First, let me apologize for taking so long to post this write up (a lot of Sh*t going on in my life) HOWEVER, you guys rock, and the show must go on!!

This install was a big PITA but I knew I wanted my interior lights too all match completely so this was A-Must for me. Let me just say; Definitely worth it!! Getting a film and placing it behind the gauges is also another option but it doesn't solve the nasty teal color of the other HVAC lights. Also, I like how authentic the LEDs make the interior look. This site and everyone on it has helped me out tremendously and I want to give back by doing this write up. I hope someone gets motivated to do this because even though a PITA, it really makes the interior unique.

Disclaimer: You do this at your own risk. Since you will be working with a circuit board there IS a risk that you may make a mistake and fry something. Perhaps even break one of plastic pieces trying to take them apart. PLEASE BE CAREFULL!! I am also not experienced in soldering so I am sure that there are other ways to do this. (this was my actual first time doing something like this, therefore, if I can do it...

Step one: Remove the gauge assembly from the dash. (This link explains how to do it pretty well.) https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...48-Gauge-Color!

Step Two: Remove the needles from the gauges. This is done by taking a putty knife, cutting a 1/8 slit in it so that you can slip it under the needle and pry up on them. This will cause the needle to pop off, but it will still leave a base piece in place.

The way you get this piece off is similar to the previous step. Simply take the putty knife/flat head, slip it BEHIND the gauge face and under the base piece. You'll have to work at it from different angles to get this one out (PITA!)

Step Three: Now that the needles are off, the gauge face will come right off. From here, your going to want to unclip all the white "clips surround the gauges, I don’t remember how many of these there are. It would be easier if you had a helping hand with this one. It took me 10 minutes to do this when it should only take 10 seconds (you’ll see what I mean.) Gently lift on the white cover making sure it’s not caught on anything and you now have the circuit board exposed.

You can now start on the good stuff.

Step Four. Customizing the “SMT” LEDs. I went to Auto Zone and got LED strips shown below, I chose these because they are the same type of LEDs used to illuminate the gauges.


Turned on.

This particular pack came with two strips, 6 LEDs each, more than enough. These however will need resistors, otherwise when you plug them into a 12v source, they will blow. I used an online LED resistor calculator and determined that I would use a 470ohm ½ watt resistor. Commonly found at your local Radio Shack for around a buck for a 5 pack (there are 6 LEDs to be replaced in the gauges.) To be safe I would get two packs.

 

Step Five. To remove the LEDs from the attached strip is easy. Simply get a solder gun/iron and “zap” the solder on each end of the LED while pulling up with some needle nose pliers/tweezers. You’ll see the solder get real shiny and liquidy, this is when you pull up.

Once the LEDs have been separated, we are ready to add the resistors to each. To do so you'll need to get a resistors and cut one of the legs long enough to solder but short enough to not take up so much room (it can get cramped on that circuit board.) We will get into that later.

POLARITY, POLARITY, POLARITY! The resistor always goes on the positive side of the LED. With these SMT LEDs, (Which you do not need a resistor for!) in can be tricky to know there polarity. So to determine this, just look at the top of the LED, you will see two separate metal sections in the LED, one of the sections has a dot on it, THAT my friends is the NEGATIVE side. (forgot to take a pic of this but found one the internet that will paint the picture.)


A cheap and easy way I was able to check my progress and see if the lights worked after soldering was to take the wires (black and red) from the LED strip I bought from advanced, which comes with some batteries which allow you to turn on the lights with the push of a button. Then, simply take the wires, strip the ends, and touch the red to the positive side of the LED, black to negative, and then push the button it came with and Walla, you have light. Cheap I know!

Before you start to solder on the new SMT LEDs into the circuit you have to remove the six leads that light the dash.
(this is how they look with plastic on. i marked them with a marker so there was no confusion, bc there are a lot of LED under there.)

