How To Replace Bulbs Behind HVAC Controls in Dash Center - Page 3

nishrags · 11-23-2011, 10:22 AM

Hi

when i look at some replies, i cant see the pictures attached to it. can some one tell me how to see those pictures attached with the replies?

thanks

nsxtasy · 11-23-2011, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nishrags

when i look at some replies, i cant see the pictures attached to it. can some one tell me how to see those pictures attached with the replies?

Apparently you didn't bother reading all the posts in this topic. Your question is answered in the previous post, right before yours.

Lambeau Leaper · 04-01-2012, 12:57 PM

Thanks for the instructions. I just changed my bulbs in less than 15 minutes. I tried the hanger trick and noticed there was some space at the sides of the facing. So I used a flat screwdriver and a pointed prying tool and it came out pretty easily without scratches or scuffs. Thanks again for everyone's input.

BVA · 01-27-2013, 10:25 AM

Thanks for the tip!!! I took out my center bezel with a prying type screw driver thru the 2 center vents and carefully pulled out the while thing along the open gap and replaced my light in less than 5 mins!!!

Wildcrd1976 · 02-22-2013, 04:15 AM

I don't know about the everyone out there, but the climate controls and the hazard light was extremely difficult to unplug. I think my plood and harnesses may have swelled a little over the years from heat. It took quite a big amount of prying to get out. I actually had to mod the climate control light from those two ridiculous long button lights to eight LED. Took me a while to get it to work properly. I will post pics soon

Wildcrd1976 · 03-07-2013, 03:24 AM

My HVAC controls mod to 8 LED

INGunGuy · 03-07-2013, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wildcrd1976

My HVAC controls mod to 8 LED

I love that... I would love to replace ALL the lights to LED's do you have some instructions on how to do the replacement?

Dan

Wildcrd1976 · 03-07-2013, 09:23 PM

This is how i did it. First you have to remove the HVAC control box. After you take the control box out you will see the two long bulbs. Remove them. Dissassemble the control unit. There are a few layers, unscrew the back cover. Be careful of static discharge, so be sure to ground first. There are two circuit board layers, so be careful when separating. It is important to note on the first circuit board which pins are for power to the OEM bulbs and which is ground as this is where I connected. You will need to remove the front button cover to get at the button covers. The second circuit board will have the indicator LEDs and the LCD display. Now that you have the control box disassembled, pop off the caps for the buttons. Note which ones go where. I found it useful to take a picture before taking the caps off so I would remember where each one went. Now that you have the caps off you will see that each button is actually removable and has a crystal disperser that was used to channel the light from the OEM bulbs. You will need a very fine flat screw driver to pry along the edges of the crystals to get them out. Be sure to keep track which crystal goes with which button. It can get confusing if you are working with all the buttons together. Once you have removed the crystals, you will notice that there is a slanted divider inside the button with a little space on each side. I apologize that I did not take pics while I was doing this as it took me about two days of figuring this out and trial and error before I got this to work properly. File down the divider so you have a channel to run some wires.
Now comes the hard part. Now depending on the color and type of LED you want to use, this info will change. I used 3mm crystal blue, pure white and deep red LEDs along with 150 ohm 1/2 watt resistors. You will notice that the buttons have space in the middle of each group of four buttons. This is where you will be running wires so that your buttons will still have space to work.
I hope you know how to array LEDs. I set up each array with two LEDs. Each verticle set were linked to save space on wiring. I cut 8 sets of wires about 3 inches long. I know it's sounds long, but one of my attempts before getting it to work had me splicing wires and having half not working and going through a lot of splices to find the issue. So the longer the better.
LED placement is not important for this to work but will determine how bright your lights will be. The LED should be run in the space opposite of space from the OEM bulb. Solder the wires onto the LED and run through that space with the wires going to the space on the other side of the button through the channel filed out from the divider.

Wildcrd1976 · 03-07-2013, 10:05 PM

With each array you will solder the wires and run the wires in the space where the OEM bulbs were. Be sure to leave a little slack so that the buttons will still work. That will leave you with 4 wires on each side to run through the holes. Twist the wires together and tape with electrical tape so they run smoothly through the holes. Put the LCD board back in and the second board back on with the wires running out. One of my first thoughts was to run everything in the control box but space is too limited.
This part requires that you know how to read a circuit board. I jumped the pins that are used for power and ground with network pins soldered onto the final connecting wires. I used some electrical tape on the circuit board where I jumped them to make sure I didn't touch anything to short the system. I did find that the right side didnt power like it was supposed to so I ran all the power from the left side.
If you look at the cover, you will see that the OEM bulb holes are covered down to the circuit board, so I cut some space so the wires would not be cut by the cover when you screwed it back on. Run all the wires through the back cover and close. You should have 6 wires on the left and 4 on the right.
I created my own circuit board with the resistors, power and ground. Hence the long wires. There is very limited space behind the control box for this board. Some people may want to run the lines longer to relocate to another location as there is plenty of space on the sides.
Once everything is connected, I taped the entire circuit board (I actually blew a fuse a couple of times in testing because the board touched uncovered).
Hopefully if you did everything right, it will light up when you plug it in. PM me if you need help or have any other questions as I know this is a pretty complicated mod for most

Wildcrd1976 · 03-07-2013, 10:08 PM

If anyone is in the Los Angeles area, I wouldn't mind helping with this. That way we can document how to do this with pics

