Which lights for radio / heater area are supposed to work.

[d1giPhux]

I have a 99 Legacy GT Limited. On my last car, i thought i remember the lights on the radio lighting up.. such as the prev / next buttons..etc. I mean, that would MAKE sense.. since its kinda a pain to find them in the dark (althought ive memorized it now).

Also, which lights on the heater controls are supposed to light up. All the little green squared under the buttons light up.. but are the pictures of the arrows, and the direction as to which way the air is blowing supposed to light up? i always thought they were... but maybe im mistaken.

Basically just wondering, because it would be nice to have a few of these working again.. mainly the radio lights.. if there are 'radio lights'. haha.

Also, if anyone can lead me to a link on how to replace these, that would be great. I have this link from nasioc.. but i dont know if our radio would be the same, and what type of bulbs it takes..etc :

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=690333

Thanks!

[Wiscon_Mark]

they do light up, if working properly, yes.

Sometimes it's just a connection issue, so don't rush in and replace all the bulbs. Try wiggling things around.

[d1giPhux]

Which ones do you mean.. the ones on the heater controls.. or the radio? I'm pretty sure the radio ones are supposed to work.. at least they did in my other 99 LGT Ltd. I dont know about the heater controls though, because in my other car, they didnt light up either.. only the small little squares under the buttons did.

What do you suggest i wiggle around? :-?

[Wiscon_Mark]

Pretty much everything, dude. The airflow controls are backlit. The radio controls are also lit, the screen on the radio is supposed to be lit (I remember it being lit, now I have an aftermarket). Everything that needs to be visible is supposed to be lit up.

[d1giPhux]

Damn, sounds like i got some wiggling / bulb replacing to do then! How hard are the heater control bulbs to replace.. and do you know what kind of bulbs they take? Weird that in the 2 leg's that ive owned.. both of them the heater controls / pictures were NOT lit up.. haha must be a common burn out. :grin:

[Wiscon_Mark]

I doubt the bulbs are burnt out, honestly. Wiggle them around first.

I believe the only place you can get the bulbs are from the dealership, and you have to buy the bulb base with them so it gets pricey.

[d1giPhux]

Bulb base? What is that? Damn.. that kinda sucks. I mean, i can deal with not having them light up.. if its going to cost a lot. Too bad you cant just hook LED's or something up. How do i get to the heater control bulbs? I guess i will just look at those first, and wiggle them around to see if i can get them working. I just find it weird that NONE of them are working.. and only the little green squares light up under the buttons.

[Wiscon_Mark]

You could solder LEDs in if you wanted. But white 12v LEDs are really hard to find.

The bulb base is what holds the bulb in and connects to the wires. It's like a plug.

[Huffer]

it's pretty common for the control unit bulbs to burn out, esp. on 8+ year old cars.

[shazapple]

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?t=1904

this is a good post about replacing the tiny bulbs. If I remember correctly thats the same type of bulbs that go into the HVAC (as well as pretty much the rest of the dash)

Theres only one other type of bulb, and its not much bigger than the one in the post above. Personally, I wouldnt bother taking everything apart just to wiggle a bulb. Chances are after 8 years theyre burnt or by you wiggling them they will get burnt

[Wiscon_Mark]

No, they're not the same as the guages. The guages are 194 and some medium size bulb- these are much smaller.

there's really not much to be done for the radio though-except buy a new one.

[d1giPhux]

Yea, haha, its probably not even worth worrying about. I've already memorized most of the controls anyways. I guess if i get some spare white 12v led's from computers and stuff i will save them up for a little project. As for the heater ones, i guess i wont really worry about those either! LOL. Thanks for the help guys.. guess this pretty much ended in a "shouldn't bother". LOL. :oops: :lol:

[Superu264]

When I bought my car NOTHING lit up. I completely took apart the HVAC to reveal the problem was years of assholes letting their drinks spill all over the dash (which also caused my radio to die). I cleaned every part of the HVAC and bought new bulbs.. problem solved and its like new. :grin:

[/my $.02 because I didnt feel like reading all the posts]

[d1giPhux]

How much did you get the new bulbs for? If they are gonna be pricey.. im not even gonna worry about it.. but if i can get LED's or cheaper bulbs somewhere, i might consider it. WOULD be cool to have a lit up HVAC and radio controls.

[Superu264]

I dont know about the radio I just trashed mine (well, stored it away :lol: ) but for the HVAC all 3 bulbs didnt cost me any more than $6-7 at the dealer.

[blueb3]

Screw the bulbs for the radio and replace the whole head unit!!

[d1giPhux]

eh nah.. i actually like the headunit a lot.. its got both tape deck, and cd. Plus, i think it just looks clean, as opposed to a normal pioneer headunit or something... had plenty of those in my honda days. I dont think it would be too hard to crack it open and solder some new led's in, if i ever get around to it! haha.

oh yea, and weatherband! hahaha. :roll:

[BryantPHS91]

I kno that before i got a new head unit in my car the time didnt light up on my stock head unit. the time was there, but if u were driving at night, there was no light to see the time


thought that might help a bit

-Kyle

[Wiscon_Mark]

It is supposed to work, though.

[d1giPhux]

Yea, the one on mine works.. luckily.. just the buttons dont light up.. thats all. Not too big of a deal really.. if i ever get the time, i'll just pull the face off and re-solder some new ones. :shock:

[88rxn/a]

how hard is it to remove the plastic to get to the HVAC and check the bulbs?
my lights dont work either for this (HVAC).

[d1giPhux]

I assume is somewhere similar to this maybe :

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=690333

but im not really sure.. i never bothered with mine. seems like more of a hassle then its worth. the only ones that are out on mine are the buttons for the heater console.. but for some reason i dont even believe these have lights behind them (not just the top).. because in my other one.. the buttons did not light up either!

hopefully someone can correct me about the link if im wrong! thanks.

[88rxn/a]

gonna be the project when i put in a head unit.....

[Superu264]

how hard is it to remove the plastic to get to the HVAC and check the bulbs?
my lights dont work either for this (HVAC).

Not hard at all.

All you need to do is take out the cupholders, take out the two screws, and pull the plastic out (it takes a bit of force, but you wont break it).

[88rxn/a]

thanks!

[vtlegacy95]

like I said on the other HVAC thread, it only took me about 1/2 hour to replace the 4 bulbs in the hvac unit, you can get 12volt 60mA bulbs at raido shack that will work plus they are only 1.49 for a two pack

[88rxn/a]

i didnt cath that thread.....happen to remeber the part # fomr the shack?

[Plays_with_Toys]

the PN is in the other thread. It's linked in the middle of this thread.272-0175 or something like that.

There is a HUGE write up on this linked in the other thread. All the questions asked in here were answered over there.

[Bdubs]

also take note that the Foglight, Cruise Control, and rear defroster should also light up, those come out very easily, by unscrewing 4 trim screws around the speedometer area, unplug the harnesses, and the lights are right there, its a 5 min project.

[Wiscon_Mark]

also take note that the Foglight, Cruise Control, and rear defroster should also light up, those come out very easily, by unscrewing 4 trim screws around the speedometer area, unplug the harnesses, and the lights are right there, its a 5 min project.

+1

Those are pretty easy to redo. Just beware when you're putting the switches back together- those little plastic parts are easy to break if you don't have everything aligned properly.