How to install LEDs in your gauge cluster

[FeistyFesti]

Last week I bought a 9 inch strip of LED's at Harbor Freight for $10 and decided to install it into my gauge cluster. I removed the cluster, and then the top piece where the bulbs go and glued the strip of LEDs onto it with some Gorilla glue. Let it set for 2 hours and reinstalled it into the cluster. I snaked the wires behind the cluster down into the lower dash area. The ground was easy, I soldered some 16 gauge wire to the tiny LED wires (they're marked black and red for + and ground) so I could solder an eyelet onto it to secured to the under dash ground point (metal bracket). I did the same to the + wire so I could have a larger wire to tap into the wiring harness. You can tap into the wires on the steering column or in the engine compartment. Since the original owner had wires in the engine compartment going into the car, I used the wire he had and soldered it into the driver's side headlight socket wiring. It is the red/ blue stripe wire on 89 models. This turns on the dash lights when you turn on the headlights. I would've tapped into the dimmer switch but my switch is broken, so I need to find one.



Using various things to put weight and pressure on the LED strip



LEDs glued and ready for reassembly.



LEDs installed and ready for wiring



Finished product

[htchbck]

Looks great, got any pictures of it lit up at night? BTW, I had to downsize your pictures, we try to keep all the pictures on the site 800x600 or less in size so everyone isn't scrolling left to right to read posts. But I like it, I might try something similar with some yellow LEDs if I can find some.

[Pu241]

I would've tapped into the dimmer switch but my switch is broken, so I need to find one.

Nice writeup!
Think the dimmer switch will only cause problems.
LED's in strips like that need full 12V as the circuit was designed with resistors to match the input voltage of the LED's themselves.
Change the voltage, via dimmer, and the strip may not light-up.

Thanks htchbck for the pic adjustment!

[Festiva_tunner]

Nice writeup!
Think the dimmer switch will only cause problems.
LED's in strips like that need full 12V as the circuit was designed with resistors to match the input voltage of the LED's themselves.
Change the voltage, via dimmer, and the strip may not light-up.

Thanks htchbck for the pic adjustment!

mine is hooked through the dimmer with no problems

[ejp2fast]

mine is hooked through the dimmer with no problems

same here.

[Pu241]

mine is hooked through the dimmer with no problems

They maybe more tolerant of voltage drops than the original ones.
Glad to hear it!
So you have no issues with dialing down the voltage/light output from highest to lowest?
Makes things nice then, I didn't want a single set brightness.

[ejp2fast]

my LED's i just tapped into the POS and NEG screws at the top back of the cluster... and that is apparently part of the dimmer... didn't know any different.

for longevity of the LED strip, would "full power" be the best or is it ok for them to be dimmer?... longevity wise..

[MONSOON]

I had mine hooked directly to the dimmer for over 2 years with no issues at all.

[Pu241]

my LED's i just tapped into the POS and NEG screws at the top back of the cluster... and that is apparently part of the dimmer... didn't know any different.

Yeah, we need to get you a copy of the "Ford Festiva Trouble shooting manual and wiring diagram" manual. Very useful in hunting down various electrical issues.

for longevity of the LED strip, would "full power" be the best or is it ok for them to be dimmer?... longevity wise..

Short answer full 12V should give you longer life.
Real answer, unless voltage is really low the LED's last so long that I doubt that if matters very much.
I took a closer look at the LED Strip and see no circuitry, so me thinks, the unit was made specifically for 12v, but clearly it will tolerate a lower voltage and still work.

Hey, all of you (Festiva_tunner, ejp2fast, Monsoon) with LED's can you post pics of the night time operation?
And do any of you still use the light diffuser plate?

[MONSOON]

Oh man I wish I could. They were on my 93 Escort that I traded for Crusher. Id actually gotten a 3 Led strip from BB and drilled holes in the cluster so the were directly over speedo tach and fuel gauges. Plenty bright and could dim them along with other dash lights.

[FB71]

They maybe more tolerant of voltage drops than the original ones.
Glad to hear it!
So you have no issues with dialing down the voltage/light output from highest to lowest?
Makes things nice then, I didn't want a single set brightness.

the Festy and Aspire dimmers are not the old style rheostats that just divided the voltage. Our dimmers are actually PWM circuits (Pulse Width Modulation). PWM dimmers deliver 12v to the lamps, but in varying amounts of time (in milliseconds). The amount of on time vs off time determines the brightness. That's exactly the type of dimmer required for LEDs.

[Pu241]

Thanks, FB71
I knew there must be an answer.
Was fairly certain LED's were not happy with less than designed voltages.
Also means no issue with longevity.
So our "dimmers" are fairly sophisticated devices and could well be useful in other ways!
Excellent!

[ejp2fast]

Hey, all of you (Festiva_tunner, ejp2fast, Monsoon) with LED's can you post pics of the night time operation?
And do any of you still use the light diffuser plate?

pic to come soon, yes, i am using the diffuser plate...

[FB71]

So our "dimmers" are fairly sophisticated devices and could well be useful in other ways!
Excellent!

yup! I've been playing with a few applications myself!

[ejp2fast]

Yeah, we need to get you a copy of the "Ford Festiva Trouble shooting manual and wiring diagram" manual. Very useful in hunting down various electrical issues.

i only have the Haynes wiring diagrams... how do i obtain a copy of the real deal?

hotfordcat did this LED mod and said that the 2 leads in the back of the cluster worked no problem with his.. so thats what i did.