honest I don't know but looking at the picture below from Scion's How to change gauge cluster lights, they look like the same LED's If they're not 1106's then they must be 0805's.

Here's a reference to his HowTo: -> Link (http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20758)

http://www.scionlife.com/tech/interior_gaugelighting/010.jpg

if you find out though, post your results. I've been busy lately so haven't had time to work on any new project but if I do, I'll do the same. :wink:

I will look into it once I get my car back in two weeks(its in the body shop right now). I will let you guys know about my findings once I look at it.

Is there any way to change the backlight behind the A/C switches and what not? Im lookin to go blue on everything, clock, backlights, and probably guage as well in my xB. any suggestions?

Is there any way to change the backlight behind the A/C switches and what not? Im lookin to go blue on everything, clock, backlights, and probably guage as well in my xB. any suggestions?

Sorry for the late reply, I was on vacation for the last couple weeks so I didn't have time to respond to questions. But anyway, to answer your question, yes, there is a way to change the light of the A/C knobs, however nobody has seemed to find the exact replacement of the bulbs so it's not as easy as plug and play. Hotbox05 has come the closest by determining the bulb size is very similar to a #74 bulb, but because of difference in lead length, he couldn't retrofit them to be used with the stock bulb holders. In a nutshell the #74 sized bulb or similar sized LED will work, however you will need to be creative in trying to install them. This is especially true if you are using the LED because the voltage of the original bulbs are 12V. Regarding the AC switch itself, I havn't looked into it but I think someone here has changed them so I believe it's possible. Right now my full center console is lit amber so it looks mad stock and I'm not about to change it. My speedo and clock match with white LED's so I'm kind of satisfied with where it's at right now. I might want to change the nasty seafoam green LED's on the gearshifter and the driver's window to amber but that's about it. I think Sidxbicious or Max2k are the ones that might know more about putting and LED in those actual switches. Well hope this helps, and good luck.

I will look into it once I get my car back in two weeks(its in the body shop right now). I will let you guys know about my findings once I look at it.

Hey kgzero, I don't know if you've changed your LED's yet but I just realized something when looking at the picture I posted. Looking from Left to Right, the second LED should be the Low Gas Warning light and so you shouldn't have to change that unless you want it a different color. Which basically means that our entire Speedo is lit up by only 3 LED's. I haven't looked into it yet, but I'm pretty sure with only 3 LED's, they must be using those clear acrylic light tubes to distribute the light to the entire speedo. Well post up, if you find something.

Is there any way I can get it professionally done? I live in the Sac area.

i know i want someone to re solder mine lol. i'm not gr8 at soldering i mean i can solder wires but soldering in some lil led's is a whole nother story im in sacto too.

seems like something that someone should learn to do better to make some extra cash. HINT HINT HINT(add that to your lowering car business)

Hmmm.... I wonder if this is the beginning invitation to do some side work. heheh. Well I'm only in SJ which is like a 2 hour drive for you guys if you really are interested. :lol: I haven't done the speedo yet nor an xA so if you guys are really interested we can discuss details. PM me. :D

Whats up,

I haven't done them yet, I am planning on taking the cluster apart this weekend to see if I will be able to solder them myself. Plus, I have to get a hold of a solder iron from my friend who I just found out left for a long vacation. Damn!
In other words, I don't know when I will actually start on it.

No problem at all. If possible, post up a how-to on taking the xA cluster apart and also tell me if the sizes of the LED's for the speedo are the same for those of the clock. Much thanks in advance. =)

Speedo and clock have differnt size LED's

Thanks for the update Ashe_WCM. What are the sizes of the speedo LED's either in dimensions or packaging? Is this the xB or the xA?

i'm not sure of the size but the speedo ones look smaller. at least narrower. hmm a 2 hour drive is a bit much but hmmm... yeah i guess i should start solder practice. i probably need a better sodering iron/gun and better solder.

Thanks hotbox, I'm guessing that they are 0805 SMD LED's. I'll eventually look into it. Good luck on the soldering, it's not hard actually, but you will need the proper equipment and lots of practice.

