Red Instrument Gauge bulbs

[gschroeder78]

I know someone here has put the red bulbs in for their gauges and I was wondering if it was as simple as it sounds.
I bought some red wedge bulbs (194r) for my S13 and I'm gonna give it a try. The way I understand it is that once I replace the clear bulbs with the red ones, everything should illuminate in red. Is that correct?

[DrDubbleB]

Yup...that's all it takes...someone at the last meet I was at had this done to his car, it looked pretty sweet. &nbsp;Me, when I get around to the interior, I'm going hyper white lights (w/ the gauge faces being blue, I think that will look...AMAZING!<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

[AceInHole]

the red bulbs i had looked pink when lit bright... i had to use bulb condoms over them to get a nice deep red.

[yenpit]

also depends on quality of colored bulb. ie Polarg's r very good, Pilot's suck.

[gschroeder78]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (AceInHole @ Mar. 13 2002,4:19)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">the red bulbs i had looked pink when lit bright... i had to use bulb condoms over them to get a nice deep red.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
where did you get the "bulb condoms"? Is that what they're really called?

[AceInHole]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (gschroeder78 @ Mar. 11 2002,6:24)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (AceInHole @ Mar. 13 2002,4:19)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">the red bulbs i had looked pink when lit bright... i had to use bulb condoms over them to get a nice deep red.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
where did you get the "bulb condoms"? Is that what they're really called?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
mine came with my autometer gauges... i had 3 of them extra so I used those... i have no idea where to get them new.... but a friend of mine claims brake light tape works.

[AJ]

actual condoms work as well.... (really,, i'm not joking!<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

[AJ]

actual condoms work as well.... (really,, i'm not joking!<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

[jupiterl]

Would some 12v red LEDs works better since it extract less heat ? My friend put some hyperblue or white in the guage and smoke started to come out after a few ten mins.

[Anubis]

wouldn't the stock blue "light condoms" make the red turn purple or something?

[DrDubbleB]

Yeah, it does depend on the quality of light bulb. &nbsp;This guy had only red bulbs, not light condoms or anything (and yes, that's what they're called), and they were a nice deep red. &nbsp;You can also use a sharpie marker (the clear kind that you use on overheads) and color them whatever color you want (blue on blue would make deeper blue, red on red deeper red, etc.).

[teampulse]

ok here is what mine look like and it is in a 95 240. i also have the red indeglo needles. it is a very easy project to do. first time you take the dash apart it may take about 15 minutes but once you have done it once you can do it again in like 5 minutes. i just went about bought 3 red wedge bulbs and it seem to look real nice to me.http://concept240.tripod.com/jared/gaugest.jpg

[Takumi]

Whoa, that gauge cluster looks beautiful man. Teamimpulse, what brand of bulbs did you use?


*looks above*
Okay, I'm a moron for skimming through that post and just looking at the picture. Now I know what you used.

[MeanRex7]

what about S13 digital speedometers. Possibly change the backlight on it to red as well <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'> RED RED RED

[Sniper-X]

can anyone help me out with the part number for polarg's red bulb for the speedometer? &nbsp;or even the size of the bulb?

[Sniper-X]

nevermind. &nbsp;didn't realize it's in the first post! &nbsp;doh!

[91CRXsiR]

they now offer N4 wedge bulb LED lights!

this is much better than just regular bulbs LEDs are far superior to reg bulbs.

its a little expensive but its worth it i think..

[MK]

Just a hint-

Anything but red.
Green or white is the easiest to see at night, blue is useless, but most importantly all your temperature lights are red and only come on when something is about to or has gone up to shit. Another red dot on a red display is very bad for that reason alone, you wont see it unless your constantly looking down there all the time and if your the type who does that then chances are you'll be off the road soon enough without worrying about you backending me...

[teampulse]

i dont know, i guess other colors are brighter but i dont have a problem seeing the red. i think it is very easy on the eyes at night actually but maybe its just me. i liked the red because i like BMW's and their clustres are red so i copied them. can anyone still see the pic, i cant just says hosted by tripod. well to check out the pic just go to the site in my signature.

[240meowth]

my mom's grand prix is red, it works fine, my bro's golf is blue, it works fine... all the colors man, colors!

[AceInHole]

you can also try using different colored bulbs in each slot... there's three, so you could do something like blue, white, then red, and have them blend themselves behind the gauges.

[yenpit]

if interested......Auto Meter "bulb covers" (small) part no's are: 3207 blue, 3208 yellow, 3214 red, 3215 green. u get three per package.

hey 91CRXsiR, is N4 the Polarg number for these new LED's??

Sniper, red 194's Polarg is M-21 (the earlier post said 194, right? in "post reply" we only see the last 10 replies.....that sucks)

[thewholefnshow]

Is there a way to fix all the lights in the center console too? I think like I have 1 backlight in the entire center insturment panel, I can't see shit there at night.... the radio buttons the a/c and climate buttons... all nothing... they just turn grean or red when you hit one of them, but no backlights.

[AceInHole]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (thewholefnshow @ Mar. 13 2002,10:08)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Is there a way to fix all the lights in the center console too? I think like I have 1 backlight in the entire center insturment panel, I can't see shit there at night.... the radio buttons the a/c and climate buttons... all nothing... they just turn grean or red when you hit one of them, but no backlights.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
you can do it but it's hard to get to. &nbsp;I spent a long ass time trying to figure out how to take that thing apart. &nbsp;i'm not sure what the bulb numbers are though, but you can probably get them from a dealership?? &nbsp;I think I'm just gonna wire in my own LED setup poking some holes into it or something.... &nbsp;i'll take it apart again this weekend though.

What if you change only the bulb behind the needle? &nbsp;will it only change the colour of the needle? &nbsp;I'd like to have red needles and clear numbers.

[AceInHole]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Guest @ Mar. 13 2002,12:53)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">What if you change only the bulb behind the needle? will it only change the colour of the needle? I'd like to have red needles and clear numbers.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
the bulbs for the numbers also light the needles. &nbsp;otherwise, you'd have to use the importintelligence needles with white dash bulbs. &nbsp;
another solution might be to change the colors of your needles themselves (S13's had white needles, S14's had orangish needles). &nbsp;I scrapped the paint off the needles in my car and painted the backs silver instead of orange.

[teampulse]

yes that works just fine. &nbsp;mine has the indelo needles form importintelligence and i sanded the paint off and left them clear so they are very red will the led's shining into them. &nbsp;so just paint the needle any color you want. &nbsp;only paint the back side of it though, not the whole thing, that way light can still shine into it and it will light up that color at night.

[S14 K's]

Anyone knows what kind of bulb for the warning lights in the gauge cluster? It's for a S14.

So I guess I can use 12V LED to replace the bulbs, is this correct?

Thanks.

[teampulse]

um i odnt know the codes for the sizing but i know that the main dash lights which we are the 3 we have been refering to are the size of the wedge bulbs that go in the corners of your front lights(next to headlights). &nbsp;the ones used for warning lights are also wedge bulbs but they are much smaller. &nbsp;thats all i can tell you since i odnt know any of the size codes or anything. &nbsp;but they are two different sizes if that helps at all.

[SimpleS14]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (AceInHole @ Mar. 11 2002,6:19)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">the red bulbs i had looked pink when lit bright... i had to use bulb condoms over them to get a nice deep red.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
I have nice red color without the "condoms" which go great with my indiglos. I pretty much have the same setup as you, expect for the needles and the backlight for the clock.

What bulb did you use for the backlight to your clock?? <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'> I noticed that its red but the size of the bulb can't be a 194. &nbsp;<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/huh.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':huh:'>