[happysails2you]

Although it's nice to have no distractions at night while driving, my dashboard is very dim even at full brightness, although it's a consistent brightness across all the dials.



Are there multiple bulbs behind the cluster -- might it be that one or more are burned out? Easy to replace?



Thanks

<img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/rolleyes.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[968rz]

[quote name='happysails2you' post='30382' date='Jan 30 2007, 03:19 PM']Are there multiple bulbs behind the cluster -- might it be that one or more are burned out? Easy to replace?



Thanks

<img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/rolleyes.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />[/quote]



That is one possibility for sure, there is also some reflective material (like tin foil) that becomes faded and dull and can be replaced (have to pull the cluster out to do so, but not a bad job). Everyone seems to feel that even normally working lights are dim and upgrade to the LEDs at the cluster, this seems to make them happy but you do lose the dimming ability if you do the LEDs.

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[Darryl]

Kathy,



I sent you a PM...please let me know if you don't receive. I seem to be having trouble sending messages...I can fix this for you and I'm not horribly far from you - office is near Dulles Airport.



http://www.968forums.com/index.php?s=&...ost&p=28309



- Darryl

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[happysails2you]

Thanks, got your PM and replied. Thanks also for the reference to the other forum postings...never would have looked under that topic heading! Your fix looks like it works great! Let's talk.



quote name='Darryl' date='Jan 30 2007, 04:50 PM' post='30384']

Kathy,



I sent you a PM...please let me know if you don't receive. I seem to be having trouble sending messages...I can fix this for you and I'm not horribly far from you - office is near Dulles Airport.



http://www.968forums.com/index.php?s=&...ost&p=28309



- Darryl

[/quote]

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[flash]

i would not mess with them



dim is good - off is better, but not practical - the best compromise is just bright enough to see the readings at a glance - mine are nearly off



bright dash lights mean less light getting to your retina because your iris is partially closed



there is a very long report from a study on this - i posted the link a while back

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[doster]

I have to second that I drove in a audi a4 the other night and when he turned on the key

I almost jumped out of my seat ! it lit up like a christmas tree It was INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!

couldn't wait to get back in my dimley lit car. way too much to look at-and they say

cell phones are a distraction <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/dry.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[flash]

lol - speaking of distractons, huh? did you say something? i was too busy looking at something else

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[Larry Currie]

I replaced the reflective foil, but it did not help very much. I had my gauges redyed to white which looks good with the dim lighting.

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[Etnier]

While I agree with Flash, there is such a thing as too dim. It only takes one or two burnt-out bulbs to put part of the cluster out of view. All bulbs should be working properly for even, full illumination.



Incandescent lamps darken with use: if I were to go in and replace a bulb, I'd replace them all.

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[flash]

i agree - they need to be visible



i have always been particulary susceptable to glare, and now that my eyes are getting old, it is even worse - they just aren't as flexible as they used to be - bright dash lights, and these new fangled blue headlights drive me nuts



it took me a while to convice my other half that she didn't need that bright dash, but once whe got used to it, she admitted that now she can see things outside the car much better - she benefits from it more than many because she also wears glasses or contacts, which always add to the glare factor



there are brighter dash bulbs out there - there is a thread here on which ones won't melt your cluster

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[Darryl]

I too agree that there is such thing as too bright. That's why I stayed away from the many LED kits. I had to talk myself out of blue LEDs! I wanted to take a stock approach to "fixing" the problem. Now I have brighter lights, shiny plastic and the dimmer still works to dim them according to taste. The inside of the cluster had a sort of black fog on everything and simply cleaning everything helped tremendously. If the bulbs aren't burnt out, you may not even need to replace them. I used 194 when I replaced. Bottom line - new bulbs, new reflective material, and polished plastic makes it really nice!



- Darryl

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[Kim]

How do you clean the plastic? Mine is "coated" with some fine dirt that got in there somehow but the plastic covering seems to be cemented in place. Do you cut it off?

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[gryphon]

Kim, I had the same question with mine and chose not to cut the plastic. Perhaps all model years are not the same? I am, however, happy with the brightness of the #194 bulbs (T3.25, 3.78w) I installed.



Tom

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[Anchorman]

Remove the instrument cluster from the dashboard (not as scary as it sounds), remove the instruments from the housing (really easy) and clean the plastic from the inside (not as easy as it sounds).

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[Darryl]

[quote name='Kim' post='30469' date='Feb 1 2007, 06:08 PM']How do you clean the plastic? Mine is "coated" with some fine dirt that got in there somehow but the plastic covering seems to be cemented in place. Do you cut it off?[/quote]



Yes, you have to take it off...or at least it's a helluva lot easier if you do. I'm not sure I'd use the phrase "cutting if off", but you do have to persuade it a little. It's not glued all the way around, or at least mine wasn't. Perhaps some of the glue had deteriorated due to age but it came apart fairly easily. A dremel and/or razor blade may be necessary. I used Meguires PlastX and it came out looking like new. NOVUS1 should work good or maybe NOVUS2 if you're careful. I re-assembled it with some 2 part epoxy and hopefully got it sealed a little better than it was before to keep some of the dirt out. Ever wonder how dirt and debris gets inside something that supposed to be sealed?



- Darryl

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[RPM]

I had a few bulbs that were out or very dim. When my shop had the dash apart to replace the key lock cylinder (a very long and stupidly expensive adventure) they replaced all of the bulbs as a courtesy.



Unbelievable difference. I have been driving 944/968 series cars for nearly ten years now and had come to just accept a dim dash. Now it is bright. I normally dim down the dash cluster in my other cars, just never had to before in the Porsches. No more!

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