Darkside
Ready to race!
- Location
- Innsbruck, Austria
- Car(s)
- Golf V
Since some people seem to be interested, here's a DIY on changing your MkV's cluster to white (or any other colour you want).
Pics in this post mostly aren't my own. Please ignore how the cluster looks different all the time. FYI, I did everyting to my cluster. I have white digits, blue text, white MFA and blue needles.
I won't be held responsible if you fuck it up and damage your cluster, burn yourself with the soldering iron or if your car explodes. Do this only if you're confident you won't destroy anything.
What you're going to get
Time Required
If you have some soldering experience and have seen a cluster being taken apart: 30 minutes
Without any soldering experience: 2-3 hours
(It's really easy, ... anyone can do it.)
Tools
You need some good soldering tools for this one.
Parts
Parts for this DIY are really cheap.
This is the type of SMD LED I used. You can get them pretty much everywhere. I ordered 2 bags with 40 LEDs each (blue and white) for ~ 20$.
Size (L x W x H): 3.5 x 2.8 x 1.8 mm
Angle of Radiation: 120°
Type: 67-21UWC/S400-X9/TR8
IF: 20 mA
UF: 3.5 V
Casing: PLCC 2
Luminosity IV: 900 mcd
RoHS-compliant: Yes
Other types of LED might work (like HSMW-A100-T50J1). Only make sure you get 3.4V to 3.5V LEDs in a PLCC 2 casing with around 900 mcd.
Removing your cluster and taking it apart
1) Disconnect Battery, negative terminal first
2) Lower and fully extend steering wheel column - unlatch the steering wheel using the lever on the bottom and simply pull it towards you and down.
3) Pry out the cover under the cluster. It's clipped on both sides and attached on the leather strap. Make sure you don't tear the leather off.
4) You see two Torx screws in front of you and two Torx screws under the cluster in the back. Remove the two screws in the back, not the ones which were under the plastic/leather cover!
4) Rip the cluster out. Sounds strange, I know. You have to pull really hard but don't worry, the instrument cluster is rather sturdy, you can't break anything. There is no cable on the instrument cluster, as it's directly plugged into an attachment plug.
Remove the two Torx screws in the back of the cluster, then unlatch the clips on all sides to remove the front pane. I used matches to hold the clips open without breaking them.
After you have the cluster stripped bare to where you can touch the needles, use some masking tape to mark the exact position of all needles. Look down on the board in a 90° angle and stick the masking tape to both sides of the needles. This makes it a lot easier when you put everything back together.
Now you have to remove the needles. This is the tricky part: place the cluster on a flat surface. Hold the needle between your thumb and index finger and pull straight up. If the needle doesn't come loose, you can slowly rotate it counterclockwise while still pulling straight up. NEVER rotate the needle clockwise or you WILL damage the actuator.
Then carefully remove the numer dials and set them aside.
Pull out the white plastic cover and then remove the circuit board from the plastic casing.
Now, take a picture of the circuit board. I'm serious! If you solder the LEDs incorrectly, the picture will save your ass. Make sure the picture is sharp enough so you can see the little rounded corners of all the LEDs.
If it isn't sharp enough, print the picture and use a pencil to mark the rounded corners in the picture.
If you don't have a camera, use a magic marker to mark the rounded corner of the LEDs you're going to de-solder directly on the board.
Soldering Time
Now it's soldering time. You see a lot of LEDs on the circuit board in front of you. I marked them on the following picture so you have an easier time picking out the ones you need.
The PLCC2 LEDs come in strips like the one in the picture below. On the top side of the LED, you see a small rounded-off corner. This corner marks the direction in which the current flows.
You absolutely HAVE to solder in the new LEDs so they are facing in the same direction. If you have a LED backwards, it won't work. In addition, all kinds of nasty things can happen. The LED could overheat and melt. Besides, since the diode blocks all current going in the wrong direction, the adjactent LEDs also won't work.
I usually solder one LED at a time like this:
When desoldering a LED, hold it with a pair of tweezers and pull upwards. Apply the soldering iron first on one side, until the LED is loose. Pull it upwards about 45°, then desolder the other side.
If you have SMD (de)soldering tweezers, it gets a lot easier. Simply grab the LED with the tweezers so the tweezer tips touch the solder pads. Wait 1 or 2 seconds, then lift the LED up and immediately drop it so you don't accidentally melt it.
Soldering the new LED back on is pretty simple. Use your tweezers to hold it in place, warm the soldering tin first on one side, and place the LED on the tin. Then do the other side. Most of the time, the soldering tin residue on the board will be enough to hold the new LED in place, but you can also add a drop of your own soldering tin to make sure it doesn't come off.
