Yes, another thread regarding dim dash lights. We all suffer with dim dash lights, well, at least the older 308 owners do. The fix some folks try is the same as used to upgrade the older British cars - higher wattage bulbs. That solution works but the problem is heat. Run those big bulbs long enough and you'll melt your gauges - or at a minimum, warp something inside from the heat. Therefore, I am going to address that problem. Today, there are a number of cheap and bright white LEDs available, even at Radio Shack. I hope to fabricate some new lamps for my 308 using the original lamp bases but with new LED and voltage dropping resistors. No, the dimmer will probably not work right but the gauges will be visible and as LEDs produce only a tiny fraction of the heat, the gauges will be bright AND stay cool. One could even go for bling-content and change LED colors to suite one's mood. My mood is always bland so white LEDs will do the trick. As incandescent bulbs are quite yellow in color temperature, the white LEDs should produce a really clean and crisp look to the dash at night, bringing out the blue accents of the gauge hands, etc.. I'll post results once I have them. Right now I need to get some door work done... rick / '79 308GTB #28133
Rick, My 84 308 QV is also very dim I was thinking about going to a higher wattage bulb but I think I like your idea about the LED. Please keep us posted as to how and what led you're going to use. Thaks. Mike
There goes another excuse "Honest officer, look for yourself. I have no idea how fast I was going. Can you see this dang Italian guage?" Do look a couple of threads ago, someone did post a link which seemed to show new LED mounts on the old bases.
I do tend to type before search. That's almost like surgery before diagnosis. Thanks for the reminder.
you guys need to bypass the rheostat altogether. and install the Sylvania bulbs. add the jumper wire and you are done. i have done this on 4 308s with NO ISSUES at all, and have nice, crisp night time lights. i did a thread on this with pics in either Tech Q&A or the 308 section about 2 years ago. let me know if i can be of help, but dont overcomplicate things and make more work for yourselves! THECARREAPER
I would love to see the pictures and step by step. I just bought my first 308, and since my eyes are the best at night already, it would be really great to upgrade! I'll try the search from a few years ago, but if you can get them posted again, that would be great!
I put Birdman's fuse blocks in my car and that helped the dash light issue quite a bit. I still have to have a look at the tack, but the others are bright. My dimmer still works too. The dimmer switch feels like it needs work too. I'll probably by pass it later. Bob Wassam
You don't need higher wattage bulbs. You just need to replace them with the same type. Car dash bulbs get dim with age; it's just how they are. Especially 1970's vintage bulbs! My '72 was so dim you could bearly see them; just swapping them out made all the difference. Modern dash lights don't have this problem. Ken
Did the bulb updating and dimmer bypass on my 328. Better, but still a long way from ideal. I think this is just a "best possible" situation. The center instruments are reasonably well lit now, but the speedo & tach remain pretty dim. However the tach is somewhat easier to see than the speedo, so I have become accustomed to noting the tach speed at various gears/speeds, and using that as a glance-read.
I did the lamp upgrade and the gauges are reasonably well lit, I have NOT done the dimmer bypass yet, as I didn't think I needed it. (85'qv) Image Unavailable, Please Login
Agreed, although I did a double take on the oil pressure! My gauge reads " 6 " in the middle, not " 85 "! LOL! And I like the high mileage. Keep driving it! Rick '79 308GTB with 80k kilometers ...and climbing
All incandescent filaments deteriorate with age..... They are supposed to be dim, so as not to detract from exterior view! You can tell, I hate to work on things???
That they do! Don't we all? I agree. I've always turned down the rheostat on all cars I've owned so as not to be distracted by a brightly lit dash panel. Really?
Guy's Did you ever have the time to read the manual? If your answers is NOT... Here you have it! INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHTING "... When the position lights are lit, the instrument panel lighting brightness can be changed. If the button (R) is pressed for less than 2 seconds, the icon (U) will apear on the multi-function display. When the button (T) is pressed, it is possible to adjust the instrument panel lighting brightness within a range varying from 0/30. After 10 seconds of inactivity, of if the button is pressed, the multi-function display will return to its original setting..." IT WORKS GUY'S!
I also replaced the old bulbs with new on both clusters, Tach and Speedo and bypassed the dimmer, it worked amazingly well, I cleaned the replay contacts for the intsrument panel also the electrical connecting lugs for each light bulb. here is the old thread: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/how-to-dash-lights-finally.246471/ regards
OK, that's nice - but why are you posting this in the 308/328 section in a thread about 308/328 instrument lighting?
