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[post_date] => 2009-12-10 19:38:11
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[post_content] => Special thanks for this write up goes to Fezzik (David Honey).
Posted with permission from the author.This is a simple how-to on going from plain to chrome
This works for all 5th and 5.5th gen Maximas
This install is basically the same for the 5.0th gen and the 5.5th gen maximas. This install is on my 2000 maxima I had previously.I sold the car awhile back and bought my 2002 6-speed maxima.I loved the chrome gauges so much i installed them on my 2002 and the install was almost exactly the same. The difference will be show further down the page.
First Lower the steering wheel to the max.You do not have to lock it into place. Just let it sit all the way down. Now you have to unscrew everything. There are a few screws that are on the underside of the steering column.These need to come out. When you have the screws out the top part will pop off.This is done by fitting a thin blade screwdriver in between the two.This is what the manual said to do but I was able to do this by just using my hands and pressure to pry apart.. Do not worry if you can not remove the lower piece.
This is what it looks like with the top part off.Do not worry about removing any of the wires show in the picture above.These can stay.Now the black piece that is surrounding the cluster gauge (which has theside view mirror switch, interior light control, and some cars memory seats on the left side and a sloted area on bottom right as seen above)will need to come out.This is done by removing two screws from the top of the place piece .Then this piece is held in place with just clips. IMPORTANT:This part will now pull away from the dash. Do this lightly.You have wires that go to the switches that you will tear if you pull too hard.Also note to Auto Climate control Maximas:there is a temp wire and a tube that is in the slot in the bottom right of the pic above.
Above Pic is of the two switches on the bottom right that have to be removed. I had to do it this way by removing them after i pulled the cluster out a little because when i removed the switches there wasnt enough wire lenght to get my hands back to take apart the switch.If you can remove the switches and then remove the connectors then that'll be easier.
The Pic below is for the people who have Auto Climate control. I do not remember if people with non auto climate have this or not.Would not hurt to check.The connector is the one that is in complete focus that looks like it lies behind the slotted area on the black cluster surrounding.Disconnect this. There is also a plastic acordian tubing that is connecting to this point also. This is easy to disconnect.
Below pic is of the cluster surrounding removed.Notice the two connectors on the left, the one on the right and the black tube on the right.
Now there are 3 obvioius screws that are holding the cluster in place. Remove these. and the cluster comes out like so:
Disconnect the 3 connectors above and the cluster is free from the car.
I don't have a pic of what needs to be done next.You will need to remove the clear plastic.In the above pic you can see the latches of the clear plastic.These are easy to remove but a caution as they are easy to break also.I bought a new plastic piece to put back so it will look new again cause mine had tons of micro scratches that were getting on my nerves.
Once you have the clear plastic piece removed, here is where the steps fork.If you have a 5.5th gen then you will not need to make your fuel and temp gauge any bigger, or if they have finally made smaller rings for the 5.0th gens then you won't. I dont know if they do make smaller rings. If you do not have to make the holes bigger then for the 5.5th gen just pop out the silver rings that are in there and place the new rings in.5.0th gens do not have these silver rings as seen above.Just put in the new rings.
These next steps are only for people who need to make bigger the holes for the fuel and temp gauges.Remove the black piece that is covering that has the holes in it like seen below.
See the dremel in the pic.Well this is what I used to bore out the holes until the rings fit.
Notice how I seem to make the hole higher up. There is not much room on the bottom part (it will hang off the cluster piece if too low) or on the sides (each top side has no more room and you can not get too close to the center or the center big ring and the side ring will hit).
The below pic is a picture of the rings in place. See how there is barely any room on the bottom of the rings and how the big and small rings pretty much touch.
Reassemble like how you took it apart.Here is what I found in my car as I went back out to put the cluster back into the car.I'm working hard and he's taking it easy.
After everything is re-installed the final pic. Trust me the picture does not do it justice. It looks great.
[post_title] => 5th-Generation Maxima - Install Chrome Gauge Rings
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[post_content] => Special thanks for this write up goes to Fezzik (David Honey).
Posted with permission from the author.
This is a simple how-to on going from plain to chrome
This works for all 5th and 5.5th gen Maximas
This install is basically the same for the 5.0th gen and the 5.5th gen maximas. This install is on my 2000 maxima I had previously.I sold the car awhile back and bought my 2002 6-speed maxima.I loved the chrome gauges so much i installed them on my 2002 and the install was almost exactly the same. The difference will be show further down the page.
