Hey folks,

I pulled out my non-tach instrument cluster and replaced it with a tach cluster. That went fine.
My only question is that I used LED's in place of the OEM 194's and it turned out awesome, BUT the ABS and Air Bag light do OK for the 1st beginning when turning the key to Start, but they remain dimly lit even after the truck is running. I verified this with the OEM incandescent 194's, and they were normal, and went off after the self check when the truck is started.

Has anyone run into this problem? I tried Google and many pages and couldn't find a specific problem. Do I need the CANBus LED for those 2? I know that you have to use a regular incandescent 194 for the battery light or it won't charge. Is this eliminated with a CANBus LED?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

 

The electronic modules in question have a small leakage current in their lamp driver circuit. Try installing a zener diode in series with the LED, that should do the trick. Or perhaps a pull-down resistor instead, to pull the circuit low and bleed off the leakage current.

Also you CAN use an LED for the battery light, I have one in my truck and everything works as expected. I did use to question that due to there being a resistor in parallel with the lamp to provide exciter voltage to the alternator in case of bulb failure but everything works just fine.

 

Actually I don't know what I was thinking up there, zener diode won't work because it too will pass leakage current! Try a pull-down resistor.

 

Thanks Dixie!!

I will have to do some research on that.
I'll also go on and swap out my battery light as well.

I will say swapping over to LED's in the cluster was Awesome!! I don't even need the dimmer switch on high anymore and can run them at the 1/2 mark or lower.

 

Yeah the LED's really make it look great. I will say that if you swap ALL the panel lighting over to LED (gauges, HVAC controls, ashtray light) the stock dimmer won't do much anymore. Just be aware that you'll need to install your own dimmer instead, or pick a brightness you like and wire a standard fixed-value resistor instead.

 

When I did mine I went all leds except the warning lamps for just that reason.