6G Celicas Forums

For the longest time I always felt like that stock green gauge cluster was always light too dark and kind of hard to read at times, and just over all didn't look right at night. After a little bit of research, I realized that 168 bulbs are exactly the same size as the stock 194 bulbs that the cluster uses, but they are a higher wattage bulb, so i decided to buy a set and try them out. To my surprise, this totally fixed the problem! Now the gauge cluster is nice and bright and light up more evenly and makes the whole cluster look a lot better. It really feels like toyota should have used these bulbs from the get go, so I thought id pass this along in case it was an issue that bothered anyone else.

360 refractor type, inverted cone, or just one big LED??? Im the complete reverse, my needle is hella bright but the faces are kinda dim

This post has been edited by 808celica: Mar 21, 2010 - 11:36 PM

Im talking about regular light bulbs, not LEDs. The factory cluster comes with 194 bulbs that are a lower wattage. The 168 is the same bulb but higher wattage (brighter) and looks way better. This is for people who wish to keep the factory green color but wish it looked better.

Ooo LOL

yup this is true. the 168 and 194 share the same base but the 168 is brighter. I put 168s in my cluster i think.................... for the tip. Same thing applies for all applications of 194 where it could be brighter, like license plate, etc.

this is awesome information. Yay!!!!

pics !

I don't know how well this translates in a photo, but the gauge cluster is a lot brighter than stock. Sorry, no before shots to compare to.



This post has been edited by lagos: Mar 23, 2010 - 5:56 PM

so is there a difference between 168 leds and 194 leds? lol

I highly doubt it.

no, there is no difference. They make the LED's universal fit for 194/168 because the wedge base of the bulbs are identical.

that looks GREAT art.

^ thanks Manny!
I also picked up these bulbs at walmart for 2bucks a set, so its worth it to upgrade.
really wish toyota would have just used these stock, as they really look how the cluster should have looked from day one.

why dont just use white color.. it will be more bright than amber or green stock

I dont want to change the color. I wanted to keep the stock green but I wanted them to be brighter. Using the higher wattage bulb does this.

This post has been edited by lagos: Mar 26, 2010 - 8:09 AM

i'm not an electrical engineer or anything, but could the higher_than_spec current potentially hurt the electrical system??
i mean, if it works that's good, but does anyone know the tolerance of that fuse (which should be set to blow before a trace burns)?
or are the 168 bulbs just more efficient?

edit - punctuation

This post has been edited by Zimluura: Mar 27, 2010 - 12:10 PM

You've definitely got a good reason to be cautious; there's definitely a possibility to pull more current by using the 164s. That said, I highly doubt that it would cause any problems, unless you have something else that draws quite a bit of current from the same circuit.

I don't think there is a fuse for the night time illumination circuit, I've blown every single T10 LED bulb I've put in atleast twice. I've been considering rewiring the entire circuit back through an extra resistor and fuse

best type is not just a regular led but the ones that shoot in all sides of the bulb, Ive tried inverted and one big led, doesn't work, still spotty. I corrected my issue and brightness with these, they are also high intensity LEDs, there are so many different types of LEDs, directional, intensity for different applications.

V-LEDS

I picked up red 168s last night to help with my red painted gauge needles, and I gotta say, I absolutely love the result.

not the greatest picture at all, but it gives an idea