Thread: Defender - Dash lights & gauges

Mine does that. Must be a landrover design feature.

I agree about the lights at night, I cant even read the trip meter.

Yeah the trip meter is the main issue for me, too. But a brighter speedo would also be nice.

The patheticness (I doubt if that's a word ! ) of Defender dash lights is obvious after sitting in any modernish 4wd from another manufacturer - eg my mate's 97 Jackaroo. This really shouldn't have been that hard for LR to do right. Why didn't they use Disco instruments? (I asssume these are fine ? ).

Don't know how the 110 or defender dash works, but in the series three, the illumination is just from a little light globe, like in a torch.
I had to replace a blown one, and it is 200% brighter than the old one, a huge improvement.

The problem with the Defenders is the wiring can't cope with any extra current draw, so fitting higher wattage globes is out. The poms seem to be solving this problem with LEDs to replace the globes. The results I've seen on other forums (fora?) look pretty good, but I don't know where to get the right LEDs in Australia. Maybe getting them sent out from the UK wouldn't be that expensive??

www.ultraleds.co.uk

The 501s are apparently the correct fit for Defender dash lights, and can be had in various configuration - either single or multiple LEDs.


Paul [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

So how many would you need to get ?
Wide angle or standard type ?
Simple replacement of existing bulb/s or is more required ?

I know nothing about this auto leccy stuff, as you have gathered ops:

There's a fairly good discussion about this here Vlad. Maybe if we could find enough interested people, we could do a bit of a bulk order to save on the freight costs from the UK?


Paul [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

Try what Phoenix suggested first, it's quite common for the 110 dash bulbs to blow an be left with only one or two to illuminate the whole dash.
If that's not the problem Paul's onto the goods with the LED idea, I have seen them in Auto 1, they had quite a selection. you could also try Autobarn, as they tend to stock all that LED crap that people litter their car with.
Let us know how you go.

Cheers Larns

Since it also concerns the dash gaugues topic - I thought I'd link in this thread too - concerning adding a tacho on a Tdi Defender.

http://www.aulro.com/modules.php?name=Foru...ighlight=gauges

I am still on the lookout for a tripmeter thingy (like the rally guys use - but not that expensive) which has the two meters. One for total trip distance and one for 'stage' distance. Anyone help me with this?

Alternatively I am looking for a replacement speedo for my Tdi Defender, preferably one with odometer and trip-meter.

What are the legalities of replacing an odometer ? Given that it won't show the true distance travelled, can it be wound forward ?

I can't find the VDO Australia website - anyone ?