First Lower the steering wheel to the max.You do not have to lock it into place. Just let it sit all the way down. Now you have to unscrew everything. There are a few screws that are on the underside of the steering column.These need to come out. When you have the screws out the top part will pop off.This is done by fitting a thin blade screwdriver in between the two.This is what the manual said to do but I was able to do this by just using my hands and pressure to pry apart.. Do not worry if you can not remove the lower piece.
This is what it looks like with the top part off.Do not worry about removing any of the wires show in the picture above.These can stay.Now the black piece that is surrounding the cluster gauge (which has theside view mirror switch, interior light control, and some cars memory seats on the left side and a sloted area on bottom right as seen above)will need to come out.This is done by removing two screws from the top of the place piece .Then this piece is held in place with just clips. IMPORTANT:This part will now pull away from the dash. Do this lightly.You have wires that go to the switches that you will tear if you pull too hard.Also note to Auto Climate control Maximas:there is a temp wire and a tube that is in the slot in the bottom right of the pic above.
Above Pic is of the two switches on the bottom right that have to be removed. I had to do it this way by removing them after i pulled the cluster out a little because when i removed the switches there wasnt enough wire lenght to get my hands back to take apart the switch.If you can remove the switches and then remove the connectors then that'll be easier.
The Pic below is for the people who have Auto Climate control. I do not remember if people with non auto climate have this or not.Would not hurt to check.The connector is the one that is in complete focus that looks like it lies behind the slotted area on the black cluster surrounding.Disconnect this. There is also a plastic acordian tubing that is connecting to this point also. This is easy to disconnect.
Below pic is of the cluster surrounding removed.Notice the two connectors on the left, the one on the right and the black tube on the right.
Now there are 3 obvioius screws that are holding the cluster in place. Remove these. and the cluster comes out like so:
Disconnect the 3 connectors above and the cluster is free from the car.
I don't have a pic of what needs to be done next.You will need to remove the clear plastic.In the above pic you can see the latches of the clear plastic.These are easy to remove but a caution as they are easy to break also.I bought a new plastic piece to put back so it will look new again cause mine had tons of micro scratches that were getting on my nerves.
Once you have the clear plastic piece removed, here is where the steps fork.If you have a 5.5th gen then you will not need to make your fuel and temp gauge any bigger, or if they have finally made smaller rings for the 5.0th gens then you won't. I dont know if they do make smaller rings. If you do not have to make the holes bigger then for the 5.5th gen just pop out the silver rings that are in there and place the new rings in.5.0th gens do not have these silver rings as seen above.Just put in the new rings.
These next steps are only for people who need to make bigger the holes for the fuel and temp gauges.Remove the black piece that is covering that has the holes in it like seen below.
See the dremel in the pic.Well this is what I used to bore out the holes until the rings fit.
Notice how I seem to make the hole higher up. There is not much room on the bottom part (it will hang off the cluster piece if too low) or on the sides (each top side has no more room and you can not get too close to the center or the center big ring and the side ring will hit).
The below pic is a picture of the rings in place. See how there is barely any room on the bottom of the rings and how the big and small rings pretty much touch.
Reassemble like how you took it apart.Here is what I found in my car as I went back out to put the cluster back into the car.I'm working hard and he's taking it easy.
After everything is re-installed the final pic. Trust me the picture does not do it justice. It looks great.
[post_title] => 5th-Generation Maxima - Install Chrome Gauge Rings
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"
Special thanks for this write up goes to Fezzik (David Honey). Posted with permission from the author. This is a simple how-to on going from plain to chrome This works for all 5th and 5.5th gen Maximas This install is basically the same for the 5.0th gen and the 5.5th gen maximas. This install is […]
A closer look:
(I don't want you to brighten your monitor because I want you to see the change this upgrade has made)
A pic of the open trunk with all garage lights off, if you look closely around the center of the screen, based on your computer's brightness settings, you may be able to slightly make out the white letters on top of my battery box, this will hold true for the next few pics:
A picture looking at the bulb lit and it's lighting effects on the surrounding area:
Showing the lighting effects of the incandescent bulb:
Again, if you look close you'll see the white FULL RACE sticker on top of the battery box:
One more of the incandescent bulb:
OK, here's the important pics, pay attention, these are taken outside of the trunk, pointing at the trunk, WITH an extended exposure to gather what light it can. (If you want to know how long the exposure is, it's a 7.2mp Sony P200 point and shoot on night setting, so there's no way to tell, as it's automatic.)
