Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => Electrical and Instruments => Topic started by: acbrock on September 12, 2023, 21:08:05
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Hi, so I have taken the Instruments out of my car to clean and repair. They are all looking awesome, just waiting on a repair to the speedo. I was looking everything over and thought I would post this question to the forum. So before tearing it all down all the light worked fine. I can review them all now and make sure they are still ok. But my question is should I replace them all even though they work? I would have to bet 100% that this is the first time these instruments have been out of the car since it was built in 66. I would hate to put it all back together and lose a bulb down the road? or are these old bulbs better that anything I can get today? I have read that some people have gone to LEDs since they should last a long time?
Any thoughts...
Aaron
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Do you do enough night driving for it to matter? Many people strictly avoid night driving for a variety of reasons.
My car hasn't run in a while, but when I drove at night I didn't mind the soft dim light of traditional bulbs. I'll be replacing bulbs with stock bulbs when my instruments come out.
If you drive a lot at night, maybe the LEDs are for you. That's a personal choice.
The light dimmer control works on a rheostat - an arm sweeps across a spring to vary the voltage (or something like that, I'm not an electrician). Often corrosion builds up on that spring, so clean that if you can.
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While you have everything out and the bulbs are easily accessible, I’d change all of them. It’s what I did when I had the dash apart. I also carefully cleaned and polished all the glass and chrome on the dash and replaced all gaskets. I did not, however, change to LED bulbs but many here have. If you like brighter lighting, you might want to consider them.
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I replaced all the dash lights on my Lancia Fulvia when I restored it with small NOS bulbs since access was excellent then. Cost maybe $6 for the lot of 14 or so bulbs. I prefer not to convert to LED on classic cars.
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Cool thanks everyone! I will replace them and NOT do LEDs.
Aaron
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Don't forget to clean your dimmer.
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The alternator or charging light should only be replaced with a standard incandescent light bulb - I'm told LED won't work. Has something to do with resistance in the system, I guess.