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Fri Feb 22, 2013 1:40 pm

Old thread but perhaps useful to somebody...
Need to swap the resistor on the back of the Hazard switch with one that will reduce the current for the Led to dim. i just installed a red Led in the hazard switch and wired a 8k and 6k 1/8w resistos in series to get the brightness I liked. I used the 8k ohm first and it was still a little too bright and decided to add the 6k to step it down some more.

nod7 wrote: I'm on the tail end of converting all lights to LED and ran into a problem. The Hazard Switch. With the stock bulb, when the key is in the on position, the bulb in the hazard switch is slightly lit. If you then turn on the hazards, the bulb becomes fully lit. When I switched this over to an LED, the LED doesn't need as much electricity to belcome fully lit so, is fully let with the key in the on position. This is WAY too bright. I tried putting some black tape on the end of the LED. It's still too bright. I assume others have delt with this, what was your solution? At this point I'm going back to the stock bulb so, I need some ideas.

nod7

Sat Feb 23, 2013 9:35 am

would a couple of you folks be willing to post your dash light pics. I'd love to see the different LED colors prior to ordering. I'm leaning towards red but would like to see the other colours first

cheers
Al

Sat Feb 23, 2013 6:04 pm

yycwesty wrote: would a couple of you folks be willing to post your dash light pics. I'd love to see the different LED colors prior to ordering. I'm leaning towards red but would like to see the other colours first

cheers
Al

Not the best photo since it wasn't really dark enough to get a really good picture but I think you can get the idea of the red LED's. I wanted them to match the Eurovan radio. I have also, since installed a cigarette lighter and 12V power point beside it from a new Beetle since they have red illumination around but are otherwise identical to the green illuminated Vanagon lighter.

Sat Feb 23, 2013 6:51 pm

yycwesty wrote: would a couple of you folks be willing to post your dash light pics. I'd love to see the different LED colors prior to ordering. I'm leaning towards red but would like to see the other colours first

cheers
Al

Photos of blue lights are on page 6.

I went with white for the speedo, tach, and clock; blue for the indicators:

Tue Apr 23, 2013 9:57 am

Thanks to those that provided information concerning converting to LEDs.
I installed White LEDs behinds the indicator panel and clock, Blue HP LEDs for the tach and speedometer. With the old incandescent bulbs I had visibility issues, and was initially disappointed by the illumination of the Blue HP LEDs. I was unable to read coolant temp or fuel gauge information at night.
So I removed the cluster and had my son, the artist, paint the tach, coolant temp and fuel gauge needles and major markings with white florescent needle paint.
The incandescent bulbs being replaced are omnidirectional The bulb assembly is designed for an omnidirectional indirect light bulb. The LED's (B8.3) are unidirectional. We removed the bulb assembly above the tach and speedometer and attached chrome vinyl with adhesive backing to act as a reflector for the LED and the difference was tremendous.

The following are before and after pictures of the Speedometer prior to the chrome reflector addition and after. Notice the visibility of the odometer afterwards.

In the following pictures you can see the difference the florescent paint makes as the tach has been painted, the speedometer has not. The florescent paint adds to the light reflectiveness and dispersal. It is highly visible.

Hopefully the pictures are self explanatory. Here is a picture of the chrome vinyl used.

Sun May 12, 2013 12:37 pm

syncrodoka wrote: VolksCafe's website says that it is for vans through '89 or '90. http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_457_142/headlight_switch___check_description.html

it is hard to tell from the context, but this switch will light up if you put a bulb in there, right?

is it also possible to just bore a hole in the black part of the earlier stock headlight switch and add a bulb?

Sun May 12, 2013 1:53 pm

randywebb wrote: it is hard to tell from the context, but this switch will light up if you put a bulb in there, right?
There are no electrical contacts in the plug for the light on later models but there is a spot for one so I added the contacts pictured for the headlight switch LED.

Quote: is it also possible to just bore a hole in the black part of the earlier stock headlight switch and add a bulb?
The switches in both of my '86 vans didn't have a translucent panel behind the light icon for the light to go through. I doubt that one could drill a hole and would find the translucent panel hidden behind. I disassembled my old switch and it was solid black plastic.

I am still amazed how much more i like the lighted headlight switch over the unlit headlight switch on my 2wd van.

