Autometer Gauge Lighting

[chris91]

Okay, so my car has all Autometer gauges in it. They are the Pro-Comp Ultra Lite Silver face gauges and the lighting straight up SUCKS. They are the bulbs that come with the gauges with the green cap over them and the output is horrible. I cannot see them clearly at all at night time. Anyone know of any bulbs to use that will be a good bit brighter? Ive read into using LED's on Corral and a few people said they havent helped.

[dsmawd350]

try pulling the green covers off?

[chris91]

Ill do that tonight and see. Was kinda hoping to keep the greenish glow so it'd match the HVAC controls but screw it, if it works Ill leave it.

[chris91]

Yeah so I finally got around to trying that since my tach came back from being repaired. I cant tell a difference. I did notice that the two gauges on the left are brighter than the rest though. The bulbs looked the same but possibly a different wattage? Dunno, I do know that they all are still too dim to read clearly at night.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d31/blown94ls/DSC00109.jpg

[mustangboy]

Wire the lights into your dimmer switch and that way you can turn them up and down. They should be no where near that dim.

[chris91]

They are and thats all the way up. The pic makes them a LITTLE bit darker but they are still too dim.

[bascom123]

sounds like to me you have a drain somewhere, check the voltage on the light with them turned all the way up. You should have at least 12V

[89notch]

They also sell an led conversion

[chris91]

Ive read that the LED lights do not really provide much more visibility in the autometer gauges. Ill have to run out and grab a multimeter, somehow mine grew legs and walked off...

[chris91]

Ok so I guess the fuse for the lights was ready to blow. I went out and picked up a multimeter tonight. Pulled out the wiring for the center gauges and I touched both wires together while fumbling for the multimeter. Pop, there went the fuse. Put a new one in and they are a lot brighter but still not enough. Kinda weird how the far left gauges are a lot brighter. They are perfect actually, now to just get the other ones like those... Should I go higher than a 5 amp fuse that the old gauges used or look elsewhere?

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d31/blown94ls/DSC00119.jpg

[Pitbull1052]

I've got a fix for you Chris....... just swap me clusters!!!!!!!! lol

[chris91]

Think Ill pass. lol

[redfirepearlgt]

Ok so I guess the fuse for the lights was ready to blow. I went out and picked up a multimeter tonight. Pulled out the wiring for the center gauges and I touched both wires together while fumbling for the multimeter. Pop, there went the fuse. Put a new one in and they are a lot brighter but still not enough. Kinda weird how the far left gauges are a lot brighter. They are perfect actually, now to just get the other ones like those... Should I go higher than a 5 amp fuse that the old gauges used or look elsewhere?

A higher fuse would not solve anything as far as illumination. It would only allow for more current draw if that be a concern. A couple of things electrically come to mind. First have you checked to make sure that the lightbulb holders are pushed in and locked in place correctly? Sounds stupid but if not in all the way the bulb may not be in far enough to allow lighting to illuminate properly. Second, are you using crimp connectors on your setup? If so poor connection at the crimp connectors can cause a load drop across the crimp points due to poor connection. Check and recrimp each wire on the lighting circuit. Replace crimps with terminal strips or other more solid termination device shere possible. Also make sure you are using 18 or 16 gauge wire.

Being that there are two gauges with respectable backlighting, I would also have you verify that the wiring to each gauge is landed in parallel, in other words each wire from each gauge is connected to a 12v+ source and each ground is to a ground source. If the gauge bulbs are wired in series this will cause a only twelve volts total to be split among the gauges. (4 - 12v bulbs in series with a 12 volt power source each bulb will only drop 3 volts across its filament. Rt = Ea/It). Check this.

Last, if all looks fine and you have electrically verified each lighted source then I would be going back to the distributor or Autometer and requesting replacements for those gauges.

I have Sport Comp series black face in my car (2/16" gauges) using incandescant bulbs. I have no back lighting issues at all. I made a terminal strip and wiring harness for my setup prior to the installation to ensure clean wiring and good connection. I used the green covers to match the dash lighting and though they are somwhat dim turned all the way up with 12.9 volts on them (car off) they are fully legible at night on the dash. You may have defective gauges in the end. Hope this helps.

See You at the cruise in.

[black90lx]

i would get led bulbs and put in there like 89notch said. i have never seen led bulbs not be brighter than regular bulbs.

