Discussion: *03-07c LED Cluster Upgrade*

Samuel6731

Cant Get Right
Mar 11, 2012
674
1
0
New Roads La.
Got the idea from Scottyboy over on GMFS. Although I don't think hes made a "how to" on it, I found a thread on FSC to do this.
After alot of trial in error, and missing information on the other How to's I decided to make this one.
DSC02504.jpg


This is not as hard as it seems!!!
It took me about 2 hours the first time I did this, the second time it took me around 45 minutes.
It takes patients and a steady hand to complete.
I'm 18 and have no background of working with this kind of stuff, just goes to show you that it really isnt all that bad.
I went deeply into detail so clear up any confusion there may be.



I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE YOU MAY CAUSE YOUR CLUSTER.





First you will need:
-7MM ratchet and long enough extension to remove the 4 screws holding the Cluster in place.
-A stout fork... yes the eating utensil
-Flat head screw driver or something to push/pull tabs to take apart your cluster
-Soldering Iron no more than 30 watts as it will get too hot (available at most auto parts stores and wally world)
-Solder
-A pick or something with a pointy end to help move position solder and the LED
-A steady hand and patients
-Sharpie
-Scotch Tape
-8 LEDs 5MM, color of your choice. (always order extra for repairs or accidents... they are cheap!)
I used Oznium Super Bright LEDs
-8 470 Ohm resistors (once again order extra) Resistors
DSC00012-1.jpg
(taken from scottyboy)

Ok lets get started.

First remove the dash bezel.
Remove the 4 screws with the 7MM that hold the Cluster in place.
Unplug the cluster from the rear.
CARRY THE CLUSTER FLAT AND GENTLY SO THE NEEDLES DO NOT MOVE. IF THEY DO RETURN TO VEHICLE PLUG IT IN AND LET IT RESET IT SELF.YOU WANT THEM WHERE THEY ARE WHEN THE VEHICLE IS OFF.


Alright now get you a well lighted work space
A piece of foil and a soft towel is also a good idea.
Towel to lay your cluster on when your done pulling it apart, and foil to solder over.

Begin by un-clipping the cluster apart.
2012-03-29134551-1.jpg

The bottom is where you might need the flat head to pry these tabs.
2012-03-29134543-1.jpg


Once your done remove both the top and bottom and you will have something like this.
2012-03-29134209.jpg


Time for some fun.... removing the needles.
Check to make sure they are all in place as they would be when the vehicle is off.
PLACE A PIECE OF TAPE WHERE THE NEEDLES ARE AND MARK THE TIP OF WHERE THE NEEDLES ARE WITH A SHARPIE ON THE TAPE
(I do not have a picture of this step.)
Now that your needles are marked DO NOT MOVE THEM, if they do move place them back where your mark is.
Slide the fork under the needle and pull straight up. It make take a little force/effort but it will slide off. Remove all needles.
DSC02537.jpg
(taken from scottyboy)

Once all of your needles are removed, remove the layover. You should now have this.
2012-03-29133554.jpg


Now remove the rest of the plastics.
You will have this.
2012-03-29133434.jpg

You basically have a circuit board so lay it on a towel or something soft.
(its a good idea to plug your soldering iron in to get it heated up)

You must now find all the positive poles where the lights are because LEDs are polarity sensitive and the cluster isnt marked for positive and negative.. You do this by going back into your vehicle with a Digital MultiMeter and plugging the cluster in and testing each side of the light to find which is positive and negative. Mark them with a sharpie.
You will be checking these lights.
2012-03-29133434-1.jpg


I HAVE MINE MARKED. THE ONES MARKED ARE POSITIVE. YOU CAN GO OFF THIS BUT IM NOT SURE IF EVERY CLUSTER IS THE SAME.... ALTHOUGH IT SHOULD BE AND I DONT SEE WHY NOT. IT WOULD SAVE YOU A LOT OF TIME AND FRUSTRATION
This cluster is for a 2005 GMC Sierra 1500. The following pictures you will see black marks, that is the positive. The opposite side is the negative.
I snapped the pictures fast, just use the surroundings to help you pin point.

batt & water temp
2012-03-29131600.jpg

fuel & oil psi
2012-03-29131605.jpg

speedo
2012-03-29131611.jpg

rpm
2012-03-29131618.jpg


Ok so once you got all your marks done lets get those old halogen lights out. Take your soldering iron and press it gently on the solder point until the solder melts, repeat on the other side and wiggle light out. Remove all 8 of the lights.

