Blue dash lights

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:13 pm

Hi everyone,

I had a bit of interest in the blue dash light conversion i have done to my 95 Coupe 16v. So instead of replying to everyone individualy i decided to do a bit of a write up in here, if this is the wrong place please feel free to move it Cool

First up some Pics, sorry so blury:

This is a reply i sent to someone who sent me a pm on this:

Hi, done a bit of digging around and managed to find the sellers details, for the dash lights (speedo etc) i used these, from this seller

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10-X-509t-U509TB-10k-MCD-ULTRA-BRIGHT-BLUE-DASH-LED_W0QQitemZ260269398356QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item260269398356&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318

They are a straight swap for the origional bulbs and they are about the perfect brightness, they looked a bit purple at first but i think it was just my eyes getting used to them, the only thing it does affect is the dimming controll for the dash lights, there is hardly any ajustment to the brightness, i figure this is because LEDs are low current items.

And for the bulbs in the aux guages and some of the switches i used this seller

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/wsiong80

Although he appeers not to have anything for sale at the mo, maybe he has gone on holiday. if you look around his feedback you can see what he sells and at a reasonable price too. For the aux guages etc you want some like this but in blue or whatever colour you want http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250166265835

Bare in mind tho that using these in the switches will make them shine far too bright and will need dulling down a bit, i used bits of paper to try it out first then found somthing a little better in an arts crafts shop. Also some of the switches actually have bulbs or led soldered into them which require an led and resistor (to make it ok for 12v) or just the led to be soldered in place, this involves taking the swithc apart and can be quite tricky.

You can also use these for behind the heater controlls but they are too dull for my liking so i went to maplins where you can buy lengths of flexible self adhesive 12v blue LEDs,

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=218015&criteria=led%20strip&doy=31m7

they can be cut to strips of 3 so i used 3 strips of 3 behind the heater controlls, they are a little bright at the mo but am working on how to make them a little duller.

Hope all this helps.

Jim

If anyone has any questions i will do my best to answer them Confused

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 4:02 pm

I like the look of that - I had thought of modifying a Bora dash to fit ages ago as it is a very similar shape, but never got round to it Rolling Eyes

still, well done that man Cool

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 3:48 pm

Jim, not problem being in here.
I've put a ghost thread in the series 3/4 etc forum too Wink

Also put a link to this in my thread telling others of it.

Jase..
Wink

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:13 pm

No worries jas its a pleasure

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 2:21 pm

hi your dials look really cool,i am thinking of putting the led strip behind my heater controls,but how did you fit the led strip,did you just cut the current bulb holder wires and join them to the stip led wires,any info would be helpful.
thanks bondy

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 10:15 am

Thats exactly what i did Very Happy

Its a bit fiddley with the soldering iron. The led strips are self adhesive so they stick to the white plastic behind the dials. I'll try get some pics later.

Inexperienced Joined: Apr 20, 2007 Posts: 40

Hi can you remember the name of the lights(part number) i would need for behind the aux dials please as i would like to order some. thanks

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 8:32 pm

hi, i think this looks great, im in the middle of buying the bulbs to do this myself, folowing your instructions Very Happy

i was jus wondering, how did you change the bulbs behind the pressure gages under the heater controls? and the ones behind the switches, im not good with cars enless im following instructions Razz

thanks
kayleigh

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:32 am

Im not so bad with cars but if there are instructions to follow, follow i will Very Happy

LINKY

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 4:41 pm

im learning more, i managed to get the heater controls off and i bought some bulbs from ebay, jus waiting for these to come,im jus confused on how you take out the switches and the pressure guages, for a girl i think im doing pretty well so far hehe Very Happy

any one know how to do this?
thanks Smile

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 5:20 pm

Hope you don't mind me sticking this picture in your thread Jim.

Welcome Kayleigh,
To remove the gauges at the bottom of your centre console, click on the blue link in Jim's reply above yours. You have to remove the rear and front centre consoles to get them out.

For the switches, see below.
(Note, some of the switches fitted in later models have soldered in LED's instead of bulbs. These can still be replaced, but it's a lot more involved)

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 5:22 pm

thats great thank you sooooooo much, looks like its going to be alot of work, but worth it in the end Very Happy

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 2:54 pm

No worries atall jas, the more the merrier.

Yeah it can be quite involved in replacing the LED's that are soldered on. There may also be ones with bulbs soldered in which you have to use a resistor to drop the voltage or your LED's will go pop.

