6G Celicas Forums

Hey everyone

A few weeks back I installed a SpreeLED kit in blue into my guage cluster. Recently, I have found that the RPM gauge's needle has been flickering after running the car with the lights on for about 10 minutes. Then again today, after a run to the servo, the speedometer started flickering too. I have no idea what's going on or how to fix it, so if anyone has had the same problem or knows what's wrong, would you please be able to chime in and help me out? It's not that big of a deal, but I have no doubt it would be distracting at night.

Cheers and God bless,
Ben

its due to a poor connection between contacts, eventually it will cause a buildup of copper corrosion.

the bulbs already stuffed, youll need to replace the bulbs, clean the contacts, the corrosion could go far up the lighting loom too

unfortunately most T10 replacement led bulbs dont sit well in the socket, another thing with LEDs is that they can be sensitive to voltage spikes in the system

That really sucks. Thanks anyway mate

Contact Spree, he may or may not send you another set, worth a shot.
Also he can help you get rid of your problem so it does not occur again in the near future.

I've had flickering LEDs before. I think it was with a 5-LED matrix. sometimes's there are just manufacturing defects in the LED fabrication, the more complex the fabrication, the more chance of defect. I'd just replace that one and see if that fixes you up.

worst one i had was an LED cook itself in my gauge-cluster, transformed into an SED (smoke emitting diode), _bad_ smell, 1/3 of the cluster goes dim. cluster was perfectly fine, replaced LED. all good.

I've also had this issue with my blue LED's from Spree, i took them out to find they all had burnt out LED's. I am replacing them with white ones anyways.

If you go with white bulbs you will have dark spots and you will have to sand down the back of the cluster or you will have a greenish color added from the transparent part.

I actually did that already although i didn't want to remove the needles so i cut the faces to avoid having to calibrate. Won't find the cuts unless you inspect closely, also replaced the double sided tape with stronger tape but with a pull tab for easy removal. On top of that i replaced ALL bulbs with white LED's.

As for the issue, i agree, talk to Spree and see if he can do anything about it. Not necessarily his fault but i would think his supplier would warranty the product to an extent.

Thanks guys, been trying to contact him but he must be busy. I've sort of gotten used to the flicker now

The LEDs are very sensitive to voltage spikes, also, I have found the resistors are a weak point too.
They get too hot and burn out, I lose my license plate LEDs every time the temperature gets to 30+C
My dash cluster is also flickering, can't be stuffed to fix it ATM cause it's so hot here hahaha

There is also a technique to installing the LEDs into the cluster, remove the plastic shroud and use the OEM twist in socket to keep the LED in place. Just be careful you do not touch the contacts causing a short

Try not to start the car with the LEDs on aswell, the voltage peak can kill them (again speaking from experience)

There is no voltage peak when you start the car, it drops down to around 11 volts depending on your battery.
While the car is running and the alternator is charging it goes up to 14 volts. That might be the cause of them going out or flickering.

I haven't had any problems with my LED strips I have installed in the gauge cluster, headliner lamp and license plate lights.

I do have a flickering problem with the parking light LED bulbs installed in my headlights.

The strips do not suffer as the 'bulbs' do, the resistors are not covered by the plastic sheath, I have strips too and have had no problems what so ever.