So now you need the LEDs in.
First lets start by making up all your LED and Resistor connections.
The resistor needs to be on the positive side of the LED.
(positive side is normally the longer leg off the led)
Cut the positive leg on the LED to about a 1/4 inch. Cut both side of the resistor down to a 1/4 inch.
Now take your positive leg on your led that is 1/4 inch long and solder it together with the resistor that is also cut to 1/4 long.
Once its soldered together and cooled stretch it out straight and cut the negative leg the same length as the positive with the resistor.
The reason why you cut them is so they fit when you put the cluster together.
Do 8 of them.
This is why i said order extra, for I messed alot up.
DSC02551.jpg

(taken from scottyboy for I have no real closeup)

Now take your led and solder the positive side with the resistor to the positive on your cluster and the negative to the negative.
There may be enough solder on the cluster where you do not need to add any. The best way to add solder if there isnt enough is take some solder and over your foil melt some onto the end on which you need it. Then bring it back to cluster where your connecting it. Touch the led legs on the soldering point on the cluster and melt the solder you added to the leg.

Once your done mash the leds down like in the picture above, also make the led point straight up. Make sure no connection are touching, and no solder from the + or - is connecting.

Go back to your vehicle check to make sure all of them light up and none are flickering.
Go back and repeat steps above but backwards to reassemble your cluster.
You will now have something like this.


2012-03-29195301-1.jpg

(yes, i know i have 2 hot spots, that is why you mash down the leds. I forgot to press them down all the way.)



Also you can use these bulbs. They are called NeoWedge.... They are direct solder in, the resistor is build it. I swapped them out for these because they weren't blue enough.
Instrument Cluster and Gauge Backlights - Super Bright LEDs
 
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good write up dude, im waiting for some more leds and resistors to come....is there any pics you NEED to help imporve this how to? I will take em and send em to you..
lemme know
 
Awsome! I need to do this because my cluster has a few lights out, as well as all my steering wheel controls.
Has anyone done white? Blue seems a little much for me.
 
Really Really Really want to do this in Orange, and change my gauge face to a white one. Are you able to dim the LED's with the resistors?
 
You write up is a little bit clearer then the rest I've seen with much better pics, I found this a while ago for a full interior LED swap. The Official L.E.D. How To Guide - SilveradoSS.com Oh! and metal duct tape is great for removing hotspots and reflecting light to un-lit areas.

Yea i mean iv found a few different ones. But it seemed to me everyone was missing a few little details that where important. So i decided to redo it and make my one.
 
Shitty, I can't have LED's blaring in my face at night, really bugs me. Wonder if I could get some sort of plexi glass, cut it to fit over the cluster, and tint it to dim the lights.
 
And orange is probably not going to look good in the guages. FYI for anyone doing any other color other than white or blue, good luck! The factory overlay on the guage cluster has a blueish tint on the backside that is non removable! If doing blue, great, its going to look deep blue. If white, then the factory tint will be brighter. If doing any other color....good luck! Red does not shine thru....i used over 55 LED's at 8k mcd alone in a guage cluster before and it BARELY came out pink. So i assume orange would look the same! I use between 20-25 LED's when doing blue because by just replacing the bulb with an LED i find hotspots, and im OCD like crazy.
MattLEDs007.jpg
 
blue just doesn't do it for me, especially when i can't dim them ><. I've seen the one method where the guy used the strip lighting, that seemed pretty simple
 
Shitty, I can't have LED's blaring in my face at night, really bugs me. Wonder if I could get some sort of plexi glass, cut it to fit over the cluster, and tint it to dim the lights.

If I could let you sit in my truck you would change your mind
By no way are they glaring
White stock lights are a more glaring than these believe it or not. My LED's from oznium aren't bad what so ever they are a dark blue
Really and truly the pictures make it seem more bright than it really is due to my cell adjusting to a dark surrounding making the lights seem bright
And ima get a video of me dimming mine but they do dim a decent bit
With my halogen stock bulbs I left mine dim all the time with these I leave them all the way bright I love them

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If you get a video of it I may go for it. And if I change my overlay is there a chance orange would work better?

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You can dim the lights with mine, the leds do not glare in your face like people think, mine are blue, but also did a white led, it had a hint of blue here is a pic. I also added about 20 leds to minimize the hot spots.
Here is the white leds on the stock cluster
ad6a5c73-1646-61af.jpg



Here is the blue leds with the u.s. speedo cluster
ad6a5c73-173b-48b6.jpg


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Do you just double up on LEDS or are you doing the light strip mod.

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