Hey, so I tore apart my dash today (major PITA... If I wanted easy I would've bought a jeep), and I looked back there and there are 5 (repeat 5) light spots that fit the bigger lights (the 194's I had seemed to fit)... There are a lot of threads saying that you need 74's, but on my gauge cluster the only smaller lights I would've needed would be for the row of indicator lights at the bottom... Just a heads up to anyone thinking about doing this conversion.

The back of my 95 4runner gauge cluster

The three gray knobs (middle left, center and right) are the backlights... The two top-center black knobs are the blinkers... The far right black knob was a regular light (no green cover) same size not sure what it is for

PS- The lower driver's side cover has a clip on it (underneath the e-brake...) make sure to unclip it or else you will break it

Complete FSM Shop Manual available for download at THIS link... Saved my butt with the dash, and will use it again... It is broken up into labeled sections that can be downloaded individually.

http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/1990-1995...es/repair.html

And make sure you tighten your battery terminals when you put everything back together... I forgot and was damn near ready to call a tow truck after everything I knew failed... Sigh

 

oh... so... the 194 LED's don't work... I tried everything and I couldn't get any of them to light up ... So I just went with 194 colored bulbs and was done with it...

 

hmmmm... thanks for posting that pic up, there's a bunch of guys who have done the LED conversion but hard to find exactly what size I need in what colors... looks like the only 'color' bulbs in the 194 size is 1) turn signal and 2) hi-beams, or 2x green and one blue... plus whatever color backlights you want.

So the rest are all 74's looks like?

I wonder why the LED bulbs didn't work for you, kinda weird...

Thanks

 

yeah it was weird... cuz I know many people have done the switch... But I am very happy with the results... Nice amber dash and heater console now... The rest are 74... But it looks like if you go with 74 LED's they will need some trimming... The stock bulbs are shorter than the #74 LED's I got... And as for the heater console I went with a regular bulb... Mostly because it is a very small short slot that it has to fit in behind the panel

 

I've done the LED route a couple times, first with blue ones, then with white (got tired of the blue).

I have had no issues fitting either the 194's or the 74's into the gauges. You do know that most, but not all, LEDs are polarized? While it's unlikely you put all three in backwards, it is possible.

 

I tried them all, switching the direction they were put in, individually... Still nothing, although through this process I did find that if I didn't plug in my dimmer, the lights wouldn't work at all...

 

I plan on doing a nice write up on this in both the 2nd gen (my 93runner) and the tacos (my 2000 truck), reading some other folks posts on various threads, it looks like you want the 5-way LED's if you order from www.autolumination.com or the 120 degree angle LED's if you order from www.superbrightleds.com...

I'm really wanting to do blue backlights too but I have a feeling I will also want to go back to my stock green at some point... only one way to find out!

 

Not to threadjack, so I apologize now, but yeah I had the blue LEDs. And they were cool at first, almost like the last generation of Jettas. But after awhile, it just got annoying, especially in the heater control panel.

I have bought LEDs from Superbright and they worked okay. After a few months, one or two of the LEDs would start to flicker. I replaced them with new ones, but same problem a few months later.

So, rather than go with them again, I simply went onto eBay and ordered a bunch from Asia, skipping the middleman. I got far more than I needed and ended up only spending about $15.

Try the white ones. They look really good in the 2nd gen dash.

 

where did you get them from in "Asia"(specific ebay site maybe?)

 

x2, do tell! That sucks that they didn't work right after a little time, one would think that they would never have to be replaced? hmmm...

 

I will check and get back to you tomorrow when I'm on my computer instead of my phone.

 

Dash Bulb size..194 and 74..white looks better...less annoying...but with blue interior...hmmm....

Thanks for the info here....I want that sellers info...will wait for response.

-Ted

 

Sorry it took so long.

I ordered the white 194s from these guys (http://cgi.ebay.com/2-X-5-LEDS-360-X...QQcmdZViewItem), 5 packs of 2 for $5.00 seemed like a good deal.

The 74s came from these folks, which I'm not sure isn't run by the same guys (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...4038&viewitem=) and I think I only ordered 3 packs. Can't recall for sure.