Gages are dim

[Big Block MACH]

why are the gages in my Mach 1 dim ?

what is the fix

 

[Machman]

Sometimes poor or oxidized ground connections are the cause for dim lights

AJ

 

[OLE PONY]

Here is a good thread on dash lights. Lots of good info if I may say so myself:

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-fix-for-dim-71-to-73-mustang-dash-instrument-panel-lights?highlight=dash+lights

 

[mikepasquale1]

Machman is right. Take out the twist in lights in the back and clean the contacts with sandpaper. Fixed my issue. Mine were dim and some wouldnt work. BTW you can take them out by reaching up under the dash and also by takeing the bezel off. you dont have to remove the gauge pod itself if you dont want to. Just more work.

 

[Tnfastbk]

Have they always been dim? If not make sure the light switch has not been twisted. Seen that before

 

[Flatback72]

why are the gages in my Mach 1 dim ?

what is the fix

I bought these LED globes from the seller in the link - they are T10 LED's so the globe base plugs into the standard Mustang sockets.Pulled my gauges apart (which is a pretty simple process) and removed the blue filter domes, put the gauges back together and installed the LED's. The gauges now look very clear and are very easy to see and read now. Some of the tabs holding the filter domes in broke getting the domes out, but I'll never run anything but LED's again so the filter domes will never go back in anyway. For reference you can see the edges of the blue filter domes that I'm talking about in the instruments in the bottom photo. The LED's have a positive and negative contact so need to be put in the right way to work.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10x-194-W5W-168-501-T10-5-LED-BLUE-Wedge-Car-Bulb-Light-/200698139118?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item2eba8a91ee

EDIT: I should note that with the LED's the gauge dimmer function of the light switch no longer works. Not an issue for me though as even though the gauges are very clear and readable now at night, the brightness of the LED's is still subdued enough not to require dimming. Also the diameter of the LED's was such that they only just fit through the globe holes on the back of the cluster (a couple of them needed tilting on an angle a little bit to get them in). When I was putting the last LED in the fuel gauge I found it wouldn't fit in the hole - I was just about to file the hole a little bigger when I decided to try one of the spare LED's I had leftover and found that the one that wouldn't fit was about 1mm bigger in diameter than the rest. So I put the bigger LED aside and used one of the extra's instead.

EDIT2: It's dark outside at the moment so I went and took a photo. Photo is just from a crappy phone camera but this is pretty much what you see with the LED's installed:

 

[NoLimitssjca]

Just spent some money on eBay...

 

[trainey]

Yep, LED is the way to go, changed mine a few months ago, and it was money well spent!

 

[goodnigh]

why are the gages in my Mach 1 dim ?

what is the fix

I think part of it are the blue lenses, they get more opaque with age.

I got the LED jobs but did not remove the lenses. Wish I had now

because that requires taking the instrument cluster apart. Otherwise

you can just remove the sockets from behind and replace the bulbs.

With the LED lights there are some issues with dimming them and the

flashers and polarity is important.

mike

 

[Totalled]

LED bulbs:

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-led-dash-lights

LED strips:

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-gauge-lighting

 

[Flatback72]

why are the gages in my Mach 1 dim ?

what is the fix

I think part of it are the blue lenses, they get more opaque with age.

I got the LED jobs but did not remove the lenses. Wish I had now

because that requires taking the instrument cluster apart. Otherwise

you can just remove the sockets from behind and replace the bulbs.

With the LED lights there are some issues with dimming them and the

flashers and polarity is important.

mike

Yes, I did the same thing first time around. Bought bright white LED's and put them in the back without removing the blue filters - the difference was heaps better than the old globes, but still a little too dim for my liking. I had to pull the gauges apart though to put my new kph speedo in and so took the opportunity to remove the filters at the same time and put in the blue LED's. Glad I did because the result was worth it.

 

[goodnigh]

Yes, I did the same thing first time around. Bought bright white LED's and put them in the back without removing the blue filters - the difference was heaps better than the old globes, but still a little too dim for my liking. I had to pull the gauges apart though to put my new kph speedo in and so took the opportunity to remove the filters at the same time and put in the blue LED's. Glad I did because the result was worth it.

I may have to change those blue bulbs to white ones. With the blue bulbs and blue lenses, it ain't very bright.

When you just change the bulbs, how do you guess at the polarity, or is it just trail and error. I could do a hot bulb exchange.

mike

 

[Flatback72]

I may have to change those blue bulbs to white ones. With the blue bulbs and blue lenses, it ain't very bright.

When you just change the bulbs, how do you guess at the polarity, or is it just trail and error. I could do a hot bulb exchange.

mike

I had a diagram of the instrument panel printed circuit that came with the first set of white LED's I bought that showed which way to put the globes in. I wanted to scan it and post it to this thread but I've searched everywhere and can only assume I've thrown it out

So yeah, without such a diagram it will be trial and error. Or find the positive on instrument plug with a multimeter then follow that track on the printed circuit.

 

[goodnigh]

I had a diagram of the instrument panel printed circuit that came with the first set of white LED's I bought that showed which way to put the globes in. I wanted to scan it and post it to this thread but I've searched everywhere and can only assume I've thrown it out

So yeah, without such a diagram it will be trial and error. Or find the positive on instrument plug with a multimeter then follow that track on the printed circuit.

We used the same diagram of the circuit board the first time and still got 4 of them wrong Probably just "hot" install although I don't like messing with 41 year old wiring with the battery connected :huh:

mike

 

[Big Block MACH]

Cool Ill be check en all the these Ideas out.