Another Successful LED Dash Upgrade

tyhuck · March 6, 2014

Just wrapped up another LED swap on my Silverado gauge cluster. If you will remember, a while back I put in some bright white LEDs in everything on the dash, cluster, 4wd switch, headlight switch, climate control, and cargo light switch. Some of you know that any time you put white lights in the cluster or 4wd switch, it put off a blue light because of a bule film on the back of the gauge face and 4wd buttons. So, I decided that I didn't like that, and decided to try green to see if it would blend better.

Well, it was a success, and the parts all look the same color now. Im glad it worked out because my only other options were to go with blue LEDs (which blinds me at night) or red (which bothers me as well because to me red means something is wrong).

While I was at it, I went ahead and changed out the 560 ohm resistors I used the first time, to some 820 ohm in an effort to turn the intensity down so that I can turn the dimmer up, and can actually read my odometer. That paired with the fact that the green LEDs are half the lumens as the white, really turned out nice.

The green is much more vibrant in person than the pictures show.

I did leave the white LEDs behind the temperature slider so that the red and blue don't look funny. I think it looks better that way than having the green mixed with red and blue.

Even swapped out the bulb in my Autometer Trans Temp gauge with a green LED replacement. In person, the lights all match very well, and actually look more like the color of the Autometer gauge.

Here are the links to the parts I used. Requires 20 total LEDs and resistors. I used 18 of the green because I left 2 of the white in.

Use 360 degree LEDs and the factory light diffuser so you don't have hot spots.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/through-hole/5mm-green-led-360-degree-viewing-angle-2000-millilumens/344/1291/

Resistors. The more sensitive your eyes are at night, the higher ohm level you need. Even with 820 ohm resistors, I still maintained dimmer function.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/resistors/

Replacement bulb for Autometer gauge.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/wedge-bulbs/194-led-bulb-5-led-wide-angle-wedge-base/199/

tyhuck · March 10, 2014

Well, I'm not exactly diggin the green. I thought it would be closer to the factory green that is used in the 07-13 trucks and SUVs, but it's not. Just too intense for my eyes. Gonna put the white back in with some more restrictive resistors and see what that looks like.

Might make a build along out of it and post step-by-step pictures.

tyhuck · March 15, 2014

well, that was a bust. I actually ended up going with a blue LED with a 1200 ohm resistor. It looks nice to me, but I ended up burning up the circuit board in my climate control module, so now I have to get a new one of those.

GasHog369 · March 15, 2014

That sux.

When my resistor module went out on my old truck it messed up my hvac control module also. i ended up getting it off amazon. Was only $99 and mine was was digital . Yours should be cheaper.

tyhuck · March 17, 2014

Yeah, some places have them cheaper, but they range from $75 to whatever you wanna pay for it. I have found several that don't have the rear window defroster, but I am wondering if the circuit board is all the same. I know many of the trucks share the same wiring harness regardless of options, so Im wondering if I bought one without the defroster and swapped the cover and buttons, would it work. Anyone have any idea if this would work or not?

tyhuck · March 17, 2014

Nevermind. I was actually able to salvage it. I had to jump over the two lower light circuits under the fan speed dial, and ran all 3 bulbs in series with a less restrictive resistor. Worked like a charm, and saved me $100.

tyhuck · March 20, 2014

Well, I have gone full circle with my dash light colors. I started with white, went to green. I decided that it was too intense for my eyes during low light situations. It wasn't bad at night, but during dusk and dawn it was messing with my eyes. Decided to try some yellow, but they weren't intense enough to show through the switch and gauge faces, even with the dimmer wheel turned all the way up (brightest). Changed to blue lights, and it was awesome, but it was screwing with how my eye were adjusting to light conditions at night. So, I decided to go back to the white.

Good news is, I did figure out that the A/C control board isn't fried. I got it to work after all. So, long story short, I spent about $75 on LEDs and resistors, just to satisfy my curiosity and realize that I had it right the first time.

Oh, well. it was a fun experiment.

aelancaster · January 24, 2017

What white LED's did you use the first time? I just put in some that light up white but when the cluster is back together the gauges are blue. I just wanted white to begin with.

Thanks