Cluster Board LED Swap DIY

[red4life5]

With a lot of positive review of this picture I made DIY on how to do it. I can say it has changed how much I love my car for the better.


Following how to take your gauge cluster out, in the A5 Cluster Swap DIY by Avantagg you get to here:


I am not responsible for any damage you do to your car*
Tips: Give time to let your soldering iron get hot and leave it on.
Use the brass brush to wipe solder off your iron after each attempt. This will make life easier and keep your iron clean. (You brush it off while your iron is on and got)


Here are the things I needed:
Rosin core solder
Fine tip soldering iron
Brass brush
T10
T8
6 LED PLCC-2s (get more in case)



First, take out the screws in the back. You will need a T10 and a T8 for this. I didn't have a T8 so I went down to orielly and they had a set for $15 that included that.



There are 4 tab to lift up to separate the black backing from the circuit board



You will be here (your DIS screen just unplugs)



There are 4 white tabs to press back to separate the white plastic from the circuit board



Here we are:


For the needles there are 6 LEDs, they are all right next to the needle shaft. Pretty easy to find. I can get the best clarity on the is LED so I will use it. (This is not a needle shaft LED, example only). The two strips of solder (metal) on each side of it need to come off by pressing the soldering iron to them and melting them. Do each side evenly and be careful. Once it's close to coming off if you apply lots of pressure it will fly off and your iron will scrape across the circuit board





Now that you have the LED off. Flatten out the solder points with your iron.


Prep the surface by flattening out some drops of solder on each solder point


This is where you will need two people:
1. One person holds the LED in place between both points. I used the flat edge of tweezers to do this
2. The other person solders them on. Heat up the solder that is on the board you prepped; then add some more connecting the LED to the board again
(I did not have two people since this was an example, photos are for reference)




The solder won't ever look "factory" which is fine. You won't see it ever again. The above picture looks poor because I was holding the camera while trying to solder. You won't melt your board and your solder points will look much better than that.

Once all 6 LEDs are soldered in put the white and black plastic on. Plug it into your car and turn it to on and check if they all work. This might seem scary but it really isn't. As long as you have solder connecting the LED to the solder points in the circuit board it will work great.

The ones I used were Cool White 600McD
I bought 10 and only used 6. Combined with shipping it was around $10 for 10. I used this website to buy them:
https://www.oznium.com/plcc-2#tech



The pictures make them look blue but they aren't. Just LED white. I like the A5 cluster because it closes around the chrome gauge ring and reflects the LED light making it seem like the chrome rings light up. You can see from the above photo what I mean.

Good luck, and;
Happy Modding!

Extra: I found that aligning your needles up is hard. Your center two are easy because you know when they start and stop. You should have a full tank, and warm engine to calibrate the other two. Your gas gauge is finicky. I thought I was adjusted mine right. It was full, I took it in a test drive to come out in the morning and it read less than empty... be sure it's holding its position before you put your cluster back in. For me I kept it plugged in and took the front cover off. I adjusted it and put it back on with only the front two screws holding t in. The back screws I left out and have had no issues; if you're struggling that might work for you. Try your best to be careful and not scratch the VW soft touch enamel that is around the key slot, top steering wheel, and bottom cluster holder.



2010 A4 S-Line Prestige

[SleeperCar]

Sweet mod.... way beyond my comfort level.... I'd rather put a new turbo in then do this lol

[red4life5]

In terms of time I would much rather do this, cost too.

[keiffr]

Awesome write-up. I give you props for doing this! It definitely separates your car from the rest!

[Marko S]

I love the look. Still unsure how to adjust the needles. Shouldnt they all be put back to the bottom ie. Starting position so that when you start the car the move up?

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[avantagg]

Nice write-up! Props for tackling this one.


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[red4life5]

I love the look. Still unsure how to adjust the needles. Shouldnt they all be put back to the bottom ie. Starting position so that when you start the car the move up?

Sent from my SM-G925W8 using Tapatalk

For the center gauges you feel the points where it sets and you put them to the bottom. The other two don't rest right at the bottom so it's easier to put it to the top


2010 A4 S-Line Prestige

[red4life5]

Nice write-up! Props for tackling this one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you! You made it possible


2010 A4 S-Line Prestige

[JettaGetUpandGo]

Decided to bite the bullet and test this out on the spare S4 cluster I have. I could melt the solder on one pad but never the other regardless of the temperature setting. Finally I realized one side of the tip is hotter than the other and it got much easier. Thanks Radio Shack...

