L.E.D dash Conversion MK5

[canveysteve]

hiya peeps looking to do the led conversion

switches easy 3mm and 5mm

dash back lights 5mm BUT the oe dash distplay has the tinted green back defuser will blue leds show as blue ? or a crap brown
did anyone 'led' the warning lights ie batt oil fuel indicators ect ? should be the same process 5mm leds but on mone the rh indicator warning buld is off to one side i ashuming i can just twist the led towards the lamp ??

and where can i get switches for the beecons as im not drilling for togal switches !!

[dirtydog]

I used 3mm LEDs in the switches, didn't bother with 5mm ones as 3mm are plenty bright enough


As for the dash, you might get away with some powerful led bulbs, I tried mine with red led bulbs in but it just wasn't bright enough. In the end I bought some mondeo plasma dials

[dirtydog]

Oh and if you have electric windows you'll want 3mm LEDs for those switches as well. The bt vans used to have a proper button for beacons

[canveysteve]

THANKS DIRTYDOG ,, I DID THE SWITCHES YESTERDA HAD A BIT ORSODDING AROUND AS HAD TO USE RESISTORS ASWELL , DONT REARLY WANT TO CHANGE THE DIALS AS THEY WORKING OK DU THINK WOULD THE BLUE GO THRO THE GREEN IF THAT MAKES SENCE !!

WHERE CAN I BUY NEW SWITCHES IM AFTER A INTIREOR LIGHT SWITCH AND GRILL STOBE AND ROOF STROBE SWITCHES AND POSS REAR REDS ?
I HATE ADDING 'TOGGLE SWITCHES THAY LOOK CHEEP AND SHITE !

[dirtydog]

If you want new switches your best bet would possibly be a ford dealer. Used ones come up on eBay sometimes. I found my beacon switch in an ex bt van at my local scrappy.
If you want separate specific switches i.e switch for roof strobe, another switch for grill strobe, etc than it may be worth looking into some universal switches for kit cars etc as you can normally get different icons for the switches

[MinorMatt]

I have an ex-bt beacon switch somewhere... I will see if I can find it at the weekend

[canveysteve]

chears mate if you do il have them off you

[limitedblack]

Light works by Red, Green, and Blue. So if you put any of these in combination, ie red behind blue, or blue behind green you will get poor results because a green filter will do exactly that, filter out everything but the green.

[AlanN]

plus you can't use an LED for the battery light, otherwise the alternator won't charge

[mealic]

plus you can't use an LED for the battery light, otherwise the alternator won't charge

Just on Mk5 Al or all models? As I converted all my Mk6 dash lamps to blue Led and I have not yet had a flat battery yet.(famous last words).Did find a blue glass paint that I painted on the edge of the perspex green dials,but still comes up a turquoise colour.Had to cut some of the perspex bits off for best effect.Paint was ok on lamps too but not as good as aftermarket Led`s.

[AlanN]

I think it picks up a negative from the oposite side of the bulb, to kick the exciter in on the alternator, but Im now wondering if that just the diesel one, as it wouldnt work for me, LED was ok, but worked fine with bulb fitted back in

[mealic]

Just wondering now whether the led changes might have had an electrical impact on my LPG problems as was about the same time when everything went wrong!!.Will find out soon as I have a complete tank forward loom and components to change or re-vamp.

[ake]

I think it picks up a negative from the oposite side of the bulb, to kick the exciter in on the alternator, but Im now wondering if that just the diesel one, as it wouldnt work for me, LED was ok, but worked fine with bulb fitted back in

That's definately the case on Mk 1/2/3/4/5 but on 6 and 7 they use smart charge, the late Mk 6 and all MK 7 have led clusters including battery lamp

You would need to put a resistor in parallel to get it to charge on a Mk 1/2/3/4/5 with led battery light

[AlanN]

I forgot to mention that when the bulb was out, it wouldnt work either

[canveysteve]

I think it picks up a negative from the oposite side of the bulb, to kick the exciter in on the alternator, but Im now wondering if that just the diesel one, as it wouldnt work for me, LED was ok, but worked fine with bulb fitted back in

that is what i thort aswell i do alot of auto elec as a bulb is flowing on or off led is a diode has you found any 12 led