LED Gauge Cluster Gen III
From Taurus Car Club Maintenance and Modification Wiki
The type of bulb I used was 6WLED 194 style bulbs for illumination and #74 single LED bulbs for the indicator lights. You will need 5 of the 194 style and 11 for the indicator lights. If replacing the indicator lights, it's best to get the specific colors for each indicator lights. (ie: green for cruise, turnssignals, blue for highbeam, red for brake, oil, batter, etc.)
Tools needed:
7mm nut driver. Phillips screwdriver. Pliers (not necessary, but will make removal of bulbs much easier on the fingers) Stereo removal tools. (you'll notice I used small allan keys instead. Works fine if you have patience.)
First before touching anything disconnect the negative cable off of the battery to prevent any kind of shorts. Now you can start with the project.
First you'll have to remove the factory radio/heater unit. Or for those you have an aftermarket stereo like myself, you'll have to remove the dash kit. Either way, removal is the same. Using the stereo removal tools, place one in each of the four holes in the unit. The stereo/dash kit should now pop out. (This may take patience, it does not always come easy. Takes some playing around with.)
Once the stereo unit is removed, you will see four small black bolts/screws.
Remove them using the 7mm nut driver. Once the four screw are removed, the trim panel will pop off. There are two clips that hold it to the dash, next to the steering colum. Make sure you pull straight back, that way you prevent braking the clips. On the other side of the steering colum the trim piece holding the headlight switch will also need to be removed. This is very easy, just use something dull and flat to pry it from the dash. Clips are all that holds it to the dash no screws.
Once those are removed you will be able to remove the four screws that hold the large black bezel that holds the heater vents. Again using the 7mm nut driver you can remove the screws.
To make getting the black bezel easier, you'll have to lower the steering colum as low as you can and also place the shifter in the "1" position. Once you have that removed you will have to remove the steering colum cover. This has to be done to unhook the shift indicator cable from the shifter. To do this remove the three screws from the underside of the steering colum. The top cover can now be removed. The lower one cannot be removed unless the tumbler for the ignition key is removed.
Should you need to remove the tumbler, turn the key to the run position. Take something narrow and long, I used an allan key. You will see a small hole next to a screw hole. Stick the allan key through that hole to push a pin, and then pull on the tumbler.
Once that is all done, then you can remove the shift indicator cable. To do this, just remove the loop from the shifter linkage. Then turn the little black dial counter-clockwise until the cable falls from the bottom. To install just turn clock-wise.
From there you can continue on removing the cluster. Remove the four brass larger gold screws that are holding the gauge assembly in the dash. Once those are removed turn the gauge assembly sideways, being careful no to pull the wires too hard, and unplug the two harnesses on the back.
Now you can remove the gauge assembly and replace your bulbs with the LED's. This is where the pliers come in. I found it easier on the hands to use pliers to gently turn the bulbs. They only need to be turned slightly, then pulled straight out to remove them. The large black sockets are for the illumination bulbs, the little beige ones are for the indicators. All bulbs are marked on the circuit board. Therefore I will not label the bulbs.
Installation is the reversal of these steps. Once all back together your results should look like this.
Bright setting:
Dim setting:
Other pics:
