I saw them, too but read somewhere that they are thicker and don`t fit into the socket that easily. Let us know.


They should still be brighter than a 1,2W bulb.


If your warning lights are constantly on (except for the one of the headlight) you have a different problem to worry about
This is the first time I hear about this.
On the Paso there`s quite a distance between the bulbs and the colour panel. I don`t think there will be a problem.



Interesting to see that they also designed reflector panels


With some patience a hairdryer and a scalpel I layed out the complete instrument panel with chrome foil (almost missed that there was a protective foil on it)










The left dashboard is the one with the chrome foil and the right is an original one. Both with one white LED only to see how far the lighting goes.


It does make a difference as can be seen on the lower part, the speedometer or the clock.
If it`s worth the effort ? Probably not but with only 2 Euros spent it was cheap.


I received the LEDs for the warning lights this morning. I had also ordered a white one just to see if it does make a difference. I`ll make pictures.


The thing left I still wanted to try is to see if it makes a difference if the white covers are modified.

G.

Nice G. When I said washed out, my headlight warning is not as clear as yours with standard bulb. It already looks a bit faded in that the green is not consistent across the face and does appear somewhat washed out for want of a better description.

in that case a colour LED might be an improvement.

I`ve tried to compare a green and white LED behind a green warning light lens.
There`s not a noticable difference in brightness.
The green of the green LED on the left is even and a little richer than the green using the white LED. The white LED on the right creates a lighter green. The warning light field is not so evenly green as the other one but that white spot in the middle is mainly due to the camera. There is little difference.


I`ve then installed a red LED and a white LED behind a red warning light lens and I couldn`t spot any difference at all.
So getting white LEDs for the warning lights is perfectly fine as the difference to coloured ones is little to none if like in my case the plastic colour lens is in good condition.

The main improvement is still the difference between the LED and a standard 1,2W light bulb. Again the camera falsifies the picture. The LED on the right is a lot brighter but in reality it has a perfect contrast and readability while the warning light on the left is a lot dimmer

the last thing I wanted to try. Replacing the white plastic bulb cover with a simple flat version.
For that I used the old unmodified dashboard with a white LED. (no chrome foil inside)
It`s always original cover first and then the flat plate which has the same top shape.













Replacing that white cover with a simple flat version seems to be an improvement. It creates a more uniform illumination. Beware that the camera always lies a little but you get an impression.

All summed up removing the red domes, replacing the white covers with simple flat ones and combining that with LED illumination makes a great looking dashboard.

G.

After reading your report I ordered some prismatic reflective tape just to see if it helps. I also went a little different on my LEDs, we shall see. Nice job G, scooped me again

interesting post G, a lot of information and choices...no doubt LED lights are the way to go
...just wondering for us lazy individuals, with little free time...would just changing the bulbs to LEDs improve the night vision enough without the fiddly extra work?
clear/white bulbs are my preferred choice

I just changed the bulbs for LEDs and yes it does, although after having seen the results of G's work I can see me pulling the dash apart for improvement work.

Higgy, replacing the bulb cover with a flat plate makes almost the same difference than it did laying the complete dashboard out with chrome foil. I still have to try and see how the combination of both works.
The foil I had is very thin and flexible. I guess it`s sufficiant to just apply the tape on the sidewalls, the reflectors plates on the bottom and near the bulb and on the lower side of the bulb cover. Prismatic reflective tape should even be brighter than what I used.
Derek, you`re using the same 5 LED T10. I`ve just tried to refit a red dome just to check clearance and the LED almost touches it. Did you have any probem with that ?

I started with the small led which fit under the cover,was an improvement but wanted more
next tried the one in the middle which just barely fit with the covers removed. very bright but not very evenly lit.
The red one works very well

the one on the right has the large 5050 LEDs. I would expect it to be the brightest. But using one with 9 LEDs instead of 5, isn`t that a bit of an overkill ? With 90-100lm or more the light output is in the range of a 10W filament bulb.

No, the LEDs I used fitted OK with no clearance problems.

Yes without the heat........my almost 60 year old eyes say it looks great

As as result of all this from G I pulled my dash to bits yesterday and removed the red domes. I was going to apply chrome tape to the inside too but couldn't find my roll of the stuff. Too much junk in the garage Anyway, I put it back together and have to say there is a noticeable improvement. These domes reduce the light significantly.

Hi Lads.

After a couple of tries, and a lot of discussion with Gerhard, another option for LED dash lighting is below.

Due to the lack of mounting area behind all the gauges, I came across the following LED strips. The strip itself is about 50mm (2" in US speak!). With the connector attached, its about 15mm longer.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/261271669687 ... 1439.l2649

They are multi colour, just need to connect up the wire colour to get the LED to light up in that colour (red, blue or green). Only down side is they decided to make the 12 volt connection in black. Not really a problem, but does offend most wiring conventions. Easy enough to change if you have the inclination. Anyway, the strips come with 3M tape on the backs, so they stick to pretty much anything. The locations I put them (you need a total of 6 strips, or 2 sets) to light up the whole dash are in the next picture. This is the Tachometer side, but the other side is a mirror image.



I found the lower the mount of the strip gave a more even light dispersion, but trial and error may get a better setup?

To connect up the LED's, I joined, soldered and heat shrinked (heat shrunk?) all the connections behind the side gauges. I went for the Red LED's, as Red was the original colour, but what ever floats. This made a 6 wire connection into 2 (black and red), which I then fed out through a 3mm hole. There are a couple of holes that are in the dash that will do the job if you don't want to drill the 3mm holes, but they are a tight fit for the wires. In the wisdom of the Fun Police in the early 90's, in Australia the Headlight was hard wired to come on with the ignition. This makes connecting the LED's up to 12 volts easy, as both side gauges have 12 volt ignition going to both. The wires get fed through get a small crimp connector, and bolted to the Gauge 12 volts. See next picture:



When all 6 strips are connected up, the light dispersion is pretty good. Not so bright as to blind you at night. The only issue I found is the light dispersion behind the Speedometer is a little less than the rest. I think this is because there is a larger mechanism at the back of the Speedo, which doesn't allow as much light through. It does show up though, but a little adjustments of the strips on that side might elliminate it? Anyway, the Dash is now back in place on the 907. See this picture:



Its not the best picture of it, but best I could get. The lighting is a lot less bright than what is showing up in the picture. All the idiot lights are on too. These are all high intensity LED's, and show up in normal daylight, and don't blind you at night. I have removed the 2 globes from the dash that were originally there. Not much point leaving them in. I also removed the 2 plastic covers that were over the old globes. I was going to put them back in, but couldn't see any point.

All up to replace all the globes with LED's. About $18, and about 30 minutes of swearing. Is it better? Well, the old lighting was about as bright as a candle on the 3rd ring of Saturn, so Yes.

Not sure if connecting the LED's to the 12 volts that feeds the Gauges has anything to do with it, but the Fuel Gauge (Lean Indicator) doesn't move around as much. I'm tempted to fit a capacitor across the input to the fuel gauge to see if this damps out the movement too, but that's another job. For those wondering how much current the 6 LED strips take, its about 360mA. A single 5 watt globe (the original globes) takes about 450mA.

Things to watch out for:

The Plastic Dash cover is fragile, Be careful
The Black wire for 12 volts on the LED strips.

Other than that, all is good.

Cheers.

Nick.

I like the strips idea I tried some prismatic tape in place of G's reflective tape but can't really say it was an Improvement. I also removed both the red globes and the white covers

On the fuel gauge issue I just got a sender from an ST2 and plan to spend the weekend fitting it to the 907. ST2 uses a tubular type and should be a lot steadier than the float arm of the Paso