'88 Gauge Illumination is dim

[Brando]

Okay, probably a common thing... How does one make them brighter? How do I get to the bulbs even? Anyone selling LED replacements?

TIA

~Brando

[Techno Duck]

One of the best available options in my opinion,

http://www.flamingeye.co.uk/

Have them on my car, looks like it came with the car. Infact Porsche should have made the car come like this in the first place! I love them, well worth the price.

[gorfllub]

Very Interesting. Do they actually dim too? (Some LED products are not dimmable)

[Techno Duck]

They do dim, but a very negligable amount.

I have the red LED's on my car. I was worried at first they would be to harsh on the eyes, but was reasured by Darren (FlamingEye) that he has them set so this is not a problem. In fact they are very pleasing to the eye at night, not obnoxious or so intense they tire your eyes.

[IanS]

I just re-silvered mine with heat shield tape, so I'll tell you how that turns out. I suspect it won't be quite bright enough, but I'm hesitant to pay $150 for dash lighting.

I've been looking at LEDs from http://www.superbrightleds.com/1157.htm, but I haven't found one I'm sure will work well in our cars. I'd really like to replace all the interior lights with LEDs, but some are very difficult to access.

-Ian

[Brando]

Wow... that flaming eye kit looks awesome...

Maybe LEDs can be installed by taking the illumination pods apart and soldering the LEDs in?

I'll try the aluminum tape idea. I just dont want to take it all apart, break something and be SOL...

[BananaClip]

I got a brand-spanking new bezel/ housing for ~$100 with new reflectors over the summer. It probably doesn't look as good as the LED kits but it is very very nice, especially compared to how it was before.
Red lights look great and I'm pretty sure that's what was stock.

edit: in my opinion the change was worth it.

[AaronM]

Originally posted by BananaClip
Red lights look great and I'm pretty sure that's what was stock.

Red is stock on some Pontiacs but not on the 944. BMW uses orange. 944 used plain ol' white bulbs though.

[gorfllub]

Where I work, we sell LED versions of the 194 bulb. This will just pop in to the socket.

We have been selling them to "ricers" with clear corners, etc. for years.

I painted my reflectors last night. Made all the difference in the world.

Maybe this weekend, I will try the pop-in LED bulbs.

We have white, blue, white/blue combo, 3 color changing and red. I think they retail for about $11 CDN a pair.

If I get the time, I will let you know how it goes.

[BananaClip]

Originally posted by AaronM
Red is stock on some Pontiacs but not on the 944. BMW uses orange. 944 used plain ol' white bulbs though.

hm when i pulled the old bulbs out they were these ancient-looking clear bulbs painted red.
maybe i'm not giving the POs enough credit.

[Panzer909]

I did mine on a budget using the Clarksgarage.com instructions. It made a considerable difference and only cost about $11 total for new bulbs & relective covering. Might be worth a look see

[aggerz]

i was yet another sufferer of this problem.
The reflectors are looking pretty average im my S2. I intially just replaced the bulbs with some high brightness LEDs but they made hardly any difference as without efficient reflectors the spread of light was far too narrow. (even though these were listed as 'wide angle' leds)

Instead now i have swapped over to a different type of LED.. it has 5 in 1.. there are 4 that point sideways. north/east/south/west and 1 that points straight up. so it gives it great spread but is still same size as a standard bulb.
I got them off ebay, cost me bugger all.

In dusk situations they are not really noticible that its on but once it gets fully dark then its quite a pleasant clean white.

I think i will still try to change/modify my reflectors in time to come but for now i'm happy.. much better than stock i can actually read the dials now.

aggerz.

[AaronM]

Originally posted by BananaClip
hm when i pulled the old bulbs out they were these ancient-looking clear bulbs painted red.
maybe i'm not giving the POs enough credit.

Strange. I definitely have gotten clear light from the dash illumination on every 944 I've driven. And I know that the early cars used clear bulbs.

[IanS]

I just checked out my dash after redoing the reflectors with foil tape and its OK at night, but not great. I think I'm going to order some LED bulbs from superbrightleds and hope they work better.

-Ian

[toolboy62]

I've never seen this Flamingeye thing before but I like it! does anyone know why he's not taking orders right now? hopefully this is just temporary, I'm sick of not being able to see my gauges at night. I did paint my light guides with some flat white paint and installed slightly higher wattage bulbs but they are still barely readable.

thanks,

nate

[iobound]

I can't say enough about my results using the www.clarks-garage.com illumination page. My instruments are bright and clear day and night. The best part is that I spent a total of $4 in parts for 4 (3 + a spare) Sylvania #194 3.78watt bulbs. But I think the key was cleaning the lighting paths using acetone and then re-covering them with aluminum foil.

[IanS]

I just replaced my bulbs with non-polarized LED bulbs, and they now I'm not getting any light at all. Even at night, I can't see even a little bit of lighting. Any thoughts on why? They aren't supposed to be polarized, so that shouldn't be an issue. My connectors all appear to be secure, though I'll double check them tomorrow.

I was testing them with the car off. Is there any chance the battery wasn't hitting their turn-on voltage?

-Ian

[Brando]

If you have the lights knob turned one click that'll turn them on, same for second click over. Remember to turn your brightness slider all the way up (slider wheel next to the headlights button).

[IanS]

The brightness is on max and I tried the first and second click. Nothing made them light up. Everything else on the instrument panel and the rest of the interior lights came on, so I don't know what is wrong.

[1-tamad]

a thought. is it possible that you've connected the LEDs wrong way around? The polarity might be reversed. diodes they will not light up if the current flows the wrong way.