I did mine to green with 1206 LEDs.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/max2k/ClockLEDs.jpg

Make sure to put them all in the same way.

It seems my edit button has disappeared.

The LEDs aren't as bright as that picture makes them look, the light is pretty diffused.

2 Max2k (aka the LED master)...That looks great. And yeah, the camera has the same effect on my white ones. The picture shows the individual led's brighter than if you were to see them in person. At night the light is diffused and looks great. I still recommend this method to anyone who wants to permanently change their clock color, rather than using markers.

I was planning on another project involoving replacing the LED's with RGB ones. I wanted to mimic the JDM 9 color change speedo by using either a PIC controller or pots to tune the backlight to different colors. But for now and the near future, this project will probably be put on hold because of priorities.

that would be hot, if you do the color changing speedo do a diy write up

It seems my edit button has disappeared.


once the article is in the FAQ section it should not be edited....
thats why there is no edit button....

why not?

That's understandable, here's a more accurate picture:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/max2k/Scion%20Pictures/ClockLEDsandHeadUnit.jpg

This is pretty much what it actually looks like. You can see the 4 individual LEDs because they're brighter and bigger than the stock ones were.

Doing the 7 color gauges would be seriously sweet. I was just going to print out a new backing for them with light green substituted for the current orange in the fuel and tach hatch marks.

i just got my lil leds for the clock. uh oh here coime when i either make it work or mess ____ up lol. one way or the other right?

Just don't use too much heat and put all the LEDS on the same way.

i've got a 30 and a 20 and a 25 watt iron. which is best?

I just finished converting my clock to blue. I used these LEDs:

http://www.eled.com/product.asp?catalog_name=LEDs&Product_ID=EPL3015PBC

They were a tad too bright for me so I folded up a piece of wax paper and put it inside the hole behind the clock to help difuse the light. It looks really nice now. I will try to get pics up soon :)

Thanks for the excellent writeup!

This is a quite useful thread. Thank you to all who have posted accurate info. :P

:tap: Alright I did the whole sodder thing and mine doesnt work at all. none of the four LEDS wll come up. I did get some 1106 leds, but i am believing that my Big ol' fingers and too much solder made a thrilling screw up. I am gonna try one more time.

Is there a specific polarity assignment on the board? top or bottom.

LED's only work in one direction, make sure the polarity is correct. The PCB has white arrows on top of each LED to tell you which direction to place the LED's.

Getting a LED witha wide viewing angle will also help with more even light distribution. I saw some 1106 SMD online with 120 deg. of view. Also the luminescence is important. I would think in this type of application that its better to have a wide viewing angle then very strong luminescence. wgeee7478, what wavelength , Iv(mcd) type and Iv(mcd) min were you using?

Most standard surface mount LED's have approx. 120 degrees of view. I purchased my LED's from a local electronic store and unfortunately they didn't have a data sheet to give me so I don't know the mcd values. However if what you are looking for is a more subtle diffused look you can get surface mount leds with a "diffused" lens rather than a "clear water" lens. Another method would be what was mentioned earlier and that is to use some semi-transparent paper (cookie baking sheet or tracing paper) directly behind the LCD screen to provide more of a light filter.

Thank you wgeee, I am gonna take them apart, and try again! :pray:

Hey wgeee7478,
Well, I finally took a look at the speedo leds, and I have decided that I will not remove them. I am not good enough at soldering to remove those bad boys. As for the radio lights, there are just too damn many of them. Oh, well, maybe I will practice on something for a while first.

Alright no problem, thanks for the effort. I would suggest old computer motherboards, video cards, network cards, memory module, etc... to get plenty of soldering practice. You won't be able to test it but at least you'll get to the point where at least the solder job looks professional. Just make sure you have the proper basic tools and then you can expand as you see fit.

i finally got around to doing my clock , i was able to get 2 of 4 leds to work the other twos lil contacts on the balcs fell off so... gotta get 2 more. oh well. it's half blue

If the contacts fell off, it probably means you are leaving the soldering iron on too long. If you have a cleanly wetted tip, it should take you no longer than a second or two to get in there do what you need and get back out.

hmm , guess i need to wet my tip , lol. oh well i'll fix it. thanx for the advice.

got em all in lemme post a pic or two , the pics look almost white but trsut they are a nice bright blue

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/5/web/689000-689999/689750_189_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/5/web/689000-689999/689750_190_full.jpg
there ya go .

Heads up everyone in nor-cal you gots a new service available, Hotbox05 is now doing LED swaps. hehehe. Great job man, looks nice. Can't wait to see it at the next meet. Oh yeah, and you won't have to worry about the color burning off too.

yeah it should be good stuff , now i just gotta do the speedo , from what i've been told , the speedo ones are larger

I thought somebody posted here that they were smaller? Well if you ever get a size for those, post up. I'm sure there's a lot of people that want that 411.

The blue looks hot.

Has anyone done red or yellow yet?

The blue looks hot.

Has anyone done red or yellow yet?
I'm gonna do red in a day or two. The LEDs just came in today. That blue does look nice.

Questions for those who have done this mod. What size tip did you use for the soldering iron? These LEDs are small! I was planning on using a 1/32" tip. Think that's OK? Also, I got a few different LEDs to experiment with (all of them 1106). The different mcd are 15, 150, 250. I was planning on using the 15 mcd. Of the two LEDs that have the 15 mcd, one is red and has 90 deg. viewing angle and one is infrared and has a viewing angle of 120 deg. Any thoughts on what might work best? What have other been using for mcd values and viewing angle?

Well for starters, DON'T use the infrared, cause you won't see anything! Infrared doesn't emit light, it emits RF signals, e.g. TV remote. 1/32 tip should work well with this type of work. As for the MCD. the higher you go, the more apparent the LED's become like my whites and Max2K's greens. But if you want to use higher mcd LED's, then you can always cut some tracing paper or somekind of frosted transparent paper and create a light filter right behind the LCD clock to diffuse the brightness a little. Just make sure you align the LED's in the correct orientation otherwise they won't light at all. You should be just fine. Post pics when done. Eventually we'll have a gallery for everyone to look at.

The blue looks hot.

Has anyone done red or yellow yet?
I'm gonna do red in a day or two. The LEDs just came in today. That blue does look nice.

Questions for those who have done this mod. What size tip did you use for the soldering iron? These LEDs are small! I was planning on using a 1/32" tip. Think that's OK? Also, I got a few different LEDs to experiment with (all of them 1106). The different mcd are 15, 150, 250. I was planning on using the 15 mcd. Of the two LEDs that have the 15 mcd, one is red and has 90 deg. viewing angle and one is infrared and has a viewing angle of 120 deg. Any thoughts on what might work best? What have other been using for mcd values and viewing angle?

I actually got around to getting mine in this afternoon. The LED's I ended up using were red, size 1106 with an mcd of 15 and viewing angle of 90 deg. The color that shows up in the pictures is not as deep as they really look. I'm definitely happy with the color and they have an even luminescence. You can get them at eled.com. The part number is EPL3015EC.

I used desoldering braid to get the stock LEDs out. I initially tried using one of those desoldering suction tools, but that didn't work as well for this application. I would also recommend getting a thin tip for the soldering iron (I used 1/32") and using thin solder wire. I used 0.032 dia. Also a magnifying glass helps a lot.

If you are a novice at soldering, like me, I would get a bunch of extra LEDs and some circuit board to practice on first. I practiced soldering and unsoldering a bunch of times before doing it on the xB. I'm definitely glad I did.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v303/avatar_99/110_1018.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v303/avatar_99/110_1009.jpg

looks good in red too , if u could do red and blue bam u got vw , thatd be a lil hard but would be worth it.

That looks awesome Minsk. Great Job. And if you think about it this way, you gained 2 things from this project. A nice red backlit LCD clock and also soldering skills to do micro-electonics.

So what colors are still missing? Anyone else want to post theirs?

the speedo seems to use size 1411. kinda rare size but of well it's approx 3.5mm by 2.0 or 2.2 mm. i installed some but damn if they werent aqua or indiglo in color compared to the blue they were stated as being. oh well i'll post some pics tomorrow.

heres the pics i posted about

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/5/web/689000-689999/689750_198_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/5/web/689000-689999/689750_197_full.jpg

the damn speedo came out aquaish but the pics look like theyre all the same perfect shade.

