Gauge cluster lights

I recently took apart my gauge cluster to replace the bulbs and found out that the bulbs are covered with red "condoms." Does anybody know where I can get replacements for these, and what sizes I need to order?

Additionally, are there any groovy alternatives that I can try? One last question - what is the size of the small bulb (on the far edges of the gauge cluster?)

Thanks in advance.
 
^^ cool.
any pics of your cluster with the white leds?? did you change the orange leds in the HVAC too?
 
these are the only pictures i have of my gauge cluster at night (see attached)

i also changed out the bulbs in my HVAC to red led's, but that wasn't as easy. you have to remove it from the dash, and take it all apart. plus, the amber/orange color is not fromt he bulbs, but from a transparent piece of plastic between the bulbs and the face. thats the only way to get the blue on the temp knob to light up blue. with the red led's, i get no "cold" illumination at night. i'm still trying to rig that up better.
 

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these are the only pictures i have of my gauge cluster at night (see attached)

i also changed out the bulbs in my HVAC to red led's, but that wasn't as easy. you have to remove it from the dash, and take it all apart. plus, the amber/orange color is not fromt he bulbs, but from a transparent piece of plastic between the bulbs and the face. thats the only way to get the blue on the temp knob to light up blue. with the red led's, i get no "cold" illumination at night. i'm still trying to rig that up better.

Interesting setup. It would be kinda funny to see a white streak of light moving across the gauge at night though. Thanks for the link.

So your car did not come with the amber bulb condoms?
 
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Interesting setup. It would be kinda funny to see a white streak of light moving across the gauge at night though. Thanks for the link.

So your car did not come with the amber bulb condoms?

yes it did - mazda used a combination of the condoms and gauge film to make and even color across the gauges

for your gauge cluster, did you buy these LEDS with a wide- angle light spread:

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)

the protege uses 2 "194" bulbs, and 2 "74" bulbs for cluster illumination. i have these in mine right now:
https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)
https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)
 
Just saw this post, nice!
I just purchased my MP5(My first own car, first car with stick, hooray!) But I find at night the gauge illumination is pretty dim even with dimmer switch all on, I can easily tell that it's a lot dimmer then the stereo and HVAC, so I figure I need to replace the bulb in there. Still want to stick to the red ones tho.
Are these LED direct replacement? How are these LEDs in terms of light output and pattern(evenly spread)?

Thanks

Josh
 
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the ones i have are plenty bright enough when its dark out, but at dusk / dawn they probably aren't as bright as i might like them to be. i have no idea how the red led's will look - i have the hyper white ones
 
That's good enough, now even at total darkout the gauge still can't get my attention often because it's too dim. I already oder 2 74 SMT and 2 194 SMT from V-LEDs.com, hopefully It will make it better.
Another I found last night is that one of the HVAC bulb wouldn't come on when cold, I figure if I'm satisfied with the one I just bought I will change the ones in the HVAC as well. Does anyone know what size of bulb and number are the ones in the HVAC?
One thing I like about this car is that it has red guage light match it's red stereo, and being a purist I'm not planning on changing that. But with white bulb it looks really nice, especially it matches so well with the amber film and makes the needle white. It would be really nice if I can figure out a way to change the needle color to make it stand out from the red.
Also, how am I supposed to take off the HVAC panel?

Josh
 
the ones in the HVAC are 74's also - and, you have to totally dismantle it to get them out.
 
The red ones look much nicer than the bulbs. The light looks more evenly spread and has a stronger glow at night. It's easier on the eyes and looks more expensive. However, the LED doesnt light up the fuel and engine temp gauges properly for me so I've left the OEM bulb in there.
 
any pics of this maskedSONY?
i just ordered some reds and was hoping to see what they looked like.
 
well i just attempted this.
either the leds i got are half toast or they are just getting a bad connection.
i tried fiddling with the wires on the leds to get something better, but could only get half of the speedo to light up and no tach.

as for the smaller bulbs, they seat nicer in the reciever, but then wont fit through the hole. frustrating.

im going to try and test the leds i have somehow, maybe a 9v battery or something. but for now my attempt was a fail.
 
LEDs that use the factory bulb sockets are polarized. If they don't work then flip them around in the socket.

*Edit: Also, does anyone know where I can get some blue bulb condoms to fit the 74 bulbs? I've wanted brighter gauges as well and I've been fooling around with spare clusters lately. If you sand off the orange coloring on the back of the gauges then you can use any color you want. Just have to be careful with the needles is all...
 
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i just took mines apart and took off the green condoms on the rpm and speed bulbs, but no change in color. is there some film behind the guages also? i cudnt get to it
 
I was just looking at replacing the bulbs in my cluster,centre console, and where the shifter is. I was wondering if you would know how many bulbs I would need to buy in total? I have a 2000 mazda protege se

Thanks
 
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