The link from Oznium (https://www.oznium.com/plcc-2) states the polarity is different on the red LEDs compared to the rest with respect to the notch in the corner. Did you have to install your new white LEDs with the corner facing in the opposite direction than the OEM red? Wondering if this applies to PLCC-2 LEDs across the board or just the ones Oznium sells.

[red4life5]

Decided to bite the bullet and test this out on the spare S4 cluster I have. I could melt the solder on one pad but never the other regardless of the temperature setting. Finally I realized one side of the tip is hotter than the other and it got much easier. Thanks Radio Shack...

The link from Oznium (https://www.oznium.com/plcc-2) states the polarity is different on the red LEDs compared to the rest with respect to the notch in the corner. Did you have to install your new white LEDs with the corner facing in the opposite direction than the OEM red? Wondering if this applies to PLCC-2 LEDs across the board or just the ones Oznium sells.

Sorry! I didn't get the notification until now. I installed mine with the corner facing the same way as the one I took out. Be sure to post pictures!


2010 A4 S-Line Prestige

[JettaGetUpandGo]

Sorry! I didn't get the notification until now. I installed mine with the corner facing the same way as the one I took out. Be sure to post pictures!

No worries. I had the thought of using my multimeter to test the polarity of the diode, but it doesn't fall into the range that the multimeter can test. $20 Radio Shack special that's served me well for everything else I've needed it for over the past 15 years. Oh well.

I pulled the rest of the white LEDs off the S4 cluster tonight. Need to finish up suspension wiring over the next few days and will likely tackle the cluster this weekend.

[JettaGetUpandGo]

Finally got around to doing this after buying a new multimeter capable of testing the LEDs.

The temp gauge and one of the LEDs at the speedometer are dimmer than the others. They measured ~1.7V on the board but ~2.6V off the board. A number of the LEDs I pulled off the S4 board didn't work at all when tested. There were no signs of damage. The metal contact points weren't bent or disfigured. Maybe the heat was too high?

When I went out to the car tonight the temp gauge and one of the LEDs at the spedometer were out. I think I will try this again with the LEDs that you used. Maybe using new instead of used LEDs will help.

Overall I really like them. No more pink needles during the daytime!

[red4life5]

Finally got around to doing this after buying a new multimeter capable of testing the LEDs.

The temp gauge and one of the LEDs at the speedometer are dimmer than the others. They measured ~1.7V on the board but ~2.6V off the board. A number of the LEDs I pulled off the S4 board didn't work at all when tested. There were no signs of damage. The metal contact points weren't bent or disfigured. Maybe the heat was too high?

When I went out to the car tonight the temp gauge and one of the LEDs at the spedometer were out. I think I will try this again with the LEDs that you used. Maybe using new instead of used LEDs will help.

Overall I really like them. No more pink needles during the daytime!

Looks good! Glad you were able to tackle the project!


2010 A4 S-Line Prestige

[JettaGetUpandGo]

Looks good! Glad you were able to tackle the project!

Thanks! I tried this again with the LEDs from Oznium and they are unfortunately way too blue for me compared to the rest of the cluster LEDs. I may keep searching to find another alternative. If only I knew who made the factory LEDs. There's a number on them, but I can't read it even with a magnifying glass.

[JettaGetUpandGo]

I'm not proud of/happy with the method, but the result is perfect:



I had a couple of different lighting filter sample books from my high school theater days. They've come in handy a few times over the years. It took a while to find the best match, but this was it. Only 35% of the light comes through which is fine. The needles were blinding before:



I cut film to cover the face of the LED and held it in place with a small dot of hot glue at the top and bottom. It thought about clear tape, but that could peel off over time. The glue is 100% reversible:



Finding LEDs that were a perfect match would have been preferred. Using what was available this was the best possible outcome.

This is one of the original LEDs. Even with a digital microscope I couldn't quite get a good picture. It looks like like it says "2CCW" however researching that has come up empty at this point: