Dealer Installed Stewart Warner Gauges too dim

[mini_racer]

I have the dealer installed steering column gauges. They are Stewart Warner Volt and Boost. The problem is that they are illuminated too dim as compared to the other gauges. I popped the 'bulb' out of one of them and it is a tiny circuit board with about 4 tiny LEDs on it. It looks cool as a 'bulb', but does not function well (i.e. too dim).
What is the common fix for this situation?
Can I just replace with a standard bulb?
What bulb would work best?

Thanks for any help.

[Yo'sDad]

I have the same set up. I also decided they were too dim, especially when you turn the dash lights down about half way... the guage lights get dimmer faster than all the rest of the dash lights.

I tried red 194s

I tried white or clear 194s with the little rubber condom thing pushed over the bulb... Autozone, works pretty well.

I talked to Stewart Warner and one of the tech guys told me to change out the resistors on each circuit board. Each bulb equivalent has four separate LEDs which have a resistor for each one.... Those are the tiny black things on the circuit board labeled 240... that would be 240 ohms.

He suggested changing them to 200 ohm resistors. He also gave me a source. They were like $1 each or something like that and there was a min. order so I ordered a stirp of ten 200s, 180s and 150s. I tried them all, the lower resistance makes the LEDs brighter. I stopped with the 150s, which made them brighter but not perfect, but much better. If you are interested, and can micro-solder, or maybe mini-solder (solder small surface mount components) then PM me and I'll send you the poop about where to order.

OH yea, I had to grind away some of the black plastic housing behind the right gauge so it wouldn't rub the dash panel and also let the steering wheel swing all the way up easily.... easily done.

YD

[COR BLMY]

My son has the same gauges in his truck (no ... not boost)
He had the same issue.
He ended up by adding a 194 socket and bulb by drilling a hole in the back of the housing and wiring it to the same dimmer controled wire.

They now work great

[mini_racer]

Thanks for the responses.
I like the change the resistor per LED method. this way you get to keep the LEDs, their even illumination and long life.
My email in to Stewart Warner is still waiting for a response. They should just ship us replacements with the 'proper' resistors values.
Since I can solder I guess I can handle it though. Once I find those
ressitors. You are correct at 3mm X 1.5mm, those guys are tiny, it is almost micro soldering.

Thanks again.

[mini_racer]

Oh, and the next question.
Anyone know where to get some chrome trim rings for these 2 gauges? I never see them specifically listed in some of the sets out there I see on sale, but if they are a standard size then I guess it doesn't matter if they are specifically listed or not...it would fit.

Thanks.......

[Yo'sDad]

Remember that 194s fit the same socket if you want to try those first. The clear 194s with the red condoms were pretty close.

YD

[Mr. Pep'r]

Originally Posted by mini_racer

My email in to Stewart Warner is still waiting for a response. They should just ship us replacements with the 'proper' resistors values.

Considering the price of the kit one would think they would have fixed the problem instead of just passing it along. I agree the "proper" board should have been included with the kit.

I was not at all impressed with the quality of the Stewart Warner gauge and replaced our with AutoMeter Pro-Comp Ultra Lites. If you change out the gauge the light socket will also need to be changed, they do not have the same pattern. No, the AutoMeters are not that much brighter. I am going to check with AutoMeter, they also have LED lights. I am also thinking about changing out the gauge holder. I had it painted to match the gray but now it is chipping and the texture does not match the lower steering column. :impatient Basically the only thing from this $300 kit that I like is the wire harness which you can not purchase by itself!

Sorry for the rant. Just not a big fan of this Mod.

[mini_racer]

Well, Stewart Warner finally came through with some options, but none were of any real value, except having some spares. In all they sent me 6 clear #194 bulbs (too white), 2 exactly as original orange LED boards (i.e. the spares, and still too dim), and 2 white LED boards (also with the incorrect resistors, and also too white.
So, in the end, the only viable option was to go through the tedious soldering job of replacing the 240ohm resistors with 150ohm resistors, as suggested by YD (BTW, thanks for the help). This is a bit tedious as they are 1.5mm X 3mm. Once done, the color and illumination is pretty damn close to the factory gauges. It is too bad the needles are not illuminated as the factory gauges though.
After I brought it up Stewart Warner mentioned they are considering some resistor changes, but were still trying to determine the proper value, and did not have a release date. I also inquired about some chrome trim rings, something they are considering with no production date.
So, these gauges are finally acceptable, but certainly not perfect. They are just not close enough to factory, something I expected as a dealer installed item.