Looks damn nice! How did you pull the speedo needles and set them back in w/o ruining the calibration? Anyway, for a darker shade of blue, you might have to look at the data sheet for the blues and see which one has a nice dark blue. Otherwise you will probably have to use some blue plastic film to make it darker. But in all honesty I think it looks fine and you should just leave it.

the needles are easy you just mark where they go when the car is off and set it up identical , i've done it about 5 times with these cars so not too hard anymore. sometimes i think my gas gauge is off but it seems to be witin half a milimeter so i'm all right with that.

I recently put green LEDs in my clock and it looks awesome! I ordered them from eLed. com and paid my local electronics store $10 to solder the whole thing together. Less than $15 alltogether and i am happy :clap:

I just completed this and wanted to show it off. Since I have not seen green on this thread here is my new clock.

http://img134.exs.cx/img134/4121/greenclock8nt.jpg

This was my first attempt at soldering anything.

Well Max2K's is green, but thank you for your pic, we all have a better view what the green looks like in dark.

i jsut did mine with blue it is not as smooth a color as the green but i think my camera made it worse than it is. (talking about the 4 little bright spots)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v359/texasicebox/my%20xb/2003_0101ledclock0008.jpg

alright i have some extra time at work so i was going to do my led mod to my clock cause i just recieved my LEDs in the mail yesterday afternoon. well before i ____ anything up i took a few pictures to make sure i have everything cause something doesn't look right

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid159/p9e5ba796f82809598e02aff6e36a8bc1/f5036467.jpg

here are the LEDs i bought from eled.com

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid159/pe706570186adafb6e37887457feaf56f/f5036465.jpg

and here are the ones that are in the circuit board.

now as you can see the original ones are square and seem a lot smaller. i followed wegee's directions and i'm pretty sure i got the right leds (just in case here is the part number - E7104QWC-D). now has anybody run across this problem because for one i didn't know if they would fit and two was that im now not sure that i got the right leds cause i got the 3mm x 1.5mm like im sure everyone else did. so if there is something im missing or if someone who bought leds of this site could please tell me that either i got the wrong ones or the right ones for that matter that would be great. please help i don't want to ____ this up amd make my signature true!! thanks

i also noticed that wgee said that in his first post with all the great pictures that they were 1106 SMT leds so when i ordered mine that was i was looking for 1106. but as i was just reading on, he said on page 2 of this thread that you needed 1206 leds or something like that. so now im really unsure of whether my leds are the right ones.

hey if those pictures don't show up i have them stored in my picture album...link is in my signature.

I don't really know what to say but you got the wrong LED's. The ones you should have gotten were Surface Mount Device LED's with chip type packaging. Both 1106 or 1206 size will work fine. Here's the post with pictures of how the LED's should look like --> Link (http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=330958#330958)

But if I were you just keep the ones you have cause you can always put a 1/4W resistor to them and use them for interior lighting accents.

:doh: yeah i've been scanning the internet and this thread frantically and i think i realized what my goof was haha. well all i need now is a soldering pencil and what not and i think i'll have it. also i think hotbox said that the leds in the speedo were 1411 so i think when i return those leds if i can i'll get the clock ones and the speedo ones and i'll post pics as soon as im done. oh yeah it'll be green. sorry Max2k i don't mean to be like copying you or anything although you are a light god but i really like how it looks. sorry im not as original as you are :bow:

-X

But if I were you just keep the ones you have cause you can always put a 1/4W resistor to them and use them for interior lighting accents.

i'll probably think about it i just don't know where to put them cause they're white and i got green interior lights and ____...i dunno i'll figure something out but thanks for the idea i'll proably think of something.

If you want green then I think these are the ones you want --> Link (http://www.eled.com/product.asp?catalog_name=LEDs&product_id=EPL3015QGC)

yeah those were the exact ones i was looking at part number and everything. i emailed eled to see if there was a possiblity of return or exchange since they're unused but if not i'll end up getting these no matter what. do you know for a fact that 1411 is the led for the speedo or no? :pray:

nope, sorry Hotbox05 would be your best bet on that one cause he's done them already.

alright well thanks a lot for all your help i really appreciate it. :bow:

sorry Max2k i don't mean to be like copying you or anything although you are a light god but i really like how it looks. sorry im not as original as you are :bow:

-XHa, it's cool. Imitation is the highest form of flattery.

I got my LEDs from this guy on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=66949&item=3875503984&rd=1&ssPageName=WD1V

Now I have a bunch of little green LEDs in a drawer.

I buy my leds from a friend so am not 100% sure on the size for the speedo , I will see him tonight and ask , whenb I was looking online from measuring the leds he gave me 1411 came the closest to that size.

Hi,

I wanted to mention www.digi-key.com as a ossible sources for some of the lamps/LEDs around.

I am not sure if they will have them, but if anybody does, they probably will.

Dave

sorry Max2k i don't mean to be like copying you or anything although you are a light god but i really like how it looks. sorry im not as original as you are :bow:

-XHa, it's cool. Imitation is the highest form of flattery.

I got my LEDs from this guy on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=66949&item=3875503984&rd=1&ssPageName=WD1V

Now I have a bunch of little green LEDs in a drawer.

hey thanks max i'll probably check those out. i haven't been able to do anything lately cause ive been so busy trying to save money for college and to take a few of my ASE tests and stuff. i want to buy ____ for my car so bad and i can't which is a-hole. oh well it'll end up getting done sooner or later but thanks for all the help.

-X

What did you end up doing to change the lights behind the AC controls, i know it was said that 74 was close, but not perfect. I see in the pic that Hotbox05 accomplished this.

What did you end up doing to change the lights behind the AC controls, i know it was said that 74 was close, but not perfect. I see in the pic that Hotbox05 accomplished this.

here you go -> http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11283 ha its about 3 threads down below this one in the FAQ section but its ok though i used this when it first came out and it worked great. Good luck.

-X

I want to change my clock to white... Can someone that has done white please tell me where i cen get the leds... i have searched all of the sites listed in this forum and cannot find any white 1106 or 1206's

BUMP

I want to change my clock to white... Can someone that has done white please tell me where i cen get the leds... i have searched all of the sites listed in this forum and cannot find any white 1106 or 1206's

I got my white SMD Led's at Digi-Key. Go to: www.digikey.com, or you can call 800-344-4539. Look up part # 67-1866-1-ND. They are an Ingan/SIC White Clear 1206 SMD LED. These worked perfect and they are in stock, $3.14 each. They also sell several other different colors.

I want to change my clock to white... Can someone that has done white please tell me where i cen get the leds... i have searched all of the sites listed in this forum and cannot find any white 1106 or 1206's

I got my white SMD Led's at Digi-Key. Go to: www.digikey.com, or you can call 800-344-4539. Look up part # 67-1866-1-ND. They are an Ingan/SIC White Clear 1206 SMD LED. These worked perfect and they are in stock, $3.14 each. They also sell several other different colors.

Thanks for the reply.
Do you have any pics? Are the 1206 not too bright. I thought what I needed was the 1106

Thanks for the reply.
Do you have any pics? Are the 1206 not too bright. I thought what I needed was the 1106


I don't have any pictures, but I can tell you that they are slightly brighter than the speedometer. But it still looks acceptable. I am still trying to find brighter LED's for the Speedometer so they match. I am sure Digi-key sells the 1106's. You just need to search for them on the website.

So, to bring this post up, has anyone ever found out what size LED the xB speedo uses for sure?

Successfully done and very easy.
Used Size 1106 SMD Super Bright Blue
Just follow the posted steps carefully.

Hey Ultra101, care to post some pics of your finished speedo with the LED's changed? I haven't had a chance to look into mine because priority issues but I might still like to do this one day.

Just wondering what skills do you need to take off the led without burning the board??

