Does anyone have a clue how, if at all, to disable the white gauge lights on the '05 Mustang? I put in white faced gauges, and the white illumination makes it so I can hardly see the numerals now. Totally defeats the purpose of why I wanted them in the first place! :bang:

 

I hear you on that. I think it's going to be a challenge. I want to say that the mustang uses some kind of LED lighting source for the gauge lights. So if you disable it you will not get the lights at night. Your best bet is probably to rig something up so they are allways on using mycolor. Maybe there is an aftermarket cluster out there. You might ask the people who sell the white faced gauges maybe they have a solution.

Jon

 

Excellent idea! There HAS to be a way to do it. I need the diagrams first before I even think about trying a mod. Of course, there goes the warranty. :bang: Hmmm. I wonder in my service tech buddy (who is extremely good with the Ford diagnostic/computer flash thingy) knows of a way.

 

Bummer... that just put me buying a set on the back burner.

 

why not just throw a little switchy in there and put it near the bottom of the dash so you can turn her on and off? Not sure if you would wnat to crack open the cluster though.

 

I'm thinking there has to be signal wire from the computer telling the cluster that the lights are OFF, so go ahead and use the white illumination. Now, if there was a way to disable that signal via cutting the wire without killing the cluster, that might be one route to take. Hmmmm.

 

I think your right. My guess would be that there is a wire going to the instrument cluster for illumination. I would use a multimeter to check the wires for voltage with the parking lights on and no voltage with the parking lights off. I would then wire the instrument cluster illumination feed to a key on feed. I would turn the brightness up all the way and see what the voltage is then only feed that much into the cluster. That way all your other lights work only when lights on, but the instrument cluster will be on all the time. Just a theory.

Jon

 

OK, you smart guys figure this one out! It bothers me, but not that much, as well. I would like to have mycolor blue on all the time (during day, with no lights on).

The white/white glare during the day is a bummer, but the color at night really glows. It's a totally differnt look. But the day time glare is something to think about..........

 

I think the stock black gauges are hard to read during the day, just too dark in there. One of the reasons for buying the NR auto overlay was to make them easier to read. And you are saying now it is harder to read?

Just ordered mine today.

 

I wonder if any of the roush guys have a problem with this

 

I wanted white faced gauges for the same reason. The black with white lettering was too hard to see during the day w/sunglass on. The NR white faced gauges, combined with the normal daytime white illumination, make in nearly impossible to see anything except the needles. The only time I can actually see the lettering is with the top down. I compared my Sport Tracs white gauges with the new NRs. The OEM gauges have actual black lettering, whereas the NR gauges lettering is transparent. I am extremely dissapointed in these gauges. Oh well, a $100.00 + bad learning experience. :bang: :angry:

 

I'm not really defending the NR gauges. I just think it's because the OEM lights behind the gauge stay on white. I'm not giving up on someone figuring out how to turn the white lights off.

I guess this is what we get for being the gunnie pigs.

 

I think if someone can figure out how to turn the white lights off during the day, it'll be much better.

 

Bump, any ideas?

 

Uhhh... no... I just torpedoed the idea of white gauges entirely...

 

TTT

I'm pretty sure all the Roush model's don't have IUP, which means green lights all the time?

There has to be a way to control this, if they are told to be white with the lights off, and whatever color you select with the lights on, this has to be a computer setting. Anyone have a number to an inside guy at Diablo or the XCal people? Surely it's just a field that can be modified.

On the plus side, it's a great excuse for a speeding ticket. "I couldn't tell how fast I was going officer, honest"

 

I asked a similar question earlier...

I want my gages to stay white, even with the lights on...

VERY RETRO...just like my old '68

 

I asked a similar question earlier...

I want my gages to stay white, even with the lights on...

VERY RETRO...just like my old '68

 

the gauge colors on the standard non-mycolor cluster are controlled by surface mount LED lights. there are 2 different colors of LEDs soldered to the cluster one set is white, and the other green. The Leds are most likely controlled by an IC and on a circuit which is activated digitally.

I have been trying to do the opposite (keep the white lights on at night) and have yet to find a simpler way than soldering new LEDs on to the board.

See the pictures below (I also have high resolution ones if there are any engineers that want to take a crack at this)

[attachmentid=43183]
[attachmentid=43182]

 

Oh man- thanks for posting that pic...I was wanting to pull mine to see if all the colors were there, or if they could be added, so an external controler could be attached...guess two colors is it. ya saved me from tearing apart my dashboard you should be able to read ohms from the leds to the connector- both should have a common side that will read same to one pin(ground maybe?) the other sides should read one way to one pin for wht/onepin for green(probably about a 2k ohm resistor on this side, but could be on the other/common...). I would think if both wires tied to the pin for color you wanted, that would be a single cut/splice job...but just guessing- be careful
I wouldnt mind disabling my white lights- not used to the car yet, and drove home once with lights off...never done that with a dark dash before...If youre ambitious, you could buy you some alternate colored leds from digikey.com, and a tweezer like iron to pull the SMT leds off (remember they are polarized) but that would be a bit of work...would make it unique though...if you swapped BOTH sets, you could blend the two thru two pots hidden under the dash somewhere to give you two thirds of the colorwheel to pick from...I was really hoping the pads for the third set existed in there...