[chris91]

Each bulb is seated correctly, I made sure of that when I pulled the green covering off. The wiring is not crimped with butt end connectors anywhere. Whoever wired this up did it correctly using adapters to each gauge. Ive also checked the voltage to each gauge and the lowest was 12.1 and that gauge was one of the bright ones. The grounds are good too. I doubt that Autometer will replace the gauges being they are from 97.lol Ive read that some of the older gauges came with a 161 bulb and some came with a 168 bulb. Im now thinking I have a mixture of bulbs in them. They are legible now after replacing the fuse, just the ones on the right are not bright enough to my liking. Im used to using the Phantom Series gauges and never had a problem with lighting on them. I emailed Autometer about the problem because I just had to send my tach in to get repaired and when it came back I noticed it was definitely more dim than my speedo and it wasnt that way when I sent it to them. I asked about their LED replacement bulbs too and the guy told me that with the Silver Faced gauges, the LED's dont help at all. Im just going to go buy some stock replacement bulbs for all of them and go from there. Thats the only thing left seeing how I tested everything else. :confused:

[redfirepearlgt]

Each bulb is seated correctly, I made sure of that when I pulled the green covering off. The wiring is not crimped with butt end connectors anywhere. Whoever wired this up did it correctly using adapters to each gauge. Ive also checked the voltage to each gauge and the lowest was 12.1 and that gauge was one of the bright ones. The grounds are good too. I doubt that Autometer will replace the gauges being they are from 97.lol Ive read that some of the older gauges came with a 161 bulb and some came with a 168 bulb. Im now thinking I have a mixture of bulbs in them. They are legible now after replacing the fuse, just the ones on the right are not bright enough to my liking. Im used to using the Phantom Series gauges and never had a problem with lighting on them. I emailed Autometer about the problem because I just had to send my tach in to get repaired and when it came back I noticed it was definitely more dim than my speedo and it wasnt that way when I sent it to them. I asked about their LED replacement bulbs too and the guy told me that with the Silver Faced gauges, the LED's dont help at all. Im just going to go buy some stock replacement bulbs for all of them and go from there. Thats the only thing left seeing how I tested everything else. :confused:

Yip the mixture of bulbs would explain it. Those may be standard base sockets and you could find a higher wattage bulb to put in there. Should n't be too hard to find. Might even getehem at radio shack as cheesy as that may sound.

[chris91]

Thats what Im thinking too. That can be the only thing left at this point really. The tach and speedo aren't the wedge style bulbs like the smaller gauges though. They are a one wire style. I can find the autometer replacements but not having any luck finding the model of them to try to just got to a local store and buying them. Here is the bulb they take. Guy at Autometer tried telling me they took the same wedge style bulb as the smaller gauges even after I told him about the differences.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Auto+Meter/105/2389/10002/-1

Dont really want to pay 14 bucks for 2 bulbs for what appears to be a damn flashlight bulb. lol I guess if I cant find the model Ill just take one out and bring it to radio shack or whatever store I end up going to to match them up. Thx for tryin to help!

[redfirepearlgt]

Thats what Im thinking too. That can be the only thing left at this point really. The tach and speedo aren't the wedge style bulbs like the smaller gauges though. They are a one wire style. I can find the autometer replacements but not having any luck finding the model of them to try to just got to a local store and buying them. Here is the bulb they take. Guy at Autometer tried telling me they took the same wedge style bulb as the smaller gauges even after I told him about the differences.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Auto+Meter/105/2389/10002/-1

Dont really want to pay 14 bucks for 2 bulbs for what appears to be a damn flashlight bulb. lol I guess if I cant find the model Ill just take one out and bring it to radio shack or whatever store I end up going to to match them up. Thx for tryin to help!

You should have no problem finding that "twist mount" at Radio Shack believe it or not. They should have a slew of 12 bulbs in that style. Also GE makes twist mount bulbs as well that you could likely source from a local hardware store. As far as the one wire bulb you mentioned, that clearly is a grounded mount config I am guessing. If you post up a pic of the one wire bulb someone can likely help you conceive an alternative. Post the mounting spot where the bulb holder goes on the back of the gauge in question as well. With a little duct tape and bailing wire we should be able to get those gauges lit up nicely at night LOL!! JKWU.

[chris91]

LOL

The one wire bulb is the one I linked to. It mounts directly to the body of the gauge. The way its grounded is a wire has a o ring connector on it going from one of the studs that is used to hold the gauge in a pod to the ground used for the rest. Here is the bulb holder for the one wire deal.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Auto-Meter/105/2359/10002/-1


Hmmmm. Just realized that the bulb is 6.99 a piece and the holder that comes WITH a bulb is only 2.99. Im thinkin there is a misprint there somewhere.

[redfirepearlgt]

You sure that bulb won't pull out of that one wire mount? It sure does look like a standard twist mount bulb in a single power wire bulb holder. Give a push in on that mount and a light twist slightly one way or the other and see if that bulb comes out. If not I bet you can source that exact same assembly through an electronics supplier warehouse along with bulbs in a higher wattage that will be much cheaper than the autometer price. Try this website. They have everything.

http://www.mouser.com/

[chris91]

Yeah it comes out. I was just showing ya how it mounts to the gauge.

[redfirepearlgt]

Cool. Now its just a matter of getting higher wattage bulbs. That's awesome. I thought the base was the ground source based on description. Post some pics after you get the higher energy bulbs in place. Hope to see it at teh fall cruise in.