Never heat the LED longer than 3 seconds per side or you will destroy it.
Once you're finished replacing all the LEDs, partially re-assemble the cluster: Put the circuit board back in the plastic case, and place the white plastic piece on the board. Then you can install it in your car to test whether all your LEDs work.
Make sure you don't put the cluster in the whole way, only far enough that the LEDs light up. Else you'll have a hard time getting it back out.
If all the LEDs work, you can assemble everything back together. If some LEDs don't work, they probably face in the wrong direction so you have desolder and resolder them correctly.
Putting it back together
Another tricky part. Here, you can actually permanently break your cluster. Remember, I'm not responsible if you fuck up!
If you tested the cluster in your car, take it apart again. Remove the white plastic and remove the circuit board. If you don't do this and assemble the cluster inside the plastic casing, you will most likely destroy your instrument cluster.
Place the circuit board on an even (and hard) surface. Place the white plastic cover on the board and clip the cluster dials back in.
Now comes the important part. Put the needles back on. Make sure the actuators are still placed on your even surface. Push the needle back on the pin. You can turn it counterclockwise to help push it back down on the pin. Again, NEVER TURN THE NEEDLE CLOCKWISE OR THE ACTUATOR WILL BE DAMAGED.
Also, don't push too hard and always make sure the actuators are on a flat surface. If the actuator breaks apart, that dial will simply stop working.
Once the needles are back on the instrument cluster, align each needle by turning it counterclockwise until it's between your two strips of masking tape. You might need to turn it a few times until you get it right.
Once the needles are positioned correctly, remove the masking tape with some tweezers. Place the circuit board with the needles back in the plastic case.
Use some compressed air and lens cleaner to get all the dust and fingerprints out of your cluster.
Clip everything back together and don't forget the two Torx screws on the back of the cluster.
Put the cluster back into your car, hold it back in place with the two Torx screws beneath it. Clip the leather cover back on and re-position your steering wheel column.
You're done!
Grab a cold one and... :drinking:
Pics in this post mostly aren't my own. Please ignore how the cluster looks different all the time. FYI, I did everyting to my cluster. I have white digits, blue text, white MFA and blue needles.
I won't be held responsible if you fuck it up and damage your cluster, burn yourself with the soldering iron or if your car explodes. Do this only if you're confident you won't destroy anything.
What you're going to get
Time Required
If you have some soldering experience and have seen a cluster being taken apart: 30 minutes
Without any soldering experience: 2-3 hours
(It's really easy, ... anyone can do it.)
Tools
You need some good soldering tools for this one.
- Torx Screwdriver
- Box of matches
- Compressed Air Helpful for cleaning. I got some in a can.
- Soldering Iron Obviously
- Soldering Tweezers You can go without them but if you don't know exactly what you're doing, I would get the tweezers.
- Soldering Tin 0.5mm
- Desoldering Wick
- Nail varnish remover only if you want to re-color your needles. I stole some nail varnish remover from my girlfriend. Any other varnish remover works just as well, of course.
- Camera I'm serious
Parts
Parts for this DIY are really cheap.
- 16 x white PLCC 2 SMD LEDs for the IC (see below)
- 6 x blue PLCC 2 SMD LEDs for the needles (see below)
This is the type of SMD LED I used. You can get them pretty much everywhere. I ordered 2 bags with 40 LEDs each (blue and white) for ~ 20$.
Size (L x W x H): 3.5 x 2.8 x 1.8 mm
Angle of Radiation: 120°
Type: 67-21UWC/S400-X9/TR8
IF: 20 mA
UF: 3.5 V
Casing: PLCC 2
Luminosity IV: 900 mcd
RoHS-compliant: Yes
Other types of LED might work (like HSMW-A100-T50J1). Only make sure you get 3.4V to 3.5V LEDs in a PLCC 2 casing with around 900 mcd.
Removing your cluster and taking it apart
1) Disconnect Battery, negative terminal first
2) Lower and fully extend steering wheel column - unlatch the steering wheel using the lever on the bottom and simply pull it towards you and down.
3) Pry out the cover under the cluster. It's clipped on both sides and attached on the leather strap. Make sure you don't tear the leather off.
4) You see two Torx screws in front of you and two Torx screws under the cluster in the back. Remove the two screws in the back, not the ones which were under the plastic/leather cover!
4) Rip the cluster out. Sounds strange, I know. You have to pull really hard but don't worry, the instrument cluster is rather sturdy, you can't break anything. There is no cable on the instrument cluster, as it's directly plugged into an attachment plug.
Remove the two Torx screws in the back of the cluster, then unlatch the clips on all sides to remove the front pane. I used matches to hold the clips open without breaking them.
