Ok, there are easier ways to do this such as buying older dash sockets from previous year Dodge vehicles. The problem is that dodge has discontinued the older ones so if you try and go to a dealership, all they will have is a replacemtn that is exactly what you already have. The only way to get the older sockets is to snag them from some older Dodge from a salvage yard or buy a older cluster from ebay or somewhere else.
So I didn't feel like having to go out to a junkyard and pay for extra parts and work outside in the hot. I just decided to solder on some wire off the LEDs to the stripped 2005 socket. I'll explain the process below. If you have solder experience this will ber a breeze and will take no time to do. If your a novice working with solder than I would rate this a a 3 out of a scale of 1-10. Either way its pretty straight forward and simple. I just thought some might want to see how to actually do it so you'll know you won't need to go buy extra socekts if you have access to a soldering iron and solder.
Ok, so assuming you have the cluster out already and the bulbs removed from the cluster, we'll pick up from there.....
First thing you need to do is get those pesky bulbs out of their sockets. To do this correctly you need to relase the connector tabs from the socket base. To do this you'll need a pick tool or similar tool. Simply pry to wedge the tools head down in between the inside of the tab and the slot. This will cause the connector tab to loosen itself from its original wedged grip slot.
After you have successfully loosened the tabs, gently pull the bulb out. As it comes out it should come out witrh the tabs intact and look like so...
Now all you need from that bulb is of course the connector tabs. These tabs are what give power to the LED from the cluster panels circuit board via metal contact. One side is postitive the other is negative. That doesn't matter but I'm just noting it. Anyways, remove the tabs by twisting them off the wire. They will break right apart so don't worry, just twist
. You'll have these and thats all you want. Discard the bulb now if you wish.
Next grab you some strands of good qualtiy wire. You'll need two strands for both positive and negative contacts from the LED. Braid or twist the wire so that its not a bunch of single strands and will make for a better connection all twisted together like so....
Ok, now onto the LED. You'll notice it has two leads coming from the bottom of it. Do one lead at the time to keep it easy work space. Simply twist your braided or twisted wires onto one of the leads of the LED.
Now comes the fun part. Solder! Well, I like to solder so its fun for me anyways
. Simply begin to solder the twisted wire onto the LED lead so you'll have a nice solid connection like so....
Repeat the same steps to the other lead now....
Ok now you have both leads soldered securely. Now its time to solder them to the tabs. First you'll need to slide the tabs back down into the socket. They slide right down in their own slot like so....
Now grab your LED and make the wires you just soldered on, make them go up each side of the LED like so...
Now slide your LED into the socekt. You might notice it will be kinda snug from the solder being on there. Thats a good thing because you want it snug since these LEDs don't fit snug unless you solder them in
. Make both stands come out along side the tabs on each side. Warp them under or over the connector tabs. Your preference. It should look like this now...
Zoomed in view of one side....
2005+ Dodge Neon 194 instrument bulb rewire for LED
....
J/K
. I'm like you though, I like to solder. I'm using the 5LED's from autolumination. Very nice How To
I would post pics of the install but i cant find the fucking camera USB cord. They light up way better than before than with just a single LED
Linear Mode
