Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi

Just bought an S2 abd the das lights are awful. Are there any upgrades for the instrument lights?

Paul

If you mean the inst cluster then there is a solution but it is quite awkward, the other dash lamps can be replaced with new bulbs or similar LEDs but do not be tempted to use too high a wattage, as they dont give much more light but burn out quickly or melt the circuit boards.
The problem usually with the instrument lights is usually not the lamps but the reflector unit, which tends to lose the mirror finish over time. there is a link on this website in Clarks Garage under Dashboard replacement & Instrument lights, both are useful as you need to remove the surround from the instrument cluster, which involves removing the heater control surround and heating control intake (little circular vent next to clock be careful as this breaks easily).
I sort of followed the instructions for the instrument lights but did not remove the reflector from the cluster as you can do most of the work needed with it attached if you are careful and mask off the circuit boards.
First I would check that none of the three lamps have blown or are badly burned as you might be lucky and only have to replace the lamps, if not then the mirror finish is probably faded. This can be removed with acetone free nail varnish remover, I then used a light spray of re-positional adhesive (£1.99 from Hobby Craft) and covered the clean and glued reflectors with mirror foil (again Hobby Craft £3/roll) this is very shiny strong and flexible foil that hobbyists use to make mirrors for dolls houses, trim with a scaple and then cover with black electricians tape, I swopped the 3 lamps for wide angle LEDs to give a good spread of light, the whole job took me around 2 hours and cost about £10 in total.

David,

Thanks for that reply. Just bought the car so i will get round to it. What type LED,s did you re-use?

Paul

From memory the three that illuminate the instrument cluster are T5 12vdc I used 1.2W wide angle white LEDs.

try www.jageng.com or search for "porsche 944 instrument led" in ebay.com.