[MarioKart]

The best combo I have found it oranage 194's with Red Condoms even Red 194's with Red condoms. The double red might be the best because the color will fad bit causing them to match the OEM gauges perfect. You will notice the volt gauges always seems brighter. This is about a $10 mod and takes about 3 minutes to do. for me I have only been able to find the Red condoms at PEP BOYS in the rice sections.
M

[mini_racer]

I will have to try the 194s, after further nighttime review the resistor change is still not good enough. And yes, the Volt gauge is brighter.
Since I have a few spares of the LED boards now, I may change the 150 ohM to 1 step lower for the Volt gauge, and 2 steps lower for the Boost gauge, when I get a chance.
Also, PM me about your wheels, I like that size. Issues, pics, traction increases, etc.

[mistro]

I'm not sure what the problem is. I installed a SW Boost Gauge. It is as bright as all the other gauges... It lights up just like the other gauges. I painted the bulb orange with a marker. I'd like it a bit more orangish but it is not bad. SW sells a replacement paintable ring. I bought that and painted it chrome. There were 2 in the package I need to do a better job on the second one because the first one looks chrome but I cannot see my relection. All in all, I'm very pleased.

[Mr. Pep'r]

Originally Posted by mistro

I'm not sure what the problem is. I installed a SW Boost Gauge. It is as bright as all the other gauges... It lights up just like the other gauges. I painted the bulb orange with a marker. I'd like it a bit more orangish but it is not bad.

The kit we have came with the LED lights and it is something you can not paint. It is a mini circuit board that makes the light and the color.

It sounds like you have the gauges that came with actual light bulbs.

[mini_racer]

As MarioKart mentions the Volt gauge is brighter given the same lumens in the gauge. As my latest set of resistors just came in from Digi-Key (thanks for the tip Yo'sDad), I now have 150ohm resistors on the Volt meter LED circuit board, and 100ohm resistors on the Boost gauge LED board. So far this looks pretty good, the illumination looks relatively even and just slightly dimmer than the tach. I need to give it a few more night time driving checks for the final determination though. BTW, the LED circuit board has 4 orange LEDs on it and the color match is perfect, so if I can make this work it will give the best overall appearance.
Paintable replacement rings sounds like an option I will have to explore.

[GrFa]

I too have the same guages and just don't look at them at night because of the dimness. I also keep my dash/interior lights on as dim as possible. Has anyone hooked up the SW gauges to a regular gauge illumination/non-dimming wire which would put them at I assume full bright all the time?

[SpeedyV]

Originally Posted by mini_racer

As my latest set of resistors just came in from Digi-Key (thanks for the tip Yo'sDad), I now have 150ohm resistors on the Volt meter LED circuit board, and 100ohm resistors on the Boost gauge LED board. So far this looks pretty good, the illumination looks relatively even and just slightly dimmer than the tach. I need to give it a few more night time driving checks for the final determination though.

mini_racer, how did this work out for you? I'd like to boost the illumination on those gauges a bit (especially the boost), and it sounds like you have a good solution.

[BGA]

I too have the dealer available S aux gauges (boost and volts mounted on either side of the tach). I think a big part of the illumination problem is that they DO NOT have illuminated needles ~ like the rest of the stock gauges. The needles are a darker tint of orange than the stock units and are very easy to see during the day - but really tough to see at night due to poor contrast with the orange lighting and .... because the needles are not illuminated. I ended up switching to SWP blue LEDs ~ now I can see the needles OK at night and have a little variety with the dash light colors. But obviously they do not match the rest of the dash illumination.

[Yo'sDad]

I improved my SW voltmeter and boost gauge illumination significantly. I just hardwired the LEDs with the SW gauges to come on full 12V when I turn on the instrument lights. They don't dim anymore, but I don't want them to. They match much better now no matter how I set the dimmer for the rest of them. I usually run with the main instrument lights on dim anyway.

YD

[tlr1000]

Sorry for dusting the cobwebs off this thread. Is it possible to simply short the resistors by soldering a short jumper wire? That way there's no resistor at all. Since volt meter is brighter, maybe only short 2 of the leds for that gauge so two come on with resistance and two are full bright.