Insrument cluster bulb replacment

[Old Rider]

I'm planning to replace the bulbs in dash/ instrument cluster  original bulbs is 3.4w i think ..can i use 5w bulbs ?
And can i use blue bulbs in the spedo and rpm gauge ?

[aviationfred]

I have just finished installing a Speed Hut GPS speedometer in a instrument cluster for another FJ owner. There were a couple of back lighting bulbs burnt out. I initially put OEM Incandescent bulbs in and then replaced those with a few spare LED bulbs that i had. The photos are in order.

Burnt out bulbs
Incandescent bulbs
White LED bulbs.

[FJmonkey]

Don't use LED for the low fuel light. That part of the system requires an incandescent lamp (some kind of resistance). The lamp turns on dim when the fuel is low, then gets brighter as the fuel lowers even more. An LED will be on full time.

[Old Rider]

I have just finished installing a Speed Hut GPS speedometer in a instrument cluster for another FJ owner. There were a couple of back lighting bulbs burnt out. I initially put OEM Incandescent bulbs in and then replaced those with a few spare LED bulbs that i had. The photos are in order.

Burnt out bulbs
Incandescent bulbs
White LED bulbs.

Thanks Fred for sharing the pictures !  The speedo with led bulbs looks great ,but i don't think i can find them in Norway but i will  give it a try. I now know the socket is T10 so maybe i find them here.If not  i will try to put in bulbs that are  5.0w so they are a little stronger than oem 3,4w .I can get them in yellow blue or clear.

[Old Rider]

Don't use LED for the low fuel light. That part of the system requires an incandescent lamp (some kind of resistance). The lamp turns on dim when the fuel is low, then gets brighter as the fuel lowers even more. An LED will be on full time.

Thanks FJmonkey for telling me that !

[aviationfred]

These are the LED bulbs that I use for the instrument lights. They also work very well for the turn signal indicators. They may ship to Norway


https://www.ebay.it/itm/332954217290



Fred

[Old Rider]

Thanks for the link ,but i did find some led bulbs here in Oslo but they don't look exactly the same  . But then i wonder can i just plug in led bulbs without using a led resistor ?

I found another spare instrumant cluster in my cellar and took a look at it.There is reflectors or shield on the bulbs ,but one does not have the shield i thought the shield was there
so that the area where the bulbs for blinkers oil and neutral not getting illuminated.

[FJ_Hooligan]

LEDs will work fine in the dash lights.  Resistors are only necessary in the actual turn signal bulb to prevent rapid flashing of the flasher relay.

[Old Rider]

LEDs will work fine in the dash lights.  Resistors are only necessary in the actual turn signal bulb to prevent rapid flashing of the flasher relay.

Thanks David ! i found out later when i bought some bulbs and tested in the spare instrument cluster.Bought 3 sets that had 2 bulbs in them 2 blue
2 yellow 2 white .Tested using a 12v motorcycle battery and connected some wiring to the black and blue wiring from the instrument cluster.
Found out that the blue and yellow bulbs was not looking good so i will just buy 8 more white bulbs.
But now a new question what is the easiest way to replace them ? I'm planning on taking the hole front fairing off and have to do it outside because my
garage is unavailable .How long does it take to remove the fairing and put it back on?
is it a easier way to replace the bulbs ?

[Old Rider]

Now i have replaced the instrument cluster bulbs .I ended up not using the white LED bulbs because they was too bright so bought  Osram 5w Incandescent bulbs.
The Osram bulbs is 5w and i think they are a little brighter than OEM that is 3.7w.
Also did a test painting flat clearcote on 3 of the indicator lamp lenses ( see picture ) to see if the sun reflections stops it worked so i did it on all 6
indicatorlamps on the spare cluster panel and used that one on the instrument cluster sitting in the bike.
It is easy to take the fairing off and i thought the job was going to be faster, but i also wanted to do some rustremoval and painting on frame plus adding some
foampads here and there to get rid of noise when going over small bumps.Also a nice time to clean some electrical contacts and relays.

[Old Rider]

Today driving in daylight i was pleased that the sun not glare in the indicator lenses, but i discovered a mistake with the Light in the instrument cluster.
I first thought that the bulb sitting right over the trip reset knob had died because the area in the red circle (see pictures) was very little illuminated, but when
i got home and took a look on the spare cluster i found that it must bee because the reflector on that bulb is pointing upward making it impossible for the bulb
to throw light to that red circled area.On the cluster sitting in my bike the reflector is pointing up it should have been bent down see pictures.In the dark its not
that noticeable but it could have been much more light in the redcircle area if the reflector was bent down.There is 3 bulbs that have a reflector in the cluster and
the more i look at it i think all 3 should have been bent downward and maybe that was the intention from factory.It is a little irritating  and typical that i did
not discover this earlier when i did the bulb replacement but it is possible to fix this by taking out the inner upperfairing cover and lift out the speedometer lens
cover and bend the reflectors down.My inner upper fairingcover is toast with lots of cracks so i have to replace it anyway .

[Old Rider]

I have now done some more amazing and breathtaking discovery's on the super important and interesting subject on Cluster bulb replacement 
You can replace the bulbs without remowing the front fairing. You will have to take off the airscoops I also think its best to take out the 4 bolts holding the fairing  because then it is easier to flex the fairing to get the  upper inner fairing panel sitting on top of the cluster out . Then remove the 5 screws holding the clear instrument cluster lens and just lift it off .You can then just use a long pliers wrapped with rubbertape or some sticky glue to get a god grip on the bulbs.The colored lenses for the indicator lamps is lifted out easy they just laying in there.The bulb sitting under the rpm gauge is more difficult to reach
so you will have to remove the rpm panel disk or maybe push the bulb down and out and remove from backside the wiring is long enough for that

[Old Rider]

Here is a little update .I decided to put LED bulbs in the indicatorlamps .This time i replaced the bulbs from the top just removing the inner upper dash fairing worked great.
The led bulbs cost 20 usd for 4. But the funny thing was they only worked for a few days first the green started to flicker   then after 10 days the blue stopped working   .
The orange blinker indicators got bright yellow with these bulbs and was not nice  . It is possible that with other LED bulbs they worked better but i now have
switched back to original type bulbs.