Honestly, I don't want to make it sound easier than it is but if you use common sense and the right tools, it should come off with very little difficulty. Basically you wouldn't want to use a soldering gun on something this delicate, nor would you want to leave your soldering iron sitting on the circuit board for too long. There's a soldering tech article in the tech section, that should be a good starting point. And if you have soldered something like xbox's and PS2's, it's similar to an xbox LPC points, but no where as difficult as the d0 or PS2 points. IM or PM me if you have any questions, I'll be glad to help.

whats the best prices you have found for the leds I have a local shop i can get blue (usually more expensive) for 50 cents a pop
is any one is intereted i can order a few. he's backordered ATM but Im gonna buy like 20 to test them and see if they work well its the 1210's BTW ill keep you posted

I'm not sure what are the best prices for these as I haven't looked in a long while. I paid $0.95 per LED for mine which I thought was average. I used the 1210 PLCC LED's and they worked fine. The only thing that you might want to look out for is the brightness and viewing angle. I think the PLCC's had more of a 90 degree veiwing angle and therefore concentrated more of the light forward whereas a chip type has a 120 degree veiwing angle and I think it'll look more diffused and evenly distributed.

Great writeup.

I did mine this weekend. You will not be able to do this with a cheap soldering iron. Also, pulling the ribbon cable out is a bad idea, and not necessary.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/xbscion/DSC00885.jpg

If you do not have experience soldering surface mount parts to a board, I recommend you practice a few times before you attempt. You do not want to lift a pad or do any other damage.

If using solder wick, use a no clean variety and also use a no clean solder. Using fluxes or solder other than no clean such as water soluble or rosin will require cleaning and will cause corrosion if not cleaned properly.

I did this at work with a Hakko hot air pen and a microscope but a standard Hakko iron with a medium sized tip should work just fine.

I want to try getting the color purple for my car...anyone know how to get this color?
Thanks! :bow:

When I did mine I used a 15 watt soldering iron and solder sucker. Tweezers are a good idea as well if you have them because those LEDs are so small. A friend is also useful to hold the board still and level while you solder.

Whatever you do don't use one of those cold iron solder things from radio shack, we tried one and not only was it too much for the board (burned it a little but no permanent damage) but the stupid cold iron melted and burned up, what a piece of crap.

Make sure you get your polarity right, mine turned out great...

http://www.pix8.net/pro/pic/23000FmvSb/841318.jpg

Here's mine in green.

http://www.towayalane.com/scionlife/ledswap/Img_2541.jpg

http://www.towayalane.com/scionlife/ledswap/Img_2545.jpg

Sorry for the pic quality, but camera with flash off in one hand, turning key with arm twisted through steering wheel to catch the warning lights is a little tough.

The A/C controls are actually very even, and the 4 bright spots behind the clock are almost nonexistent.

That's a lot of LEDs to change, a ton of work especially on that head unit. You must be getting patient in your old age :)

It's really not too bad with tiny tweezers and a magnifying visor thingy. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would.

The bad part is I had to do it twice. The first LED's I bought were a yellowish green so I had to change them for true green. :doh:

lol SLOAN is litteraly 1/4 mile from the dealership where i got my box... I should see if they wanna make a light system for my ride...

Successfully done and very easy.
Used Size 1106 SMD Super Bright Blue
Just follow the posted steps carefully.
Where have you found the 1106's in blue? I have had a hard time locating 1106's and can seemingly only find 1206's. Mark

Where have you found the 1106's in blue? I have had a hard time locating 1106's and can seemingly only find 1206's. Mark

I used 1206 and they worked just fine.

Nice write up and hope all works well for me. :clap: :bow:

I am gearing up to green out my consol. I have not soldered in over ten years so I bought some kits off the link below to practice. They also sell LEDs pretty cheap. I will let you guys know how it goes.

http://www.goldmine-elec.com/default.htm

can you guys please tell me what intensity your using, I'm going to do the blue ones this weekend but dont know if I should get the 12 or the 75 mcd ones, I want it blue, not 4 neon dots on a blue background, thanks

can you guys please tell me what intensity your using, I'm going to do the blue ones this weekend but dont know if I should get the 12 or the 75 mcd ones, I want it blue, not 4 neon dots on a blue background, thanks

get even brighter than that if you can. I can't remember what I used for sure, but I think they were about 150 mcd.

