LED Dash Bulb replacement - Pajero Gen3

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4ePikanini
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LED Dash Bulb replacement - Pajero Gen3

Thu Jun 21, 2012 12:26 pm

My bottom two green bulbs on the 4x4 display was blown so instead of buying replacements at the dealer for about R25 each I ordered a set of led bulbs from ebay. (10 T5 286 White LED Bulbs with Wedge Base Dashboards)

A few weeks wait and they arrived this morning. Luckily they sent me 15 bulbs otherwise I wouldn't have had enough. You need 12 to do the back lighting, 4x4 lights, center amber and diff lock light.

DIY Steps

Lower the steering wheel with the lever underneath the column.
Remove the 2 screws in the top cover of the cluster.
Pry the bottom parts away first of the black cover and then the top part.
Note the clips
Image

Swivel it out being careful not to break it.

Then remove the following 4 screws and pull the cluster straight out and then swivel the bottom part to you and up and out with the bottom part of the cluster coming out first between the dash and steering wheel facing away from you (effectively making the cluster do a front flip away from you)
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This reveals the back of the cluster
Image

Now let's look at the bulbs. They twist out anti clockwise and looks like this.
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Removing the clip from the bulb
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The ebay LED bulb
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The LED bulb stripped apart
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The connector with the new LED bulb in
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This is the bulb locations for the cluster
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To do the far right one in the top picture you need to remove a PCB board to get to it.
Remove it by undoing the following screws and gently pulling straight up. It will have a bit of resistance.
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This what the PCB board looks like underneath
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Reassembly is reverse of disassembly.

Bulb comparison

Temp = LED
Fuel = old bulb
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Bottom left wheel = LED
Top 2 wheels = old bulb
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Right side of cluster = LED
Left side of cluster = old bulb
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Finished cluster
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All the flashing lights work as they should and the dimmer works as well.

If the bulb doesn't work, remove rotate it 180 degrees, and re-install. LED's only work with the flow in one direction, unlike halogen bulbs that work with 12v from any of the 2 contact points.


pa
parabola

Re: LED Dash Bulb replacement - Pajero Gen3

Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:08 pm

Thanks so much for this Marius. I have been wondering if this would be a worthwhile modification, and the side-by-side comparison is certainly quite helpful.

I have a few relevant questions for you/anyone else with the answers :
  1. Do you think it would be possible to just use bog-standard white LED's with a 300ohm resistor soldered to the cathode instead? Did you make use of the wedges at all? At 12V a 300ohm current limiting resistor would allow 28mA of current through a white LED.
  2. Did you possibly look at what size LED would be needed for the gearbox indicator lights? They look like they use a smaller holder.
  3. I have some blown backlights in the heater control unit, has anyone replaced these before, and could I do something similar with normal LED's?
  4. Do your remote mirror controls have a backlight? Mine has none but may have blown.
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4ePikanini
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Country: South Africa
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Re: LED Dash Bulb replacement - Pajero Gen3

Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:56 pm

Full view pic.

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Attachments
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Er
Ernie

Re: LED Dash Bulb replacement - Pajero Gen3

Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:18 pm

How much did the led's cost with shipping and all?
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4ePikanini
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Country: South Africa
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Re: LED Dash Bulb replacement - Pajero Gen3

Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:23 pm

Ernie wrote:How much did the led's cost with shipping and all?
$1.99 for 10 led bulbs. :) shipping included!
Cp
CptPie

LED Dash Bulb replacement - Pajero Gen3

Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:09 pm

Lol it's crazy. You can't even post a letter @ that price in SA


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Er
Ernie

Re: LED Dash Bulb replacement - Pajero Gen3

Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:41 pm

That is really cheap :) locally they sell white led's roughly for R2 to R5 each depending on brightness plus 10c for the resistor.
mu
muzzy

Re: LED Dash Bulb replacement - Pajero Gen3

Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:33 pm

the leds you used did yo have to put a resistor in ,as can get leds local ,did you just take old ones out andreplace with the new leds ?? as looks much brighter by far .cheers muzzy
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4ePikanini
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Country: South Africa
Vehicle: 2007 Pajero LWB 3.2 Di-D GLX
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Re: LED Dash Bulb replacement - Pajero Gen3

Sun Jul 08, 2012 8:32 pm

muzzy wrote:the leds you used did yo have to put a resistor in ,as can get leds local ,did you just take old ones out andreplace with the new leds ?? as looks much brighter by far .cheers muzzy
The led bulbs i bought from ebay already had the resistors to work in a 12v system.

They look brighter but they arent. Crisper is the word and the dimmer still works.

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mitsenoj
Country: South Africa
Vehicle: 2013 LWB 3.2 DiD
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Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:08 pm

Re: LED Dash Bulb replacement - Pajero Gen3

Sun Jul 15, 2012 9:04 am

Or you can just travel to Namibia, my long blown wheel light started working after a few hundred km's of bumpy gravel.

Nice to end a trip with more things fixed than when you started.

:D
Tim - Port Elizabeth
2000 Gen 3 3.2 DiD - LWB (Sold)
2013 Gen 4 3.2 DiD - LWB - Exceed

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