How To Change Speedo Illumination Lights

okay, this is for the people who want to change their speedo lights to colour code with other lights!!

Required items:
25watt or less soldering iron
21 plcc-2 LEDs
Tweezers / small needle nose pliers
Multimeter / low voltage battery and wire

Firstly start off by removing the lower part of the dash in the drivers' foot well where the storage compartment is. (Held in with 5 Phillips head screws and 1 clip)

Then around the base of the Speedo there is a 'U' shaped piece of plastic that is held in place by a clip on the left hand side and a screw on the right, remove this and unclip the rubber sheet that is clipped into it.

Next remove the Speedo mounting screws (2 on the bottom)

Now you need to reach in behind the dash from in the drivers foot well and push the Speedo out from behind, you can only do this on the right hand side, push it out enough to get your finger in from the front, Once you've made a large enough gap stick your finger in and pull the Speedo out, it's held in with small clips that grip the dash so it needs a bit of force.

With the Speedo unit out you need to remove the black shroud which is held on with multiple clips. (shown by the black strips on the back ot the speedo, 7 in total)

With the shroud off you need to remove the needles, firstly mark the position of the needle when it is fully turned to the start of its rotation
fully turned to the start of the needles movement

marked on the dial face

then simply twist the needle past the end of its movement and pull it off.

With the needles removed you can now remove the dial face, this is held on with multiple clips
clip in middle of dial face and top edge

Next part to remove is the white plastic (held on with clips) and the LCD screen (plugs into PCB) to gain better access to the LEDs.
2 of the multiple clips

outer edge of leds to be replaced

lcd screen

Simply replace the LEDs with your new colour

The dials use 5 LEDs each
The gauges use 1 each
And the LCD screen uses 9
That's 21 in total

Note: the LEDs for the dials are not plcc-2 but can be replaced with plcc-2

Ensure you connect the LEDs correctly; the plcc-2 LED's have a notch out of one corner and the other type already on the Speedo have one side with a coloured stripe. You this indicates the negative pole.

When removing the existing LEDs heat up one side and use the tweezers to lift that side away from the PCB, then heat up the opposite side and remove.

When soldering the new LEDs you may need to add a small amount of solder to the PCB seats, solder the LEDs on one side at a time, don't take too long soldering the LEDs in to place as they will heat up a great deal and reduce their life dramatically.

Once all the LEDs are in test them in the car to ensure they all light up and that you haven't missed any, when you're happy rebuild the Speedo ensuring you line up the needles to the original mark.

Job done.

picture of finished article