for you.
Ya think I'm gonna buy a head unit when I did this?
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 554
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From: NY
Ya think I'm gonna buy a head unit when I did this? Almost a year ago, about 4 light bulbs in the monsoon head unit went out, the 2 and 5 buttons, the AUTO TONE button, the FADE, BAL, BASS, TREB **** tray lights, and the SEEK button light went out.
I didn't know the FADE, BAL, BASS,TREB lights was supposed to be lit up. It was like this when I got the car from the dealer new in '99.
So I posted a thread on LS1.com on how to replace the lights, they just basically said it's built into the circuit and can't be changed, and they all told me to get a used head unit, that being around $100 for a CD player monsoon head unit, F that!
A week before now, I ordered the parts
10 3000mcd LED lights from an online store
10 560ohms resistors
a socket to remove the radio unit and the volume control **** nut
a screwdriver to depress the connections for the fog lights and the ASR trac control switch and to take the plastic face panel off the unit
a 1/8th inch hex socket from whia tools (local hobby shop, about $7 for it) to remove the circuit board from the plastic face plate.
a soldering tool, some solder
+ this webpage printout http://www.xse.com/leres/ss/leds.html
a hour and 15 mins later... (Note: the AUTO TONE button in far right of the radio unit is actually a factory bulb, I put a LED there and when testing the bulbs before reassembly, it went out in 5 seconds, must be a defective one. So I put one good factory bulb back in it for now)
The radio looks rich cool blue color, much nicer, just like the VW GTI radio light colors.
Now no more bulbs to go out, no more heat coming from the faceplate and no more than $15 bucks!
I didn't know the FADE, BAL, BASS,TREB lights was supposed to be lit up. It was like this when I got the car from the dealer new in '99.
So I posted a thread on LS1.com on how to replace the lights, they just basically said it's built into the circuit and can't be changed, and they all told me to get a used head unit, that being around $100 for a CD player monsoon head unit, F that!
A week before now, I ordered the parts
10 3000mcd LED lights from an online store
10 560ohms resistors
a socket to remove the radio unit and the volume control **** nut
a screwdriver to depress the connections for the fog lights and the ASR trac control switch and to take the plastic face panel off the unit
a 1/8th inch hex socket from whia tools (local hobby shop, about $7 for it) to remove the circuit board from the plastic face plate.
a soldering tool, some solder
+ this webpage printout http://www.xse.com/leres/ss/leds.html
a hour and 15 mins later... (Note: the AUTO TONE button in far right of the radio unit is actually a factory bulb, I put a LED there and when testing the bulbs before reassembly, it went out in 5 seconds, must be a defective one. So I put one good factory bulb back in it for now)
The radio looks rich cool blue color, much nicer, just like the VW GTI radio light colors.
Now no more bulbs to go out, no more heat coming from the faceplate and no more than $15 bucks!
Last edited by Midnight F-117A; Nov 11, 2003 at 10:10 PM.
The reason that the Auto Tone LED blew so quickly is because bulbs are already current limiting. An LED pretty much acts like a short circuit, so it needs a resistor in series with the LED to limit the current. You can try different resistors until you get the correct brightness out of the LED.
Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 9,764
Likes: 208
From: Eastern MA
Originally Posted by Noy_Z_LS1
The reason that the Auto Tone LED blew so quickly is because bulbs are already current limiting. An LED pretty much acts like a short circuit, so it needs a resistor in series with the LED to limit the current. You can try different resistors until you get the correct brightness out of the LED.
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
From: Alameda, CA
Originally Posted by Midnight F-117A
10 560ohms resistors
They're still plenty bright at the lower current.
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I made a point that you guys dug up a 7 year old thread... And responded to someone that hasn't even logged in since 08...
Your response was "He isn't the only one that knows about LED's"...
Well considering LEDS are pretty old technology like invented in the 1920's iirc I am pretty sure he isn't the only person in the world that knows about LED's...
Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 9,764
Likes: 208
From: Eastern MA
You aren't helping. Lets get back on topic. Even if the original poster may not respond, someone else may.
As to the question of 5mm LEDs, I think that is what the OP used. If you are wondering about the "3000mcd", that is the brightness measured in millicandela, not the physical size.
As to the question of 5mm LEDs, I think that is what the OP used. If you are wondering about the "3000mcd", that is the brightness measured in millicandela, not the physical size.
I saw a website that sold LED's for our vehicle applications, from front to rear. He also had a set-up that included the monsoon radio, just plug and play I believe. However, I lost the website when the computer crashed. I remember the homepage had a f-body on it. Any help on that website?
This site has pretty much every LED you could want.
Super Bright LED's
This is the site I am using for my instrument cluster
Super Bright LED's
This is the site I am using for my instrument cluster
Thanks for this thread! If anyone is interested, I went through this procedure but went with incandescent replacements. (I didn't want to mess with customized bulbs, resistors, etc.)
If I recall correctly, there were two small bulbs and 5 larger bulbs on my Firebird's Monsoon system. The correct fit incandescent ended up being:
- Small - T1 BiPin, 14V, 0.065A
- Large - T1.25 Wire Lead, 14V, .08A
Even though the original large bulb was a short T1.25 BiPin bulb, I could not for the life of me find a short model T1.25 so I went with a wire lead bulb. It worked just great,
Another important thing is to go with 14V bulbs. I'm told by a radio rebuilder that 12V bulbs won't stand up to a power spike the radio sees at start-up and is a leading reason why we burn out our stock bulbs.
Here's the final product: (My volume **** was still off in this picture.)
If I recall correctly, there were two small bulbs and 5 larger bulbs on my Firebird's Monsoon system. The correct fit incandescent ended up being:
- Small - T1 BiPin, 14V, 0.065A
- Large - T1.25 Wire Lead, 14V, .08A
Even though the original large bulb was a short T1.25 BiPin bulb, I could not for the life of me find a short model T1.25 so I went with a wire lead bulb. It worked just great,
Another important thing is to go with 14V bulbs. I'm told by a radio rebuilder that 12V bulbs won't stand up to a power spike the radio sees at start-up and is a leading reason why we burn out our stock bulbs.
Here's the final product: (My volume **** was still off in this picture.)