Late 944 gauge lighting (under $40)

[Brando]

So, as most of us late 944 owners have experienced, my dash lights have taken a shiznit. The bulbs are 5w and fail because of the bad connection on the back of the instrument cluster. With a little help from my dad, I came up with a solution that costs less than $40 and will outlast the older design, and are brighter (and dimmable). I'll post some pictures later this evening and share all the details.

Overall it's better than the $300+ light kit available from that guy in the Europe and these are more effective than replacing the stock bulbs with LEDs and repairing the "light tunnels" which lose their reflective coating.

More to come

[JimboDean]

Get back here and post the rest of your solution! The suspense is killing me. I've hated how dim my guage lights are for a very long time now. Great to hear you have an alternative.

[JivenJim]

Brando,
Please do that. I've already opened up all my guages and getting ready to order LEDs' and more.
Dang.... I hate cliffhangers.

[Brando]

Okay okay, you guys are reelin' me here

Basically, I bought one of these and one of these , flourescent 12"x¼" dia. lamps, which fit PERFECTLY into the front groove of the instrument cluster housing. You will also need an inverter, which seem to only be sold with at least one lamp of specific color. I actually am using a UV lamp and a red (pink) one until the other white and UV lamp arrive this week.

Here are the bare gauges, with the clear plastic cover removed:


After doing that, you must drill two ¼" holes on the ends of the "railing" in the middle.


Now after you have your inverter and lamps tested and working:


You can hot-glue the ends of the lamps into the little gap:


You'll have to take the ends out of the white connectors, run them through the holes, then plug them back into the connectors. I'll have a few more pictures of where I picked up power from in the car, as well as how they look in the car this evening.

Still reeling with suspense? Or are you guys ordering those CCFLs and inverters?

[Brando]

Addendum:

The red one makes everything glow red, the UV (only) will make the needles and light red stuff really GLOW. The numbers not so much, since they're a flat white/gray. But it still looks cool. Maybe if I could find some UV active numbers and lines (or paint) I could go over them all myself and use JUST the UV lamp. Your brightness adjuster will also get pretty warm (on the left of the dash) if you run these dimmed a little ways.

If you guys want, for $100 (plus shipping) I may start doing these for people who want brighter lights.

[JivenJim]

Dang... that's cool man!!
But Huston we have a problem. I got the old Gauges so no work-ie in little tubes/ old VDO's.

Cat urine glows under UV lights but would smell bad and won't last, or you could paint with Tridium. search it and you'll find some places that sell a small can for about $100. Then let me know how it works, as I'm on that route myself.

Darn good solution..Brando

[Eldorado]

i'd love to see what it looks like in the car..

[todd951]

As an added bonus, you'll get a nice tan on your face from the UV lamp.

[Razorback1980]

I want to see the car pictures as well.

[Zero10]

I don't see anywhere that it says you can dim the inverter referenced from those pages.....
If you dim it at all it could really impact the lifespan of the inverter or possibly the tubes.

That said, I use CCFL lighting for the hatch area of my golf. 2 12" tubes makes it bright as day back there
Can't beat it for $15.

[Brando]

Asketh and ye shall recieve... eth...

Here are the gauges in the car, full brightness, with the UV and the normal bulbs working (which I removed later).


Here is a closeup of the instrument cluster with the normal bulbs removed and the dimmer set all the way down and the UV lamp disconnected.


And here is where I pulled the power from. The small defroster light above the center air vent, using piggyback connectors.


I hope a few of you are going to try this it is very inexpensive and very simple. Ease of installation is dependant on user experience level, but overall the end result is very cool. I have a white as well as a blue lamp on the way, I'll try the white, then the blue, maybe both and see how it looks then!

Whaddayall think?

Oh, and if a few of you want it done but don't have the time or know-how, send me your instrument cluster and $100, tell me what color you want and I'll rig it up, ship it back and you'll just have to connect and reinstall to your dash

[Brando]

Bump!

[phoenix_iii]

More/better pics? In focus? With your different options? etc.

[porsche4life]

Where can I get some of those lights. Your links have died.

[Cking1975]

No offense, but it looks like you are causing reflection off the gauge having the light shine on the front of the gauges, this is why car manufactures put lights behind the gauges...someone else had mentioned that sometime the gauge lighting can be too much...?

[Spidey944]

Way too bright IMO.

[Schumi]

Having bright gauge lights and driving at night can be dangerous. It impairs your night vision as your eyes adjust for the brighter light and not the dark road. Keep this in mind when testing new dash lights.

[porsche4life]

Umm the lights in it from the factory light it from in front. Obviously these need a dimmer however.

[comicbook8@gmai]

you CANNOT DIM ccfl lamps , you need to by-pass the dimmer if you want the lamps or inverter to last . i agree on the brightness and night time driveing could be bad for the health, may be some tinted film hovering around the lamps might diffuse the light and cut down on the reflection fom the dials, just a thought .well done for getting of your arse and coming up with alternative solution it does look the dogs !!!!!
MORE PIS WOULD BE GOOD .

[Aslet]

I would have to agree that it would reflect and be too bright for night driving. I also want to just mention how far LED technology has come in the past 2 years since you did this. It is cool and I like that you did someting new and got it to work, but I would say replacing the fatorybulbs with LEDs is the best way. It will still light up the cluster from behind, which cuts glare and shows you the needles and numbers crisply. You can also get very bright LED bulbs now, so there souldnt be an issue with not producing enough light...

It was a cool project though, and I would be interested in seeing better pics with the different colors...

-Randy