SPECIAL NOTE: These pics are all taken in my garage, with the door shut for total darkness. I have two incandescent bulbs on the garage door motor, and I have two dual-bulb florescent lights hung from the ceiling in front of the cars. Both lights are towards the back of the garage, and when the trunk is opened on the car, casts a shadow over the trunk area, shielding it from the light. You may find this trivial and hilarious, but if I'm going to the trouble to show you how dramatic a simple lighting upgrade can be, I want there to be no questions.
This picture was taken of the trunk, with only the 194 5watt wedge bulb lighting it, with NO garage lights on:
This picture is again taken with just the 194 bulb, with the dual incandescent garage lights on:
And this was once again taken with the 194 bulb, with both the incandescent AND florescent garage lights on:
Now that you've seen and agree how much the stock lighting SUCKS, let's try something different.
Here's the removed 194 wedge bulb:
And here's a comparison of the wedge bulb to what we are replacing it with; a universal 12 LED setup utilizing 12 white, even spread, flat-top high end Luxor LEDs, all mounted on a high quality circuit board. This setup uses ONLY half of a watt of power, and due to the flat top, even spread lighting effects, creates NO hot spots of light and emits NO HEAT! Cool huh!
Again
Let's keep going...
Here's the receptacle that we have to use. The reason a 'universal' kit was used is due to the lighting receptacle and it's placement in the trunk, it doesn't leave a lot of options...
Now you need to look around the area and figure out the best way to mount the light to distribute the light evenly throughout the trunk, just get an idea, DON'T MOUNT IT YET!
It's now time to plug the light into the 194 bulb receptacle adapter (there are 2 other forms of adapters in this kit.)
After you plug in the light into the adapter, we need to test to see which side of the adapter has the right polarity, so touch the bulb to the receptacle, if nothing happens, the adapter is 180 degrees backwards, meaning the polarity is wrong:
If that's the case, NO WORRIES, just flip it and try it again! BINGO!
Alright, now pull it back out, and figure exactly how you want to mount it. You only have a small amount of wire and though you could extend the wires and mount it anywhere, I didn't want to.
There are 3 different thicknesses of double-sided, adhesive strips provided with the kit, I used the medium thickness. Peel back ONE side of the strips and place them on the back of the light board:
Peel back the last cover of the double-sided adhesive and be careful not to stick it to anything and contaminate it. Now plug in the light, making sure it's lit up with the right polarity. You can now stick the light in it's final resting place. BE CAREFUL NOT TO PRESS ON THE LEDS THEMSELVES: only use soft but firm pressure around the edges of the circuit board!
As you can see, it's BRIGHT. Here's a picture taken with the camera USING the flash:
One more without flash:
Now it's time to see the fruits of your efforts! Remember those important pics from above? Here's the same shot, taken outside the trunk, with NO garage lights on, and the same settings on the camera:
Taken in the trunk to see the light and it's effects. Due to the even-spread light effect, there's less shadows:
Another:
Here's the last picture, taken like the other important ones, with ALL garage lights on. The ambient lighting really has no effect on the trunk anymore, as everything is lit from the LEDs!
The effect this upgrade has is even greater in person, the pictures don't do it justice, and there are a number of members on this board that will agree.
[post_title] => LED interior lights: Trunk Lamp
[post_excerpt] => Alright, so, this is what we start with. Test vehicle is a 1995 240sx base model (which, for the trunk, means nothing, as the SE model is no different in the trunk). I enjoy nearly every aspect of my car, I love it, but there was always something left to be had when I'd open the trunk or door at night or in low-light areas. What can we do about that? Well I have the answer...
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[post_name] => hid-interior-lights-trunk-lamp
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[post_date] => 2009-12-10 13:23:43
[post_date_gmt] => 2009-12-10 20:23:43
[post_content] => by Dano
Overview:
Alright, so, this is what we start with. Test vehicle is a 1995 240sx base model (which, for the trunk, means nothing, as the SE model is no different in the trunk). I enjoy nearly every aspect of my car, I love it, but there was always something left to be had when I'd open the trunk or door at night or in low-light areas. What can we do about that? Well I have the answer... 