OK!!
so I delved inside my speedometer to see what was going on with the "burned out" LEDs.
see what color the plastic is? If it wasn't sanded off, you could see through it like glass
see how much space there is?
BRIGHT!! you can see the burned out ones at the bottom
The ring is powered by 12v that goes into eight 129 ohm resistors (dropping 12v to 9v) each resistor powers three 3v LEDs.
I removed and tested the resistor, (@129.5ohm) which was fine.
testing the bad LEDs showed 16-24ohms of resistance meaning the diode fused together (I don't have a scope so I don't know exactly what happened in there)
I also tested the traces for resistance, opens, and shorts and they were fine.
I'm guessing it was a vendor issue with that particular reel of LEDs
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next step is to disassemble these and use their LEDs to fix my gauges.
($5.34 a pair with free S/H -eBay)
the other one I want to use as a running light inside my headlight.
gratuitous pics of spare surface mount electronics-
piles of teeny parts!!