but wont that create the spotting, i'm trying to keep it evenly diffused as much as possible

my pics above are so bad it's hard to tell, but the spotting is minimal. If the place your getting them from has 75 and 150 I would go ahead and order both, it should only be about $4 extra and you can pick the one that works best. I know the 12 won't be bright enough.

http://www.eled.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=LEDs&category%5Fname=Single+Color+%2D+Top+Emitting+LED+%2D+1106&product%5Fid=EPL3015PBC

those are teh ones I'm planning on, unless someone shows me a different one installed, i'm just going to hope these are bright enought but not too bright

Use the highest MCD you can get. The spotting is very little even with 150 MCD. To reduce or eliminate spotting put a piece of wax paper the same size of screen in front of LED's. I got my LED's from eled.com and they are super bright.

can someone please give me a link to the 150mcd ones, teh highest I can find on eled in 1106 is the 75

seems these are the exact ones I'm after, thanks for the PMs

http://www.eled.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=LEDs&category%5Fname=Single+Color+%2D+Top+Emitting+LED+%2D+1106&product%5Fid=EPL3015MBC

If you need LED's, let me know. I sell them.

Be very carful when bending the metal tab. I have taken my cluster apart several times and as a result my tab recieved a stress fracture and then broke off. I am not sure what the tab does. I ended up just making sure that there was a connection at the fracture point and screwd the screw on with enough pressure to hold it down.

ok I skimmed the thread and couldn't find what I was looking for. What is the voltage coming from the board for the leds. I changed my buddy clock leds and two days later two of the leds burnt out.

I did mine today. Thanks for the great write-up!

My camera doesn't do well at night so the color and brightness is way off. The clock is brighter than the speedometer but it doesn't look like the pic.
http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/204/204797/folders/166247/2062484GreenLEDs002s.jpg

Wow, very nice. Camoflauge? Also, the clock does look brighter than the speedometer in the pic.

Thanks! Yes it is camouflage. Here's a flash pic. The flash ruins the colors in the pic but it gives a better idea of what the face really looks like.

http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/204/204797/folders/166247/2062835GreenLEDs004s.jpg

Here's the design:
http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/204/204797/folders/228224/2063344ChadCamo.jpg

coool! nice job!

coool! nice job!

Thanks!!! It was fun to do but I'm glad I have soldering experience. That is not a job for an amateur. You earn what you charge to do it!

Thanks for the tips you've posted on other threads! Those helped me too. :bow:

i'm sooo doing this, i absolutely hate the orange! but if i change the clock, i'll want to do the head unit too. how difficult is it? anyone got some super whites laying around? if i went blue, then i'd have to do the speedometer too and i'm to lazy for that. ha ha

You're too lazy to do the speedo, but talking about doing the HU... :rofl:
Wait 'til you find out that the radio is around 40 LEDs that are less than half the size of the 1106s used in the clock! Doing the stock HU is tedious work. If you are not SUPER-skilled with a solder iron, then send it off to Squallheart or WhiteBlazer. They'll take care of you!

well, i'm wanting a screen and seperate player combo to put in, guess ill just have to deal with the hu orange until then.

well... even so, i've done aftermarket HUs to match the rest of the car too.. :)

but yeah.... i would say it's not worth it to change leds and spend the money on the stock HU... i keep telling people that.

better to save and spend it on an aftermarket one that performs better.

but uhmm.. yeah.. those 0603s in the headunit... errr.... tedious indeed...
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b28/SquallLHeart/LED%20swaps/SMD-LEDs.jpg

just a size comparison... note.. the ruler is metric.

I have done the mod to my clock with the white 1106's and I find the intensity too much.

These are the units I used. The work great in the steering wheels controls.

http://www.lc-led.com/View/itemNumber/97


I have four bright leds across the clock now. Back in the day with car alarms we used to put the led on the belt sander to diffuse the pattern. Not much there to do on the 1106's. I have heard of people using wax paper and even scotch tape to try to diffuse the pattern. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,


Kirby

Thank goodness my clock no longer looks like the dash of a mid 80's pontiac Transam. What is up with the horrible orange.