Mon May 13, 2013 5:43 am

lighted headlight switch rocks,
in mom's van it's wired with a green led on all the time. so it's easy to locate even if just to click the parking lamps on while waiting someplace.
I used one of those small prewired 12v LEDs they sell at the FLAPS in the disco accessory section.

Wed Aug 13, 2014 5:58 pm

Update on LEDs: I read through this thread. Seems lots of product numbers have changed and new bulbs are available. I'm putting together an updated list of LEDs that I can post if you all can help me who have done this before.

First and foremost...this is the style bulb needed for cluster lights. I do not see any LED bulb type that has leads on the short sides of the wedge like the standard bulb has, with the leads running to the top to make electrical contact.

The link below is as close as I can get to this style/product #'s mentioned earlier in this thread. Can someone please tell me/us what I am missing...???

Superbrightsleds.com page result:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/wedge-bulbs/filter/Base,74,1,4023:

Thx

Wed Aug 13, 2014 8:00 pm

http://www.superbrightleds.com/products/instrument...D,21,4332:

VC also stocks them if you are placing a order from them in the future.

Sun Feb 01, 2015 1:36 pm

It seems to me that people have been scavenging the contacts out of other models in order to add illumination to the headlight switch. Just wanted to let everyone know that the contacts from bulb holder 321-919-039 for the HVAC lighting has those contacts in it. I successfully removed them from that holder and used them in the headlight switch. That might be an easier way for people to do the mod.

Also, in regards to adding an LED to the hazard switch it seems everyone thinks that it uses a non-standard bulb holder which is hard to mod. Seems to me that bulb holder "141-957-397 A" which is the correct bulb holder for the fog light switch will work in the hazard switch as well (in fact, ETKA shows it as the correct bulb holder for the hazard switch). The only difference between the original bulb holder and it is that it's shorter in the back. I tried fitting it in and it seemed to fit, haven't wired it up yet though. I saw it available at Airhead Parts at this link: http://www.airheadparts.com/vintage-vw-parts/instr...57397-a-oe.

David

Sun Feb 01, 2015 3:13 pm

VC sells a headlight switch plug with bulb contacts in it already for less than $8.
http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_2165_1055/m_headlight_switch_connector.html

I posted a thread about the exact thing but not a lot of interest in it.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=617282&highlight=headlight+illuminate

Sun Feb 01, 2015 3:41 pm

Oh damn, that's even easier. You'd think they'd mention that in their description.

David

Mon Feb 02, 2015 3:58 pm

Since I hadn't seen specific instructions for changing the rear heater fan control bulb and the bulb for the front heater fan/sliders I wanted to share what I found. I ordered the LED replacements thanks to the information on this post. On my '84 Westy the rear fan has a bulb and the sliders/front fan share a bulb. I found the best results with a regular powered 74-B for the rear fan and a high-powered 74-BHP for the front.
Here is the bulb holder I ordered from GoWesty:

http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?id=3587&category_id=&category_parent_id=
As you can see, the item didn't match the web image. Luckily I didn't know any better and modified it to work as I'll explain.
The rear heater control bulb is the easiest to change. http://www.benplace.com/dash.htm has great photos and descriptions (of course!) Here's what I did with what I believe is an automatic transmission bulb holder. I removed the old incandescent bulb from the holder. I cut the tapered tip of the holder. I inserted the LED bulb in the automatic transmission bulb holder and slid the tapered tip over the LED bulb.

Imagine the cut tip from the assembly on the left sliding over the bulb in holder on the right. All this goes in the rear of the heater control.
The front heater control bulb was a little more tricky for me to change. On my '84 the bulb is located diagonally in the middle of the sliders.

By taking out the radio, reaching in through that opening, and reaching in with a flathead screwdriver I was able to put the new high-powered LED into the modified holder and slide it into the spot behind the sliders.
I went with blue bulbs in the heater controls to match the blue bulbs in the instrument panel.
Thanks to everyone who posted before. You guys make this happen!

Mon Feb 02, 2015 10:49 pm

Jamo7 wrote: Since I hadn't seen specific instructions for changing the rear heater fan control bulb and the bulb for the front heater fan/sliders I wanted to share what I found.

