Roger, Interesting. What's the current rating on these super-bright LEDs? White? Did the LED "bulb" fit well in the panel hole or did you have to do some reshaping? Do they dim adequately with the rheostat? I just replaced one of my lights last week ('85 GL). $2-3 at local VW dealer. At least they're still available, but LED sounds like the way to go, if it's not too much trouble. I still have the blown bulb with holder. I'm reasonably adept at soldering even though I'm an engineer (an inside joke some on the list may understand). Maybe I'll try it. //Jack On 12 Sep 2002, at 20:43, Roger Reynolds wrote: > Just to update everybody. I got around to replacing the instrument lights > with super bright LEDs a couple of weekends ago and am very pleased with > the results. Much cooler (looking and temp) than the stock lights. I > installed the LEDs in to some old twist-in instrument light bases after > removing the glass bulbs. Then I added a resister in series (actually just > goes between one lead of the LED and one "lead" on the twist-in base) that > becomes part of the new light unit. All I had to do then was replace the > old lights with the new ones I made wait for night to come. > > Total cost is about $3.50 each and I figure they will last a long time. > I'm going to try out a different color for the warning light symbols just > for fun. I'll try to get some pictures of the new lights soon and write up > what I did. (Would anyone be interested in hosting this modification on > their web site? I don't have one). > > By the way, I checked with my local VW dealer about purchasing the lights > that are used in the new Passats (a cool purple color) and was told that > the lights are integrated into the instrument backlight panel and there are > no replaceable lights so you have to buy the whole thing. You don't want > to know what it costs, it will just make you angry. > > Roger > '89 Westy |
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