Dash LED illumination Lights

[justin]

everyone know the de-fog light in the center??? like AC etc in the ralliars? well should i change it or leave it yellow? im kinda tossing it up not sure if i want it changed or not hmmm

[DORA_ANNE]

Not sure what you mean there Justin ? Without going out in the cold and having a look

[justin]

Alrighty, so i finished the A/C controls last night i think next will be the steering wheel just because ill need to order some more LED's

so some tips/tricks/helps etc first things first ill make a How to once i finished everything sadly my phone was dying last night and decided it didnt want to take photos but i got a couple of things before that....

anyway Onward..

First things first when your taking apart everything be firm but gentle its not a brick it does break easily it will take practice to get it in and our fast anyway first thing would be to get yourself a good soldering iron with a good point on it, i just used my propane one as im very used to it and just purchased a new tip (the old one was deff not going to work good) next thing is to get your LED's now for those that dont know what LED's they are a 0603 SMD LED i have the link somewhere....

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-50-PCS-0603-SMT ... 0735875553

There you are, you can buy them from there which is what i do, now as to if they work on the head unit and steering wheel controls im unsure... ill find out over the weekend...

Ok next once u get everything id suggest put a few hours aside for this after the first one or 2 it will go quiet quickly etc.... now these LED's in case you dont know are like all LED's they only work one way so if you think you can just strap them on and off you go... your wrong
it is however not that hard either its just a matter of looking hard at the LED's to look for the little dot/square looking thing on one side... thats the positive...(just so we dont get confused...
Next you will need some tweezers something with a fine point works well, i believe you could maybe get away with some pliers... but i would bet on it being as easy... (bigger handles big hands etc they get in the way... seriously lol)

ok so once you get everything pull the dash appart being careful not to break anything. start with the center trim that comes off from the passanger side and move along to the head unit taking it out and off (no it wont affect anything taking it off just your clock)...
once the head unit is out start with your center console, start with taking the cup holders out and then everything that its connected too, you dont have to take the hole center out you just need to get to the screws in the glove box and the screws in front of your trany and behind it.... once they are all out shove it gently back about and inch and get to the sick screws of the trim in front of the transmission there is one on each side... i can not stress enough on taking these out... you dont and you can break stuff... once out pull the trim out a little to let the A/C compartment have room to pull forward...
There are two screws at the top of the unit undo them then move onto pulling it gently forward, once it pops off just simply unplug everything and take it out, your next part would be to undo the 4 big screws on the back at each corner of the unit to get the A/C controls out the rest is somewhat useless so leave it in the car and go to a highly in-lighten area...

now the hard stuff..
what you wanna do is get the PCB (printed Circuit Board) out of the unit, its easy just simply undo all the screws and then wen you get to these funny plastic things get a flat head screw driver and pushed them backwards from the center (they are somewhat clipped in there good) once you push them back pull them up and wa-la bobs ur uncle it should come out... once out the board with have some little black clips that come from the bottom (i think im going to have to upload pics to explain all this lol) push the clips and the toggles will fall somewhat out and stop... once you dont that your PCB should fall out

ok once its out the best suggest i have is get 2 same size card board boxes ( i just found some old medicine boxes that worked great for me) and put one under each side, its just simple to keep it level otherwise its a pain...

once you get it out your ready to solder everything, id say get your soldering iron out get it to temp test it on some solder and then wipe it off with a sponge easy enough right....
wen it comes to removing your old LED's they will break and yes they are smaller than the replacement ones but they are the same so it will still work dont freak out....
to remove the old ones just simple head up each side of the LED's and get the tweezers and gently pull while heating, do it to both sides and it will eventually come off.... once off just put a little bit of solder on there (if your good with a soldering iron put a small blob type in a ball enough for the LED to sink in to, if your not so go just get some on there in a point type style both work) once you got the LED off get the new one out get the tweezers again and just simple hold it above the blob of solder and heat the solder and push the LED into it, it will sink and insure its attached properly, if it doesnt stick do the other side get some more solder and just quickly put some on (IMPORTANT: you need to ensure that the LED doesnt get to hot... if you have a controllable Soldering iron your sweet if not well be careful... if you have a gas one heat it to just being able to melt the solder simple enough)

Once you get the LED on there well you move onto the next once... and hte next one and the next, id suggest if you have alot of time to spare test each once incase you put them on backwards like i accidently did because i forgot the dot was positive... WHOOPS!
anyway i ended up testing after every set of 4...

Now if you have a ralliart like i did... ignore the bottom two LED's they are pointless i dont understand why we even got them they do NOTHING AT ALL! stupid ass mitsu wasting money on silly things that achieve nothing!
enough ranting once you test all 3 bunches in total of 12 LED's or 15 if you want the 3 centers done you test and put it all back together... hard right? ok wen you put it all back together the only thing id say be careful of is getting the A/C center piece (as in the A/C unit in the pastic again with the cig lighter and that) just be careful wen putting it back in, if the clips bend/bow it will go in and your push clip things (in the ralliart) wont work because the spring is stopped by the spring... if that makes sense so just make sure it goes in straight, beside that plug everyting back in and its smooth saling from there....

Enjoy and sorry for the mistakes and blobs of text, i will edit it last just at work atm.... doing LOADS of work... LOL!