Similar to earlier, just heat the solder and lift up. Once all are off were ready to install the new LEDs of your choice in color. Again POLARITY! The negative side of the circuit will display a triangle at the corner; make sure you look for each of them so there's no confusion (look carefully.) If one is backwards; there’s no damage, but the lights will not work in unity. Then just solder the new LEDs in the correct spot. Do this for all six and you are almost done. If you have a multimeter, you can test the LEDs (very recommended) or just use my cheap method. This will show you if they all work in a series.
What it should look like upon testing.

Once success is confirmed, we move to the final steps.

Since I added more of a cluster f* on the circuit the white case I took off wouldn't fit back on without some very minor adjustment. Simply slip the cover on and see what's obstructing it from going back on, from there, I took a solder gun and melted away at the plastic being obstructed. There are many other ways to cut at the plastic but using the gun was def easy (perhaps not smart though haha.)

HVAC LED install.

To remove the HVAC system take apart the dash center piece and unscrew it from that. Unclip the vent cables and unplug everything. You'll have to remove the knobs to get the face off and this, my friends, is a royal PITA! A lot of people have trouble with this. All you have to do is get some vice grips and a sock/towel (to not leave any scrathes on the knobs), grip the knobs, and pull as hard as you possibly can. Trust me they will come off. Then you can unclip the face of the HVAC and get ready for the next step.

For the HVAC I used regular 5mm LEDs (there's enough space to do so). I went to Auto Zone and purchased the LEDs meant for a 12v source; these already come with resistors and saved me some time.

 

The light that illuminates the HVAC are all light bulbs. Simply remove all the bulbs and install the new LEDs. The HVAC is actually pretty easy to do. Just try to position the new ones in the same spot. Be advised, some adjustments will be needed, put the face on and test to see how the lights shine through. there will be some dim or bright spots. no worries, this can be easily fixed. just re-aim the LEDs. ALSO to be able to see the red in the temp knob, i hooked up two LED on the lower right and placed one of them (white in color) directly under the red portion of the HVAC face. this allowed the red to be seen in the dark making it look more "stock" the white LED however was too bright and was interfering with the blue light so i corrected this by covering a portion of it with elec. tape. this did the trick. (i know i know it looks odd but believe me, it makes a hell of a difference.)

At final testing

Only thing left is the Hazards and ESP section (Sorry not pics.) Same thing with this though, just unscrew from the center dash and unclip the top of it. The LED inside is the same that illuminate the gauges (Light strip- SMT LED). I only replaced the one, which illuminates the ESP. Just follow steps from earlier, sorry again for no pics on this one. Don't forget you WILL need an resistor like before. Also, the LED will go directly under the button which will be REALLY bright! too bright and wont match the other lights. so what i did was got some super glue and layered it on the tip of the LED, after a few layers, this dulled out the led allowing it to match with the rest of the interior.

Finito!! Let me know what you guys think of this. This is my first Write-Up so its possible I may have done a horrible job If you have any questions, PM me because that goes right to my email and i can respond in a timely fashion. I am EXTREMELY happy with the results, what a difference! Everyone that gets in my Jeep compliments the interior lighting. Unfortunately the following pictures DO NOT do it justice AT ALL (camera phone.) These lights came out very bright/smooth and can be dimmed to a lower setting. No matter how many pics i took i could not get the actual brightness to show. If someone knows a way I can get better pictures in the dark with no flash I would greatly appreciate it. I have a cheap digital camera laying around somewhere..

 

Again, for some reason in the picture the lights look "uneven" in brightness, not the case in person.

 

Awesome.

 

Great write-up. Looks good.

 

Seems like alot of work. But no doubt its pretty awesome. How long did it take you to do all of this?

 

EEeeeee!!!! omfg, Thank you. I've been wanting to do this!

 

It took me about a week but that was a couple hours a night and a lot of trial and error. I'd say that this could def be done over a weekend though.

 

So, what about the compass and odometer readouts? Are they still teal in your Jeep? I'm going to tackle this on the weekend.