I have a Auto Meter Oil Pressure and Boost gauges installed in my MCS and the gauge lights are too dim when the instrument panel lights are turned down to a low setting. The gauges are 2 1/16" Ultra-Lite series (used in the Pro-Mini Instrument console). I have the same problem on my 2003 and 2006 MCS. I replaced the stock bulbs (194 bulbs with red condoms) with 168 bulbs and red condoms because the 168 are a slightly higher wattage but that did not help much. The gauges are plenty bright when the instrument panel lights are turned way up but the gauges dim too quickly when the panel lights are turned down. I usually drive with the panel lights turned way down so at that point I can not read the Auto Meter gauges because they are too dim.

I reviewed posts and saw suggested fixes for the LED lights in the Stewart Warner gauges but I could not find any fix for the Auto Meter gauge lights.

Does anyone have a good solution to the Auto Meter gauge light brightness problem? If so, can you point me in the right direction or provide some suggestions (other than turning up my instrument panel brightness).

One thought I had was to connect the gauge lights to the instrument panel light wire before the dimmer control and then add a resistor to obtain a good brightness but the gauge brightness would no longer be adjustable. Anyone done this? If so, what wire (color) did you connect to instead of the gray/red wire that is the dimmer controlled light wire? What resistance value did you end up using?

A second thought I had was to also connect before the dimmer control but use a lower wattage bulb (I believe there is the same style but lower wattage than the 194) with red condom at full brightness (no resistor). Anyone try this? Was it too bright?

 

I had the same problem. If I wired my gauges up to the dash lights they were too dim. If I dialed up the lights so I could read my gauges at night then the dash lights were too bright. I solved it by tapping into the drivers side parking light and running the wire back thru the firewall to the gauges. While it does take away from being able to dim the gauges, I found the gauges match exactly the brightness that I like to have my dash lights set to. FYI, I tapped into the black wire with green tracer.

 

earlrabbit,
Thanks for the reply. I think I will try to find the wire (black with green tracer) in the wiring harness under the dash and give it a try.

 

I didn't even try to mess with the wiring harness unde the dash. The black wire with green tracer is the wire I tapped into right at the parking light itself. It was real easy to tap into because you have all kinds of room vs. trying to wedge yourself under the dash to find the right wire let alone splice it. I figured running an extra 4' of wire from the parking light back to the gauges was better than all the swearing and back contorting as a result of working under the dash.

 

A pic is worth 1k words. That's my AM boost guage mounted in the air vent--you know, the one that's too dim! ;-)



Looks great during the day, though...

 

Rather than using a bulb with a little rubber condom on it, did you try the replacement amber bulb w/o a condom? It sure makes sense to me that the rubber condom will impact the brightness.

 

I had the Promini gauge cluster with Autometer gauges. The red condoms stink.

I tried red bulbs - too red.

Amber bulbs - too yellow.

So I settled for some wide angle WHITE leds and they actually did a great job of lighting up the gauges...But obviously it doesn't match.

Since then I've decided to ditch the autometer setup for the Xline gauges from STRI. Those light up perfect at night and during the day. Note I have the black face gauge with the clear lense - found the smoked lenses to be not bright enough when I installed a set for a fellow motorer.

 

I just did the wiring for my gauge over the weekend. The best color match is the amber bulb with the red condom. It's not overly bright, but nearly as bad as the picture MidnightDave posted above. I have a pic in my gallery.

 

Here is the fix for the Autometer LED dimming issues. http://www.autometer.com/cat_accesso...l.aspx?vid=185

 

As I mentioned in posts 2 & 4, I wired my gauges up directly (with an inline fuse) to the the front parking light. What I forgot to mention is that I'm using an amber LED that is a direct replacement for your standard gauge light bulb. That combination makes it a perfect match. I got the bulbs thru 42draftdesign.

 

While I finally did some more experimenting with the autometer gauge brightness. As earlrabbit suggested I wiring directly to the parking lights. I could not find the front black/green (from left front light) wire under the dash but I did find the gray/violet wire (from the left rear parking light) under the dash. For the MCS it is in the same bundle as the big red power cable that comes from the battery in the rear down the left side if the car.

