Today, I changed the lightbulbs in the dash of my 86 911 Cab from the immeasurably dim stock bulbs to LEDs. Since this forum has been extremely helpful to me, I thought I would pay it back some with a detailed tutorial on how to change them quickly. I am a garage idiot and it took me about 30 mins, so it should take the average person half that time.
I wound up ordering LED bulbs from both ETARGA and ROTHAUS (Pelican forum names). I PM'd them and a couple of cheap Paypal transactions and two days later and I had my LEDs. I decided to use Etarga's bulbs for the colored bulbs and Rothaus' for the illuminating bulbs. Rothaus' bulbs had LEDs that shone both forward and to the sides. I chose bright white for the color. Anyway, here goes:
Step 1: Disconnect the battery and remove the gauges.
Disconnecting the battery is self-explanatory, but the latter isn't. Forum posts say that by gently pulling on the rim of the gauge, it will pull out cleanly and easily. I couldn't move jack ****. Instead, I opened the hood, took a broom, and pushed on the back of the oil/fuel gauge and popped it out. (cleanly and easily I might add).
Step 2: Once you have the oil/fuel gauge out, remove the rest of the gauges.
Once the first gauge is out, you can put your fingers behind the next one and push it from the back while you pull from the front.
Step 3: The dreaded Tach gauge…
…wasn't so dreaded at all. Posts state that you have to remove the steering wheel to remove the tach gauge. If the steering wheel is out, then that would be an opportune time to change the bulbs, but since I finally got my steering wheel straight, I didn't want to fool with it if I could help it. It turns out that all I had to do was wiggle the gauge here, push up on the dash there, and within one minute it was out. I should not that I have a Momo steering wheel with the hub which may have made all the difference.
Step 4: Pry out the light bulb socket.
The illuminating bulbs have a red plastic connector on them. I tried pulling on the red connector the wire enters, but it just sprang up and down. Then, I got a small screwdriver and pried up the metal-rimmed socket and that did the trick.
Step 5: Remove the light bulb from the socket.
You have to twist the bulbs until little ridges on the bulb line up with the lines in the socket. A quick twist to the right or left and it should remove easily.
Step 6: Insert the LED bulb.
The Rothaus bulbs should be inserted so that the LEDs on the side of the bulb face to the left and right, not up and down (per his instructions). The Etarga bulbs are shorter and forward facing only, so they can be inserted either way.
Step 7: Repeat steps 4-6 for each gauge.
The larger gauges have two illuminating bulbs. If I recall correctly, the clock only had one bulb.
Step 8. Reinsert the gauges.
The gauges just push back in. Align them how you prefer. I don't like the redline positioned straight up and down like some do. I mostly granny-shift, so by that logic I should rate 2500 RPMs to the top which just doesn't make any sense. I mean really? My favorite time of day is 8:00 when the kids go to bed, but I didn't rotate 8:00 to the top of the dial. Oh well, to each his own.
Step 9: Reconnect the battery and try them out. Voila! Damn, I can now see that I granny shift at 2500 RPMs at night, too! (I always hoped that I was a bit more 'Fast and Furious' at night, but it turns out I drive like a 60 year-old librarian all the time.)