Laters all will update this once i dont the steering wheel and head unit this weekend

ill have to upload photos well later... lol apparently cant upload them to the page :S


OK so this is the wiring diagram
the dots are positive
http://clubcj.net/garage.php?mode=view_gallery_item&type=garage_mod&image_id=5165

PCB Board to give you an idea on how small etc things are
http://clubcj.net/garage.php?mode=view_gallery_item&type=garage_mod&image_id=5164

Black plastic clips you need a flat head screw driver to get out
http://clubcj.net/garage.php?mode=view_gallery_item&type=garage_mod&image_id=5167

Testing
http://clubcj.net/garage.php?mode=view_gallery_item&type=garage_mod&image_id=5169

Putting it back together
http://clubcj.net/garage.php?mode=view_gallery_item&type=garage_mod&image_id=5165

Finished result
http://clubcj.net/garage.php?mode=view_gallery_item&type=garage_mod&image_id=5168

[driftnut((]

wanna earn some cash justin? i wouldnt paying you to do it for me

[justin]

huh? that makes no sense at all dude lol

[Slash]

Nice work...

Now workout how to make the color changing needle work!

[justin]

lol i already know how to do it... i just dont really want to attempt it due to the recallibrating after doing it... donno bout you but its not worth it if u stuff it up....

ALSO if anyone knows what LED's the Headunit and Steering wheel use (i believe they are the same just cant be sure) could you please PM me or wateva i just wanna get stuck into it and do it but not 100% sure yet

ALSO x2 does anyone have a diagram on the steering wheel and how to pull it apart that would be AWESOME of you to send it to me...

Thanks and cluster will totally be last...

[Slash]

Damn... I was hoping you would do yours.. then you could do mine!

[Speedie]

OK LEDs on the bottom of the AC controls are there because the VRX has holes in the bottom so the cubby area is illuminated where the RA had doors.

Have you read this : http://www.evoxforums.com/forums/showth ... Ds&page=12

[justin]

yeah i know that dude... im not completely dumb, but i changed it jsut because i can so meh!

anyway ok so head unit is done im about to run out so ill have to upload pics later but just to add to anyone thats doing it...
it seems to have a trend to everything all the positive terminals always face upward or the the left wen looking at it... hope that helps will upload more stuff later or i might just do it all as a DIY etc

and yes i know that dude i read it like a week ago... i did some serious homework

Alrighty, im home at last

so more or less i did the head unit display tonight wasnt to hard as i got the hang of things last night when doing the A/C controls so simple enough if you can handle the A/C controls your sweet to do this

ok so same things you needed as before only you need 28 LED's for what i did simple just a few more leds to change in a few tight spots most are somewhat easy to change so not to worry

now pulling appart the head unit im not going to lie its a pain in the butt and if you forget to put something back in wen re-assembling it well have fun undoing the 2 millions screws in it... PASS!

anyway more or less you get the head unit out and start undoing stuff first thing you should do is undo the 6 big screws on the back of the board not hard but there is also a small screw in the middle of the PCB undo it dont try to get it out... easier to leave it in there... glad you all agree, undo the clip at the bottom of the PCB casing and wa-la its out now just to undo the screen for the head unit its just 2 screws with a heat sheild of some sorts im assuming no idea dont really care considering its almost 1am!!!

anyway get it all out and try to get the control knobs off they just simply pull off with just a bit of force best to twist while doing so once off you need to get the silver trimings off that too... its a little tricky but just look for the clip on the side on each one and you should be right just need to get it around the buttons not to hard just a bit frustrating at first next start undoing the 50 screws on the back of the PCB once all out you just need to pull the PCB out, now u can undo that ribbin that attachs just take note of what way it goes i believe it was blue side facing outwards....

anyway once its all out just start your unsoldering process, as you will notice above i have put wat way to solder them all on so if you follow that your all good, id still test every couple tho just to be safe, once its done do a finial check put it back together in the same way it came out and BOOM!!!!! your done.... simple enough right? well its not just saying altho the results are just amazing....



NOTE: you will notice in my photo that the screen is still RED... this is due to the fact that the screen itself is a clear bluish colour.... i didnt want to pull the perspect sheet looking thing out as i needed to drive the car tonight and only had limited time... i believe its just a colour red sheet of perspects but ill find out tomorrow when i replace it and fix that

I hope you enjoy and find this helpful next is the steering wheel controls.... btw i believe u will need around 60-75 LED's for this hole job and since i ran out im waiting on more for the REST.... also the AWC and ASC unit use some sort of a bolb going to investigate this tomorrow as well so i shall report back here again....

enjoy yall let me know if i miss anything i have more pics that i shall upload tomorro
night!

[DORA_ANNE]

Justin That looks Great .. Wow you have done some serious homework

[justin]

Damn... I was hoping you would do yours.. then you could do mine!

LOL i could MAYBE! lol you have to understand tho it does take a LONG LONG time to do so and i dont know about you but i cant rush perfection aye lol

[dannyboi]

That looks pretty sweet Justin.

[justin]

thanks mate, i mean the ralliarts are nice the way they are but just simple things really make it stand out really good

[justin]

i fixed the head unit, but still looking for a better solution.... its a working progress but so far progress is good....

ill upload photos of what it looks like now on monday i ended up just getting a clear piece of plexi glass cut to fit and just fit it in with some minor sanding to slide in tightly and applied it with some double sided tape that i had to cut... simple yet affective its not a white bluey colour, either going to paint the plexi glass or get some blue not to sure yet, will keep u all posted.

also i did the AWC and ACS buttons, simple again apparently they just have a orangy red cover that allows light through... to be honest i have not yet found one that is blue... so again gonig to look harder, i been told however that i can just simply paint them... not sure how this would end so i might go to mitsu get a couple of spares and give it a whirl lol

see how i go and hopefully get more LED's next week to finish my steering wheel controls before next weekend keeping it all blue except the dash... stupid dash *am how ever looking into it more seeing if i can do it or not its just the stupid re-callibration part i got no idea how to do it nor do i have the gear to do it... hmmmm*