If you have any problems give me a shout Very Happy

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 5:25 pm

thank you so much for your help, i had some bulbs arrive today, so hopefully over the weekend ill be installing them, more then likely ill have a prob so ill be on here again pretty soon haha Very Happy

thank you all for your help,

Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 5:23 am

hello guys,
i changed my speedo bulbs Very Happy

they look pretty cool, only thing is they aint that bright, its a lil hard to see what speed im doing, but only about half of the speedo is too dull to see...the side starting from 0 lol. to about half way. i bought these bulbs:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260281358380
as they were nice and easy to do, jus swapped the bulbs around. i have a few left over, and was wondering is there any more that i can swap to make the speedo a lil brighter. or do i have to do the more involved work...which im not too good at, or is there more powerfull bulbs any one knows of, which i could buy to make the speedo brighter?

also (sorry to be a pain) i went to take the switches out..the hazard etc.. using a flat head at the top, and pushing with my finger on the bottom, they seem hard to get out and i didnt want to do it to hard incase something broke. are they ment to be hard to get out?

by the way i have a audi 80 1.6...everything in this forum i have looked at seems to be the exact same for the audi 80.

thank you for any help any one can give me, hope you have a great weekend Very Happy

kayleigh x

Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 9:05 am

Hi kayleigh

I think the led's you bought are the same ones that i got, so i dont see any reason for them being dull. The only thing i can think of is that you have one in the wron way round and its not lighting. A bulb will work in a circuit either way round where as an led has a + and - side, try twisting it through 180 degrees and see if that works.

The switches can be quite tight, the best way i have found is take out a blank or an easy one and put your fingers in and push from the back Embarassed

Im glad this is being of use to someone, seems you are keen enough. Where abouts are you from? Are you heading to the north east show this sat?

Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 5:51 pm

hello, thank you for replying, i looked at the bulbs while the speedo was plugged in so as far as i can c, they are all lit up. but ill gave another look over the weekend. as well as the switches, is it onli 6 or 7 of the bulbs that need changing for the speedo?

im from redditch, i didnt know about a show so i prob wont be going to this one, but maybe in the future wen ive made my car look a lil more presentable ill go to one, i need to get it mopped, it was red...not turning pink lol

thank you again Very Happy

so glad you can help, my car is beggining to look how i want it to Very Happy

xx

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:36 pm

check the projects section- advice on a few there (sooty, project pink) may help with your fading paintwork

Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:37 pm

thank you

Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 3:55 pm

Can anyone help with changing the bulb in the headlight level adjusting switch please?

I've got the switch out and taken the cover off it.

I'm left with the wheel (potentiometer) and a big lump of red plastic in which is buried a bulb. The bulb is soldered to the PCB in there, but I can't see how to get the red plastic bit off.

Also a source of 0.8W bulbs or LED equivalents would be good. Otherwise I'll have to hack a LED in there somehow.

Thanks

Daz

Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 8:19 pm

I might be getting confused bu do you mean the square bit of plastic that should be in the front of the switch?

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:59 am

Kind of, that bit of plastic extends all the way to be back of the switch and has the bulb in it.

I was thinking of getting a Dremel onto the plastic to access the bulb. But now I think it might be easier to wire an LED & resistor to wires attached to the bottom of the old bulb.

Daz

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 7:55 pm

I know the bit that you mean, im sure it is removeable some how, i must of done it when i did my dash lights. Have you dismantleled the switch

e.g. used a screwdriver to prise the outer casing off, you should be able to pull the terminals and the coloured section (if it is coloured) of the switch out of the body.

Sorry that might sound like a load of rubbish but i know what i mean lol

If you need me to i can take some pics 2mora of what i mean, think i have a spare switch somewhere.

Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 10:48 am

A picture would be great - thanks.

Daz

Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 5:40 pm

The level switch lighting in my TDi is out too. I'm going to have a go at sorting it later. I'll take some pictures.

Jase..
Wink

Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 8:52 pm

Done, so as not to mess up Jim's thread, I put in >>> HERE

Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 9:34 pm

Lol cheers jase, i was just on with taking some pics now Laughing

saved me a job.

P.s. Dont worry about messing the thread, the mre info the better.

Cheers

Jim

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 1:32 pm

Thanks Jas!!

Having played about with LEDs, I think you're right to fit a bulb.

Daz

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:22 pm

hello again guys, hope your all having a great 2009!
i took my speedo apart today and put some silver rings on it, i was just wondering if there were different coloured dials avaliable to buy? i just orderer some mult coloured LEDs to put in the dash for the speed and revs etc. and i noticed that the dials them self have red underneath, i was thinking tht this may be the reason my blue bulbs look so dull and purple? i tried to look on ebay for some other coloured dials, or at least some black ones which dont have red on the other side but are just clear, and for the life of me i cannot find any Sad

which is annoying as my friend got some cools ones for his rover off ebay, but for the audi 80, cant seem to find any, does any one know where i could get some from?
thanks again for all your help Very Happy

luv kay x

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:21 pm

I think there are Plasma kits for the S2 but i am not sure whether these have the same MPH readings as the standard coupes, i know that they are totally different to a TDi engined car, maybe worth searching ebay.de (german version of ebay) for Audi dial kits.
Failing that find a seller on the uk site doing Plasma kits for another make/model of car and email them asking if they can get hold of something.

HTH

Si, Wink