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LED Swap - Gauges, HVAC, Steering Wheel

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Old 05-16-2008, 04:40 AM
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Default LED Swap - Gauges, HVAC, Steering Wheel
Alright... Well I finally got around to installing these LED's (and reverse film for the LCD displays) I ordered from LEDmod today... I'm not gonna bother making a "DIY" because there is a few good ones on here already...

Weapons of Choice:


Notice the fine tip on the Soldering Iron - It's a Weller WM120 12w:


Stock Gauges:


Final Product:


Stock HVAC:


LCD Removed (No Cracks Thanks to the "Solder Sucker"):


LCD and LED's installed:


Final Product:


Removal Of Steering Wheel Buttons:


Steering Wheel Buttons Board:


Final Install:










Overall I had a lot of fun doing this... I think it looks awesome - the blue is much better in person than on the pictures...
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Old 05-16-2008, 05:12 AM
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Oh, btw... Anyone bother to mess with the resistor values for the steering wheel LED's?... They're not bad, but if I could make them brigher that would be great... All three LED's appear to be in series, so there should only be one resistor... When I had it apart I forgot to check what the factory resistor value was...
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Old 05-16-2008, 05:30 AM
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that looks SOOO good. bump.
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Old 05-16-2008, 05:34 AM
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nice job
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Old 05-16-2008, 05:35 AM
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nice work! kenwood nav with the garmin action?

paint your needles son!
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Old 05-16-2008, 05:38 AM
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Originally Posted by foose801
nice work! kenwood nav with the garmin action?

paint your needles son!
Yes Sir!... DDX 8019 with external NAVI... I dunno about the needles... I kinda like it that way... I'll concider it... It's great that all the lights match the Head Unit now... lol...
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Old 05-16-2008, 05:43 AM
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I may have to do this myself on my 08.
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Old 05-16-2008, 05:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Eltaco
I may have to do this myself on my 08.
Ya, it's not as hard as some people think... As long as you have some Soldering/Desoldering experience it's farily easy... Although the resistors on the HVAC are super small surface mounts, and a bit of a pain to swap out, those tweezers came in super handy for that part...
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Old 05-16-2008, 08:16 AM
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looks good ur camera made the stock gauges look red.
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Old 05-16-2008, 02:43 PM
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Originally Posted by O5_TRD_tC
looks good ur camera made the stock gauges look red.
Actually that's really close to the Factory 2008 tC color ... It's different from the 05-07 tC's factory color... It's a more "Burnt Orange" than yellow like the 05-07's...
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Old 05-16-2008, 02:48 PM
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I agree, the stock color on my '08 makes me think of a poor attempt at looking BMWish.
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Old 05-16-2008, 03:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Eltaco
I agree, the stock color on my '08 makes me think of a poor attempt at looking BMWish.
Among some other aspects of the car... lol...
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Old 05-16-2008, 03:30 PM
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sexy.
im gettin mine done next weekend.
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Old 05-16-2008, 05:08 PM
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Originally Posted by BlackMetal
Oh, btw... Anyone bother to mess with the resistor values for the steering wheel LED's?... They're not bad, but if I could make them brigher that would be great... All three LED's appear to be in series, so there should only be one resistor... When I had it apart I forgot to check what the factory resistor value was...
Good work! On the wheel controls, use a 331 "330 ohm" & they will be much brighter and still be well in the safe zone for current draw through the steering wheel ribbon cable.
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Old 05-16-2008, 05:36 PM
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Originally Posted by tC2_thumper
that looks SOOO good. bump.
I think we found our next joint project....
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Old 05-16-2008, 06:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Garage1217
Originally Posted by BlackMetal
Oh, btw... Anyone bother to mess with the resistor values for the steering wheel LED's?... They're not bad, but if I could make them brigher that would be great... All three LED's appear to be in series, so there should only be one resistor... When I had it apart I forgot to check what the factory resistor value was...
Good work! On the wheel controls, use a 331 "330 ohm" & they will be much brighter and still be well in the safe zone for current draw through the steering wheel ribbon cable.
Thanks for the info!... I'll probably do it over the weekend...
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Old 05-16-2008, 06:19 PM
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Originally Posted by BlackMetal
Originally Posted by O5_TRD_tC
looks good ur camera made the stock gauges look red.
Actually that's really close to the Factory 2008 tC color ... It's different from the 05-07 tC's factory color... It's a more "Burnt Orange" than yellow like the 05-07's...
i know what 08's look like, its not that red tho.
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Old 05-16-2008, 06:25 PM
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Originally Posted by O5_TRD_tC
Originally Posted by BlackMetal
Originally Posted by O5_TRD_tC
looks good ur camera made the stock gauges look red.
Actually that's really close to the Factory 2008 tC color ... It's different from the 05-07 tC's factory color... It's a more "Burnt Orange" than yellow like the 05-07's...
i know what 08's look like, its not that red tho.
Ya, I know... I need a new camera, it's like one of the first digital cameras Canon made
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Old 05-16-2008, 06:30 PM
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check out the new canon XSI, i just got mines :D
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Old 05-16-2008, 06:55 PM
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Originally Posted by O5_TRD_tC
check out the new canon XSI, i just got mines :D
That's a nice camera... I was actually looking at that one, and the Nikon D40... I'm trying to save for some nice rims, so the camera's gonna have to wait
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