First of all, you can change the current limiting resistors values to change the LED brightness. That''s what I did. I don't recall the value but it took some experimentation to get the right brightness.

Then IIRC, I found some frosted plastic sheet (about 0.005") thick which I formed into an upside down V shape and placed over the LEDS. This type of diffuser is used in certain flat panel backlit LCD laptop screens. My clock display is now pretty evanly lit (in white).

So, just to recap... how many LEDs do I need to do the gauges and the clock. So far, I am coming up with about 16.
4 - clock
4 - gauge
12 - the other lights.

Do they all use 1106 or 1206? Or do I need another size?

What about the xB's HVAC? (or does it even have one?) I have a tC, and I am testing this out for a friend. I just need to make sure I have the right parts.

here is my clock, i wanted to do white but couldnt find white leds at the time. i also did my radio, which by the way is a pain in the a**, but well worth it.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n116/leov36/2007_0502xblights0003.jpg

So, just to recap... how many LEDs do I need to do the gauges and the clock. So far, I am coming up with about 16.
4 - clock
4 - gauge
12 - the other lights.

Do they all use 1106 or 1206? Or do I need another size?

What about the xB's HVAC? (or does it even have one?) I have a tC, and I am testing this out for a friend. I just need to make sure I have the right parts.
the only 1206s are the 4 in the clock... the others are plcc sized

as far as the hvac, they are two halogen bulbs, which when switched out to leds... won't look good. i usually suggest purchasing oznium's flex led strips and wire them behind the hvac and do it that way.

Ok, thanks Trung

as far as the hvac, they are two halogen bulbs, which when switched out to leds... won't look good. i usually suggest purchasing oznium's flex led strips and wire them behind the hvac and do it that way.

Those aren't halogen (or extra bright) bulbs - just plain incadescent bulbs.

I disagree on LEDs there not looking good. I uses 2 10,000mcd white LEDs and it looks just fine to me. Granted I shaved the LEDs and painted the inside of that entire cavity white. But it looks pretty good to me.

Check out:
http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1827291#1827291

If you want more info on what I did, start at:
http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1797821#1797821

as far as the hvac, they are two halogen bulbs, which when switched out to leds... won't look good. i usually suggest purchasing oznium's flex led strips and wire them behind the hvac and do it that way.

Those aren't halogen (or extra bright) bulbs - just plain incadescent bulbs.

I disagree on LEDs there not looking good. I uses 2 10,000mcd white LEDs and it looks just fine to me. Granted I shaved the LEDs and painted the inside of that entire cavity white. But it looks pretty good to me.

Check out:
http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1827291#1827291

If you want more info on what I did, start at:
http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1797821#1797821

me too, only I didn't use any paint. The pic's not very good, but...

http://www.towayalane.com/scionlife/green/7.jpg

tagged

:eyebrow: Does anyone know if I can color the LEDs with a sharpie? :eyebrow:

Nope... you can't.

you can but it won't last too long.

I'm pretty sure it wouldn't even make a noticeable difference.

watching saving

I'm pretty sure it wouldn't even make a noticeable difference.
actually before I swapped out the leds in my speedo I used blue sharpie over the leds and it worked for about a week.

Yea, I mean at that point... why even bother?

here is my clock, i wanted to do white but couldnt find white leds at the time. i also did my radio, which by the way is a pain in the a**, but well worth it.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n116/leov36/2007_0502xblights0003.jpgthat's what I want my HU and HVAC to look like in my egg.

who can I pay to do this!! lol

I bought a soldering iron just for "circuit boards", and everthing else I needed
The thing wouldnt get hot enough to de-solder the factory ones .. doh!

put it all back together, unchanged :(

I just need to do the clock and the steering controls. Everything else is white/red.

everything in mine is blue.. just not the clock..

Yea, I'm changing everything to white, but my alpine is red... it looks quite nice, but that clock...

yeah... that clock..

I bought 50 red 1206 LED's on Ebay for about $5. I've got 45 of them left over. :D

Anyone who wants some just send me money for postage, or a SASE envelope and I'll send ya 5 (you only need four, but one extra in case you screw up or sneeze and blow one off the table)