At night I run with the instrument panel lights turned as dim as they go so I want the add-on Autometer gauges to match the dim instruments. I started with a 168 clear bulb (4.9 Watt) with red cover but it was too bright. I then switched to a 161 clear bulb (2.7 Watt) with red cover. For me it is about right, maybe just a little brighter than the instruments at minimum brightness. I would like the gauges slightly dimmer but I think I am as close as I am going to get. For people that run their instrument panel a little brighter there is also a 194 clear bulb (3.8 Watt) that is in between the brightness of the 161 (2..7 W) bulb and the 168 (4.9 W) bulb. The color match (clear bulb with red cover) is just about right for the GP instruments.

 

I have just recieved an oil pressure gauge but I don't know what sender to use or how to fit it. When you installed your gauge how did you get the sender installed? thanks. BTW 2002 cooper

 

First, the gauge you have should have a specific sender designed for it. Not all senders work with all gauges.

To install the sender, there are a couple of options. One, you can drill and tap the top of the oil filter cover for the sender. Or two, you can purchase an adaptor from Craven Speed as pictured here:

 

The vendor that made the gauge (such as Autometer) will be able to supply the correct sender. Most vendors have a website that you can find the proper sender. (also eguages.com has a few different brands of gauges and senders). The sender is specific to the pressure range of the gauge (such as 0-100 PSI). The adapter is used when adding the pressure gauge sender in the same location as the oil pressure idiot light sender which is located by the oil filter. You removed the idiot light sender and install the adapter. The idiot light sender and oil pressure gauge sender screw into the adapter.

 

I have the same boost gauge and ended up using a turn signal bulb. Im sure diffrent companies make diff shades so you could try em out fairly cheap. Mine is only slightly a shade too yellow but looks better than anything i have come across. I have it spliced int othe auto dim too.

 

Bringing the thread back a little bit, but a message to the OP

Now that you have found a bulb that is "close" to what you want, but still a little on the bright side, try adding an inline resistor. You may need to try out a few, but I'm sure that playing around with a few of them will work. Just use ohms' law I = V/R or Amps = Volts/Resistance what you are effectively trying to do is reduce the voltage getting to the bulb slightly.

 

Thanks Aerocooper for the suggestion on trying different resistor values. I was going to try that because I have a cabinet of different resistor values so it would be easy but I decided the brightnes was just about right due to the poor overall lighting of the gauge. The light only comes from around the outside edge of the gauge so some of the face is a little bright but other sections are bearly readable so I stayed with the 161 bulb with red cover. The brightness is fine at night and the gauges are just bearly readable so I think going any dimmer (with resistor) would make the gauge unreadable at night.

 

ahh...I see, I'm just doing a bunch of research right now as gauges are soon on my list

 

I bought the auxiliary gauge kit from minimania. It too has dim gauge lights. I bought the four led amber wedge bulbs to replace the leds that came with the gauge kit. The gauge setup i have is a plug and play off the toggle switches. Awesome setup and easy installation for the voltage gauge. They mount around the tach and replace the factory upper steering column panel with the gauge mounts molded in. Kinda pricey but wanted a simple stock looking setup. The gauges also say Mini S on them too which i like. It has a mechanical boost gauge. Followed the instructions that came with them with help from a friend the running of the boost hose was pretty easy. FYI

 

the ProSport gauges match the stock amber and brightness perfectly and are not very expensive at all (gauge only) if the bulb change doesnt work out . also the 'max recall' feature and 'warning' feature is pretty sweet

just a FYI

 

I have the Autometer Boost and Oil Temp gauges and they work great and look great in the daytime. At night they are too dim to read but I really don't care since I rarely push the performance at night anyways.

I think the main problem with the gauges visibility is that the pointer isn't back lit. To back light the moving needle is not a simple design especially for a smaller gauge. If they directed more light at the needle and scale the light would be more effective.

 

Well to be more specific I have the Ultra Lite Autometer gauges. Looking at their website I see they now have Ultra Lite II gauges that appear to improve the needle Back Light and also back light the markers. Notice the larger center section is probably used to spread the light behind the needle better.

The night time appearance may not be a close to the Mini stock gauges but the daytime appearance is the same as the Ultra Lite. I would definitely look at this model if I was shopping today.

 

I contacted Marshall gauges
http://www.marshallinstruments.com/contact/index.cfm

they make a silver face with clear lens and amber back lighting pictures in my gallery day and night.

John