XJ550 Speedometer light bulb replacement

Hi All,
I've got a XJ550 and the light bulb on the speedometer is not coming on. I had a look and I can only see 4 screws on the underside of the housing. So I'm guessing I need to flip the speedometer over and remove these 4 screws in order to get at the light?

Here are some pics I found on the internet of what I have.

Thanks,
Drew

 

Yes. You have to remove those four screws ot remove the back cover and gain access to the lights. They are in rubber holders that pop into the instrument housing from the back. You should also check your fuse bxx (under the seat) to be sure that the instruement fuse isn't just blown, and replace the fuse clips if they are the original as those embrittle nd crack and cause all sorts of problems. Many of us have upgraded to an ATC fusebox instead of reapiring the factory box.

 

Job done. It was a burnt bulb.

To sum up: in order to replace a light bulb I had to remove 2 horns, head light, speedometer and tachometer cables and then the back housing.

Thanks for the help,
Drew

 

I have a speedo light out. Would it have been simpler to remove the cluster? I might find out.

 

Yeah you have to remove the entire cluster off the bike.

 

What I wondered (and I haven't tried yet) was can the cluster be removed without first removing other things? I suspect the cowling needs to come off though.
Also, anybody tried LEDs in the cluster? I retrofitted one on my sailboat's compass and it was nicely bright, but cold.

 

I dont have the front fairing on my seca so can't comment but I imagine you'd have to remove it. I try'd seeing if there was a way to replace the bulbs without removing the cluster but unfortunately it's practically impossible. I did replace all my bulbs with the appropriate coloured LEDs. Looks waaay better, especially at night. Also draws a little less amperage.

 

Say, do you have a link to the LED product you used?

 

I got them from superbightleds.com
heres my invoice.

2

WLED-R5: Red

3.49

1

WLED-R4-90: Red Wide

1.59

1

WLED-B4-90: Blue Wide

2.59

1

WLED-G4-90: Green Wide

2.59

2

WLED-A4-90: Amber Wide

1.59

 

I put LEDs in my cluster. They work great! Just keep in mind that there is a (+/-) on these bulbs and they can be put in backwards. Just be sure they come on before you put it all back together!

 

I'm guessing the colored ones for behind the colored indicator lenses? Why not just white for all? What did you use in the tach and speedo?

 

Colored LED lights show up better in bright light when they match the color of the lens they are behind. A white LED will be washed out and may not be noticed by the rider.

 

K-moe is correct. You can use whatever colour you'd like. I chose red because I thought it would look sweet at night

 

I replaced my guage bulbs years ago with red. It does look good, esp. on red bike.

 

Thanks for the list. I'll probably go red as well. My white Seca does have red accents.

 

Just a heads up the blue led I used for the high beam indicator is insanely bright and irritating at night. I'd suggest getting some blue painters tape and put a piece on the backing of the lense to make it less intense.

 

I had that problem with blue indicators on a computer I got some years ago. I put a couple of layers of white paper behind the bezel to tone it down.

 

Hmmm... interesting solutions. I must be the dummy for adding a resistor to the circuit to dim an LED...lol

 

See, now, you know how electronics work (I do also). Engineering's all about trade-offs, right?
I'll have to decide if I want to cut and splice wires or apply some kind of "filter" when I get the LEDs installed. They've been ordered.

 

I was merely lamenting that apparently I don't know how tape works

 

Front fairing, easy to remove. Instrument cluster, easy to remove without removing headlight or anything else. However...
The instrument cluster must plug-in inside the headlamp bucket, so it might be just as well to take that apart (which I haven't done, but it's probably the next step).
I took the back off the cluster and removed the bracket so the wires are freed up. I removed the tach bulb (that's the one burned out). I put in the led replacement and find it's loose. I got the bike turned on to test it and I have to pull the bulb out a little to get it to light. Nice and bright, but certainly not secure by any measure. I may have to get into the socket and tweak the springy metal bits to help it grab the bulb more securely. I may also use some RTV to keep things in place.

Thoughts? Other insights from doing this before?

 

It's just two screws to remove the headlight from the bucket. Takes seconds.

 

I found that the single replacement LED bulb had a short lead problem where the rest seem OK. I ended up putting a regular bulb in and closing things up again so I can ride after work. A replacement bulb is being shipped out and I'll go replace them all at that point. I found it pretty easy to tweak the sockets to grip the new bulbs more firmly. I may still add a couple dabs of RTV to each to be sure. Don't want them vibrating loose later.

 

I finally got the replacement bulb in the mail today, so I did the complete swap. The results were pretty great, I think. Yes, the indicators are fairly bright, but I'll live with them a while and see if it bugs me enough to do something about it.

 

A resistor in the dash light feed will do the job. You can get fancy and use a potentiometer and have dimmable lights

 

Been using tape for

Been using tape for years to dim 'check engine' lights. Black tape works esp. well on those indicators.

 

Anyone know what the part number is for the led replacement bulbs! Wanna do a swap

 

If you go back to the 1st page of this thread, the part#s are listed (and I ordered exactly those from superbrightleds.com)