My dash lights are terribly dim. I have already replace the headlight dimmer switch, tore the instrument cluster apart and cleaned all the dust and dirt out of it and cleaned all the bulbs and replaced the "browning" ones. I also just finished getting rid of the fusable links in the main wiring harness so teh power should be "clean".... Yet my instrument gauge cluster dash interior lights still suck. At night I can barely see my gauges - Its driving me nuts! Yes - the dimmer switch is turned all the way up....

Anybody else have this problem?

Anybody found a good solution?

I haven't tried removing all the green rubbers from the bulbs yet - but I'm thinking about it.

What about a different color of bulb? My 01 Toyota Corrolla S has red dash lights and those are EASY to read.

Also do you know if you can buy brighter bulbs? or plug-in LEDs?

 

I pulled all of mine, removed the rubber covers and replaced the bulbs that looked bad and they are nice and bright now.

 

Remove them light condoms. I hate them things, they are such a cheap way to TRY (and fail) what I accomplished with mine. I do have a totaly LED dash. My guage lights are a 4 bulb BLUE 194 series bulb. Get in E-Bay, they are wicked cheap!! Chrome shops want 10-20 for a 2 pack! I paid under 15 bucks for 6 blue LED's, and 6 single bulb clear LEDs (shipped from Hong Kong!)for the accessorie lights, like turn signals. It looks freekin awesome!! I cant seem to get a darned picture of them though?????? It just wont show up on my digital. I think If I were to do it again, the same seller had another design with 4 lights that were pointed outward and 1 or 2 pointed straight out. I would have/ should have gone with those. These r good n bright, but those would have illuminated much better I think.

Hey, here is a link to the auction I got em from:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2pcs-...ayphotohosting

The seller is Warden_JP2002 the bulbs came from Japan I believe, so it took about 3 weeks for them to reach NY state.

I went with the single element clears for the other stuff like check engine, just because it only has to illuminate that one itty bitty deal. And my experience with LED's while driving OTR (I had blue LED guages in my Freightliner too) is that the singles are only good for SMALL applications, and 4+ bulb work the best for larger guages. Also, I buy from one manufacturer and one manufacturer alone! otherwise I have gotten different shades of blue.

 

I am going to throw something out here, so take it for what its worth.

Try taking a set of jumper cables and go from you ground on the battery to the cab,(I used the door hinges) and see if it doesnt help you. I just went through problems with things like this and found out the motor is supposed to be grounded to the cab. I used a 4 ot cable to ground to the cab and all is better now. Try it !

 

I have to say, I started to grin from ear to ear at first. But that is acctually very interesting. And i am kind of surprised at Ricks issue, but after all the P.O. didnt believe in ground straps either from what I have read thus far. So I dont doubt at all, thats probably all it is. Just merrly a ground issue.

 

Best thing I did was take all the colored covers out of dash and put all new lights in.. VERY VERY bright now.. easy to read

 

Okay tonight I removed all the blue plastic lamp covers and took it for a drive. Now they are very bright but I get all types of white reflections and glow from around the edges of the cluster. So I tore it apart again and spray painted the inside of the cluster black. The paint is now drying - I will let you know how it goes.....

 

Just tested it - the black paint inside the main cluster housing seemed to work on cutting down some of the white glare, but it still wasn't quite enough for my liking. So I tore it back apart and now I'm spray painting the back side of the top black bezel piece, under the clear plastic piece now flat black also... (its normally a creammy white on the back side)

 

I pulled all of the old bulbs and bulb condoms out of mine and went to wally world and got some new green lights. Very bright, very clear, very non time consuming, and very inexpensive.

 

I tested it this morning and now its too dark.... So I guess tonight I get to tear it apart again and spray paint that last piece back to white and I will just deal with that "glow" around the gauges...

 

Yeah, thats one thing that kind of takes a little light away, and adds an annoying factor is the edges where the light gets around. Look into the LED's I think you will love them. I couldnt believe the difference, but i had 1 blown bulb and 2 that worked intermitantly. Still, that was well worth it. Not to mention the less draw on the switch, and the cooler running dash. Them conventional bulb get HOT, LEDs dont.

 

What about the tail lights, the 1156 & 1157 bulbs on his store on ebay, are those replacement bulbs for out tail-lights?