After you have the cluster stripped bare to where you can touch the needles, use some masking tape to mark the exact position of all needles. Look down on the board in a 90° angle and stick the masking tape to both sides of the needles. This makes it a lot easier when you put everything back together.
Now you have to remove the needles. This is the tricky part: place the cluster on a flat surface. Hold the needle between your thumb and index finger and pull straight up. If the needle doesn't come loose, you can slowly rotate it counterclockwise while still pulling straight up. NEVER rotate the needle clockwise or you WILL damage the actuator.
Then carefully remove the numer dials and set them aside.
Pull out the white plastic cover and then remove the circuit board from the plastic casing.
Now, take a picture of the circuit board. I'm serious! If you solder the LEDs incorrectly, the picture will save your ass. Make sure the picture is sharp enough so you can see the little rounded corners of all the LEDs.
If it isn't sharp enough, print the picture and use a pencil to mark the rounded corners in the picture.
If you don't have a camera, use a magic marker to mark the rounded corner of the LEDs you're going to de-solder directly on the board.
Soldering Time
Now it's soldering time. You see a lot of LEDs on the circuit board in front of you. I marked them on the following picture so you have an easier time picking out the ones you need.
The PLCC2 LEDs come in strips like the one in the picture below. On the top side of the LED, you see a small rounded-off corner. This corner marks the direction in which the current flows.
You absolutely HAVE to solder in the new LEDs so they are facing in the same direction. If you have a LED backwards, it won't work. In addition, all kinds of nasty things can happen. The LED could overheat and melt. Besides, since the diode blocks all current going in the wrong direction, the adjactent LEDs also won't work.
I usually solder one LED at a time like this:
- Pick the LED you want to replace
- Check the direction in which the current flows through the LED by looking for the rounded-off corner.
- Carefully desolder the LED
- Solder the new LED in the same direction on the existing pads.
When desoldering a LED, hold it with a pair of tweezers and pull upwards. Apply the soldering iron first on one side, until the LED is loose. Pull it upwards about 45°, then desolder the other side.
If you have SMD (de)soldering tweezers, it gets a lot easier. Simply grab the LED with the tweezers so the tweezer tips touch the solder pads. Wait 1 or 2 seconds, then lift the LED up and immediately drop it so you don't accidentally melt it.
Soldering the new LED back on is pretty simple. Use your tweezers to hold it in place, warm the soldering tin first on one side, and place the LED on the tin. Then do the other side. Most of the time, the soldering tin residue on the board will be enough to hold the new LED in place, but you can also add a drop of your own soldering tin to make sure it doesn't come off.
Never heat the LED longer than 3 seconds per side or you will destroy it.
Once you're finished replacing all the LEDs, partially re-assemble the cluster: Put the circuit board back in the plastic case, and place the white plastic piece on the board. Then you can install it in your car to test whether all your LEDs work.
Make sure you don't put the cluster in the whole way, only far enough that the LEDs light up. Else you'll have a hard time getting it back out.
If all the LEDs work, you can assemble everything back together. If some LEDs don't work, they probably face in the wrong direction so you have desolder and resolder them correctly.
Putting it back together
Another tricky part. Here, you can actually permanently break your cluster. Remember, I'm not responsible if you fuck up!
If you tested the cluster in your car, take it apart again. Remove the white plastic and remove the circuit board. If you don't do this and assemble the cluster inside the plastic casing, you will most likely destroy your instrument cluster.
Place the circuit board on an even (and hard) surface. Place the white plastic cover on the board and clip the cluster dials back in.
Now comes the important part. Put the needles back on. Make sure the actuators are still placed on your even surface. Push the needle back on the pin. You can turn it counterclockwise to help push it back down on the pin. Again, NEVER TURN THE NEEDLE CLOCKWISE OR THE ACTUATOR WILL BE DAMAGED.
Also, don't push too hard and always make sure the actuators are on a flat surface. If the actuator breaks apart, that dial will simply stop working.
Once the needles are back on the instrument cluster, align each needle by turning it counterclockwise until it's between your two strips of masking tape. You might need to turn it a few times until you get it right.
Once the needles are positioned correctly, remove the masking tape with some tweezers. Place the circuit board with the needles back in the plastic case.
Use some compressed air and lens cleaner to get all the dust and fingerprints out of your cluster.
Clip everything back together and don't forget the two Torx screws on the back of the cluster.
Put the cluster back into your car, hold it back in place with the two Torx screws beneath it. Clip the leather cover back on and re-position your steering wheel column.
You're done!
Grab a cold one and... :drinking:
Last edited:
