Instrument Cluster LED Replacment

[TomB59]

Hello All,

 

After having a discussion regarding LED replacement in the instrument cluster, (search: Rev/Speedo Dial Illumination), I have written up a guide on LED replacement.

 

I hope someone finds it useful.

 

Tomasz

Instrument Cluster LED Replacment v1-1.pdf

[Breezy_Pete]

Nice guide, good work.

Having replaced some of these LEDs myself (and knowing someone who damaged pads/tracks on their board attempting it) I would just like to add that if you can get a friend with a second soldering iron to help, the removal of the old LEDs becomes very easy. You can then heat both solder joints simultaneously, one iron on each side. 

For anyone inexperienced in working with PCBs and surface mount components, I think this approach de-risks the process to a worthwhile extent.

[john999boy]

Nice job + I've moved it to the Guide's section. 

[nige8021]

Good write up, when I did mine at step 9 I put a dot of tippex on the PCB where the "Cut-off" corner was, this made it simple to align the new LED's before soldering, also I used a SMD hot-air soldering station, found it much easier than a normal soldering iron for removing and replacing

[ben329]

Very useful article,thanks I'm going to give it a go myself.

[Olib2]

Good instructions. I had no speedo dial leds. Ended up replacing leds for temp and fuel as well as revs/Speedo. Although I got different LEDs, they were still a little bright.

[Darrenm72]

If the earth cable is disconnected from the battery, will I need to re-enter the code for the stereo?

[Olib2]

As long as keys out no need to disconnect battery.

[davehutch]

Probably going to give this a try soon but a quick q about colour temp. The rapid electronics site lists 6500K as their coolest white of the three available. Is that too blue or too yellow?

Perfect write-up by the way, thanks so much

[TomB59]

It's hard to get an accurate colour display using an uncalibrated screen. However to give you an idea of coloir temp I've attached a chart.

 

I suppose its all down to personal preference,after all, nows the chance to make a change.

 

However, I would say that 6500K will look slightly blue in comparison to the cool white that Skoda tend to use.

 

I'm glad you found the write-up useful.

[davehutch]

I might go for the 5000K in that case. That will be slightly 'warmer' i.e. less blue.

Also, bluer temperatures appear slightly brighter. I'll let you know what th result looks like if I decide to go ahead with it.

Thanks again

Edited 12 November, 2018 by davehutch

[WFM]

15 hours ago, davehutch said:

I might go for the 5000K in that case. That will be slightly 'warmer' i.e. less blue.

Also, bluer temperatures appear slightly brighter. I'll let you know what th result looks like if I decide to go ahead with it.

Thanks again

 

Having done lots of work with LEDs and lighting in general I would caution you. Some 5000k LEDs can look very yellow indeed once behind a diffuser or clear plastic panels.

[davehutch]

What I’ll do later is take my SLR to the car at night and see what Kelvin white balance setting most closely resembles the white lighting. Should narrow it down a bit

[AndisAntans]

This is excellent, thank you for preparing this manual. I've got the same problem on my 2011 Octavia VRS. I don't have necessary tools or skills to do this by myself, but with a help of friend and guidance of your manual, I'm sure we can get this done.

Cheers, mate!

[davehutch]

OK, third one has gone now on the speedo side so have ordered the 5000K LEDs. Wish me luck everybody...I'm going in!

[Z-man]

I have this problem myself, but have no soldering skills really. Tempted to try to fix it though. Thanks @TomB59 for the great guide though! 

[Gogs06]

Cheers. your a good man thanks very much

[AMartinD]

If anyone doesn't want to have a go themselves at replacing the surface-mounted LEDs that illuminate the instrument cluster, then I can thoroughly and wholeheartedly recommend a small company called Totaltronics who can do it for you; they're located between Coventry and Rugby and will do the job speedily and efficiently.  Take a look at:

 

https://totaltronics.com/cat/skoda/

 

I recently had a partial failure of the illumination of the instrument cluster in my 11-plate Skoda Superb (Mk 2) Estate; the background illumination of the fuel gauge and the water temperature gauge had become intermittent.  I had arranged to take the car to Patryk at Totaltronics at 11:00am today; he removed the instrument cluster and replaced not only the one or two failing LEDs that illuminate the fuel and water temp gauges but he also replaced all the other 16 (or was it 18?) surface-mount LEDs that illuminate the entire cluster.  He then refitted the cluster to the car, all within about an hour while I waited.  The end result is excellent - all the instruments are now fully and clearly illuminated so I wonder if I'd previously suffered some other LED failures that weren't as apparent as the failures of the LEDs that illuminate the fuel and water temp gauges.

 

The cost of the work was £160 which might sound a bit steep but it's almost certainly an awful lot cheaper and more time-effective than buying a second-hand instrument cluster from some dubious source on the Internet and then trying to get it coded so that it'll operate fully and correctly in your car!

 

It's rare to find such competent and speedy service these days, so I can wholeheartedly recommend Totaltronics, especially Patryk's competency, diligence and sheer professionalism (and he's a very nice guy!).

 

--

Martin

 

PS - there was no need to disconnect the battery when removing or refitting the instrument cluster.

Edited 21 January, 2020 by AMartinD

[Gogs06]

Martin

thankyou for that, sounds like they are just the type of guys I could work with if I was a wee bit closer good information for others though 👍

[FeelTheTorque]

Fantastic guide thank you for providing this

[patchwork]

Great guide. Thanks for sharing your findings with the community!

[ARTIOMGREKOV]

Hello to All. Maybe someone can help me with my flickering led lights on my Skoda Fabia mk2 Monte Carlo with maxi dot dashboard? If anyone is able to repair it for me around Berkshire or London area? +44 7427 749695, Alexander 

[Joe9]

I carried out this fix recently. I ordered the LEDs from rapid like in the guide but they were very bright and not the same colour. 

In the end I replaced them with these https://www.ledperf.co.uk/led-dashboard-kit-for-skoda-octavia-2-1z-p-73.html (you can select just the white meter and instrument LEDs) 

The colour is pretty accurate and they are still slightly brighter but definitely bearable.  

Have plenty of flux on hand. Also, have some isopropyl alcohol to clean it up after ensuring you get rid of all little bits of loose solder in the unit. I missed some the first time I done it, this resulted in other dash  warning lights  flashing along with the indicator. I'm assuming some solder or flux was shorting out one of the pcb tracks. Once cleaned it all worked fine. 

 

[yetiman2]

Thanks for this guide.

 

£14 for solder iron kit and £3 for the LEDs.

 

Took less than 30 mins using this guide. thanks all. 

[superbdreams]

On 12/11/2018 at 16:23, TomB59 said:

It's hard to get an accurate colour display using an uncalibrated screen. However to give you an idea of coloir temp I've attached a chart.

 

I suppose its all down to personal preference,after all, nows the chance to make a change.

 

However, I would say that 6500K will look slightly blue in comparison to the cool white that Skoda tend to use.

 

I'm glad you found the write-up useful.

 

I have only ever seen 400k described as daylight white and personally agree with that, 2900k is orange/warm white light you get from incandescent bulbs for example.

I suspect the label against 4000k should say daylight not warm.?