There were instructions for this way back in Page 4
syncrodoka wrote: I was able to find a holder for a led bulb from volkscafe that will fit behind the heater controls. The holder takes the same size replaceble bayonette bulb as the cig. lighter and emergency switch. The holder fit a little too tight into the heater control bezel so I sanded it a little to fit better.

The LED that I bought from superbrightleds.com is a #74 bulb and it the same dimensions as the original bulb for the bolder. There are different lumen rated bulbs and I would buy a brighter one next time because this is a little dim for my taste.

VanCafe sells the correct bulb holder http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_1023_1049/cl...b-soc.html
Good to see you were able to make yours work but if they sent you the correct part it would have been easier on you. Have fun with your new mod.

Sun Feb 22, 2015 12:52 am

So I read this with great interest as my Camper has all LED dash lights and are amazing at night.
My Tristar has a bad Lighting foil ,but the rest of it is solid. So I was studying The GW dash foil replacement kit and noticed that the dash illumination LED's are actually a wired unit and not dependent on any kind of foil. Granted it will add a few wires as each light requires a +/- ,but it seems like a great answer if only your illumination is bad.
I've searched around and have not found anything like that. If I knew the name of that type of bulb or a part number I could search for it.
So has anyone done this or know of such a thing, If GW could find it ,it can't be that hard to come across.

Stacy

Tue Oct 06, 2015 11:31 am

OK, so I want to replace instruments, HVAC and auto-shifter with red LEDs. In the past I ordered from Go Westy and liked them, but at $30 for 2 HVAC bulbs and $25 for the 2 auto bulbs, plus the instruments I thought I'd attempt SuperbrightLEDs.

I'm a little unclear on what exactly I need from them, especially when it comes to the Auto shifter...is it the same as the HVAC bulbs and holders? Kamz, your pdf is great and got me started, but is a little outdated and vague at this point with more selection in LEDs than when it was written, and no mention of Autos There are many shapes of the 74-xhp now and many lumen ratings / numbers of LEDs.

So far this is what I got:
-instruments are fairly easy with B8.3D 6 lumens @$1.95 each:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/instrumen...d-car/223/
-HVAC's a little more vague, and I haven't found anything on the specifics of the auto shifter. I was planning on ordering the 3-led 74-RHP3 wedge base for both applications, and their T1.5-SW Base:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/instrumen...t-car/228/

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/empty-bas...1151/2738/
or perhaps I should do the 74-r as Syncrodoka linked to, perhaps it fits in the bulb holders better?

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/miniature...t-car/226/

I figure between the OEM bulb holders and the Superbright's I should be able to adapt to work the 74's for each application.

So what do you all think? Does that look about right? I apologize if it is all listed nicely somewhere that I missed! If it all works out it's $32 with extra lights and bulb holders, about half the GW price. I appreciate the GW legwork, but...

Mon Nov 16, 2015 11:45 pm

I used the bulb base you show from superbrighleds.com. For $.99/ea. couldn't go wrong.

Here is the base part number

And bulb part number

These bases have ears on them for a bayonet style connection that need trimmed off.

This pic shows the ears

Next two show the ears trimmed. Don't trim them flush as you need some meat there to give a nice interference fit with the backside of the fan and climate control panel. Trim a little then test fit and repeat.

This shows the bulb in the trimmed base

And a side by side comparison to the stock base

Nice snug fit wit the fan control panel

Crimp on some connectors

Throw on a little electrical tape for good measure

Repeat for the climate control panel

Forgot to take a final picture of this fitted into the backside but it fits nice just like the fan control panel. A dab of hot glue would even be a nice belt and suspenders.

Cheers

Tue Nov 17, 2015 12:53 am

That's awesome, thanks!

After not receiving any responses to my last post I gambled and went ahead and ordered the 3 LED bulbs I mentioned for the hvac and the auto shifter, as well as the holders and the instrument lights I posted. Just received the box last week and about to start install. Will update with an auto shifter photo too.
Hopefully the 3 LED isn't too bright!

Fri Dec 09, 2022 9:55 pm

cciyu 10 Pack Car T5 B8.4D 5050 1SMD White LED Lamps Instrument Dashboard Side Indicator Lights
10 for $7.66
https://a.co/d/6s5xtdM

Does anyone know if these will fit on the Vanagon instrument cluster?