Wildcrd1976 · 03-07-2013, 10:11 PM

I have more pics of lighting control mods under First GEN LED Interior Mods

11-23-2011, 10:22 AM	#31 (permalink)
nishrags Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 14	Picture does not show Hi when i look at some replies, i cant see the pictures attached to it. can some one tell me how to see those pictures attached with the replies? thanks

02-22-2013, 04:15 AM	#35 (permalink)
Wildcrd1976 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 28	HVAC lights I don't know about the everyone out there, but the climate controls and the hazard light was extremely difficult to unplug. I think my plood and harnesses may have swelled a little over the years from heat. It took quite a big amount of prying to get out. I actually had to mod the climate control light from those two ridiculous long button lights to eight LED. Took me a while to get it to work properly. I will post pics soon

03-07-2013, 03:24 AM	#36 (permalink)
Wildcrd1976 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 28	Interior pics My HVAC controls mod to 8 LED Attached Thumbnails

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04-01-2012, 12:57 PM	#33 (permalink)
Lambeau Leaper Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 23	Thanks for the instructions. I just changed my bulbs in less than 15 minutes. I tried the hanger trick and noticed there was some space at the sides of the facing. So I used a flat screwdriver and a pointed prying tool and it came out pretty easily without scratches or scuffs. Thanks again for everyone's input.

01-27-2013, 10:25 AM	#34 (permalink)
BVA Registered User Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Markham, Ontario Posts: 3	Thanks for the tip!!! I took out my center bezel with a prying type screw driver thru the 2 center vents and carefully pulled out the while thing along the open gap and replaced my light in less than 5 mins!!!

03-07-2013, 09:23 PM	#38 (permalink)
Wildcrd1976 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 28	This is how i did it. First you have to remove the HVAC control box. After you take the control box out you will see the two long bulbs. Remove them. Dissassemble the control unit. There are a few layers, unscrew the back cover. Be careful of static discharge, so be sure to ground first. There are two circuit board layers, so be careful when separating. It is important to note on the first circuit board which pins are for power to the OEM bulbs and which is ground as this is where I connected. You will need to remove the front button cover to get at the button covers. The second circuit board will have the indicator LEDs and the LCD display. Now that you have the control box disassembled, pop off the caps for the buttons. Note which ones go where. I found it useful to take a picture before taking the caps off so I would remember where each one went. Now that you have the caps off you will see that each button is actually removable and has a crystal disperser that was used to channel the light from the OEM bulbs. You will need a very fine flat screw driver to pry along the edges of the crystals to get them out. Be sure to keep track which crystal goes with which button. It can get confusing if you are working with all the buttons together. Once you have removed the crystals, you will notice that there is a slanted divider inside the button with a little space on each side. I apologize that I did not take pics while I was doing this as it took me about two days of figuring this out and trial and error before I got this to work properly. File down the divider so you have a channel to run some wires. Now comes the hard part. Now depending on the color and type of LED you want to use, this info will change. I used 3mm crystal blue, pure white and deep red LEDs along with 150 ohm 1/2 watt resistors. You will notice that the buttons have space in the middle of each group of four buttons. This is where you will be running wires so that your buttons will still have space to work. I hope you know how to array LEDs. I set up each array with two LEDs. Each verticle set were linked to save space on wiring. I cut 8 sets of wires about 3 inches long. I know it's sounds long, but one of my attempts before getting it to work had me splicing wires and having half not working and going through a lot of splices to find the issue. So the longer the better. LED placement is not important for this to work but will determine how bright your lights will be. The LED should be run in the space opposite of space from the OEM bulb. Solder the wires onto the LED and run through that space with the wires going to the space on the other side of the button through the channel filed out from the divider.

03-07-2013, 10:05 PM	#39 (permalink)
Wildcrd1976 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 28	With each array you will solder the wires and run the wires in the space where the OEM bulbs were. Be sure to leave a little slack so that the buttons will still work. That will leave you with 4 wires on each side to run through the holes. Twist the wires together and tape with electrical tape so they run smoothly through the holes. Put the LCD board back in and the second board back on with the wires running out. One of my first thoughts was to run everything in the control box but space is too limited. This part requires that you know how to read a circuit board. I jumped the pins that are used for power and ground with network pins soldered onto the final connecting wires. I used some electrical tape on the circuit board where I jumped them to make sure I didn't touch anything to short the system. I did find that the right side didnt power like it was supposed to so I ran all the power from the left side. If you look at the cover, you will see that the OEM bulb holes are covered down to the circuit board, so I cut some space so the wires would not be cut by the cover when you screwed it back on. Run all the wires through the back cover and close. You should have 6 wires on the left and 4 on the right. I created my own circuit board with the resistors, power and ground. Hence the long wires. There is very limited space behind the control box for this board. Some people may want to run the lines longer to relocate to another location as there is plenty of space on the sides. Once everything is connected, I taped the entire circuit board (I actually blew a fuse a couple of times in testing because the board touched uncovered). Hopefully if you did everything right, it will light up when you plug it in. PM me if you need help or have any other questions as I know this is a pretty complicated mod for most

03-07-2013, 10:08 PM	#40 (permalink)
Wildcrd1976 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 28	If anyone is in the Los Angeles area, I wouldn't mind helping with this. That way we can document how to do this with pics

03-07-2013, 10:11 PM	#41 (permalink)
Wildcrd1976 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 28	I have more pics of lighting control mods under First GEN LED Interior Mods

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