Hey everyone,

one of my next projects is switching out the bulbs in in the gauge cluster to match the color scheme of the car. I have a few questions before I get started though:
1) does anyone know the part number for the bulbs?
2) the odometer (and the climate control) are digital with red lettering, is there a replacement part for those to change the color, or a way to change those away from red?
3) Obviously the airbag needs to come off in the process and since I'm dealing with electrical system it makes sense to unhook the battery BUT there are codes stored in the ECU that the car needs to run apparently? So I read that you can use a "memory saver" as to not screw the car up, but I also read NOT to use a memory saver when working around airbags!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

 

I've taken my steering wheel off a half dozen times and never unhooked the battery to take out the airbag. But it is definitely safer to unhook the battery before removing it. I've never heard of anyone having to store codes before removing the battery. The only code you should need is the code for the radio which is found in the owner's manual. And as far as I remember, all of the lights in the gauge cluster are surface mount LEDs. So if you want to change the color of your gauge cluster you'll need a lot of surface mount LEDs in the color you want and a few hours of time to remove the red LEDs and solder in your new LEDs. It could be done but it would take a while.

 

After the battery is undone, the ECU memory is preserved via power from a set of capacitors inside. Once they drain, the car goes into relearn mode. Look up "throttle body adaptation" - it's accessible through the search feature - and you can get things reset pretty well.

 

The "bulbs" are LEDs that are soldered to the circuit board. I think they are surface mount but I dont know the part number. Basically Im trying to tell you its more complicated than you might have originally thought.

 

@jeckel20003
Thanks for the reply. I have an aftermarket head unit in the car so I think that negates the need for a radio code. Or rather I HOPE so (lol).

@ImTheDevil
Thanks for the heads up. I will search for that to reset the codes if need be. Thank you! I've tried searching for things before I post but haven't been very successful at finding what I am looking for. Do you have any suggestions on how to search more "efficiently"?

@Dallas09
Thanks for the info on the LEDs. Yeah, it might be a bit of a project, but it'll look sweet when its all done!

Do any of the three of you know about the digital display, finding a replacement or somehow changing that color?

 

Fourtitude.com - replacement LCD screen for center display in instrument cluster based on this picture it looks like you could possibly change the color of the two small side displays (however they could have a red glass tint in front of them as well) but I believe the LCD is intrinsically red, I dont think it is just red from the backlighting and I doubt that youll find a compatible LCD of a different color. You could find a cluster without the center LCD.