Inst. cluster color change

[rboutin2]

ok, so i have a 96 ranger 2d with tach in cluster. I am wanting to change the color of the cluster to red. I have read about how to take it apart, and about scraping off the green, and then painting a new color on the scraped off areas. Well, if i scrape off the old green, cant i just put colored bulbs in the cluster instead of painting? also, is it easy to screw up your calibration on the needles? anyone have a good how to step by step for this?

 

[srteach]

After scraping the green off, you can use colored LED lights to change color. Get the dim-able ones or ones that are specific to instrument clusters. Remember that the LED bulbs are polarity sensitive. You will need 194 size equivalents (6 of them) for general lighting, and a few more for specific warning indicators. If you don't want to change to LED for warning indicators, make sure you don't scrape off the (yellow, red, orange, etc.) colors over those openings.

The needles are easy to mess up. Start the truck, get it up to temp, and note where the needles settle (written notes, pictures of each, tape marks on the face, etc.). Do all this before you take the needles off the gauges. It will give you a starting point when you put them back on.
You can use a table fork to pull the needles off. Place the needle pivot shaft as deep in the recess of the fork as possible, pull off.

I have a live value OBDII reader to tell me exactly where I should put the needles back on. If you have access to one, it could be easier to use that to double check the needle settings.

 

[rboutin2]

After some more searching I found out others were just putting tue led bulbs in without scraping the paint off. They were switching to blue and it showed thru green although any hint of green. Now if I use red will they show through tinted or will the red override the green?

 

[Captain Ledd]

When I did my 97 I used bright white LED's, which are a very true white, not the blue hint that some have and mine showed up BLUE.

It's kind of a dark indigo film, that shows up green because they run the incandescent bulbs so they glow more yellow (lower voltage or whatever), yellow + blue = green.

On the older trucks the filter is green, but for 95+ I believe they switched to blue for the new dashboards. If you're scraping it off then it really doesn't matter.

Everybody just assumes green light means green film. Putting red LED's in without scraping off the filter might make it show up more purple.

With truely white LED's:

 

[lone-wolf]

LED bulbs are polarity sensitive

I installed Leds, probably the same ones as capt ledd, and I either got lucky, or polarity doesn't matter with regard to these leds I used.
Looks like these ones

 

[rboutin2]

i had my gauges somewhat apart today to paint the bezel, and i noticed the film was a blue color, not green at all. im assuming that if i ran the red leds without scrapign the coating off, it would show up purple then right? if i have to scrape the coating off, is it really that ahrd to get the needles put back on in the right spot? cant i just pull then off when its cold? when the needles are at rest, and then put them back at rest?

 

[mp3deviant721]

I don't think you can put the needles back on without them reading correctly. I don't know the reason why that happens, but I've read threads about people not following correct procedure for pulling needles off and having messed up readings on their clusters.

 

[hoosier1104]

Alright here is my experience with things of this nature.

I have found that if you take out all the screws holding the actual face on, you can bend the gauges slightly and slide them off. No removal of the needles required.

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

u cant bend the ranger gauge faces.
your best way to put them back is to take pics of how they sit with the truck warmed up at idle, and then start it, and place them in the exact positions.

if u take the speedo one off ull have to calibrate it back. theres a how to on the tech section.
i did it when i replaced my cluster for white faced one and its not that hard(hat to take it apart to roll the odo)