Heater control unit , lights

[xdeadeye1]

So I got to looking at my heater controls...  (96 Legacy wagon 2.2 )   There is a blue a/c button there.  It never lights up.

 

Is it supposed to light up?    Is the Fan dial supposed to be illuminated too?  (mine isn't).

 

I bought some of those micro bulbs from radioshack on ebay. 

 

Your thoughts and guidance are appreciated.. I have the unit out of the car at the moment , due to having to fix the heater box again. 

 

I just didn't want to tear into it if those things don't even light up.

[lmdew]

You will find 4 or 5 bulbs in the unit.  You have to carefully pull off the rear circuit board.  The bulb holders are 1/4 turn and come out easy.  You can work the green plastic cover off the old bulb and reuse it.  To make the mini bulbs the same length, grab a ball point pen and pull the ink tube out.  Cut the empty upper end to the length you need and feed the mini bulb wires through and into the old socket.  Trim the excess wire.  

[xdeadeye1]

 some of the lights work,,, the ones under each ventilation option... 

 

The ones that don't... I KNOW are the a/c button,, and the dial.. So is the  dial lit?  Im assuming the a/c button lights up judging by the blue glass window in front.

[gbhrps]

xdeadeyeone,

 

Everything is supposed to be lit up. Some or all of the bulbs will have a tiny condom on them to give the blue cast when lit. Swap the condoms over to the new bulbs and follow imdew's lead.

[xdeadeye1]

cool thanks!

[upnorthguy]

Check out this thread (with pics) at legacygt (esp. pages 1, 5, 12).  Another good write up at here at scoobymods.

 

There are three bulbs on the heater controls.  The A/C button has its own bulb.  All can be replaced with the Radio Shack #7219 bulb.

 

When I replaced my A/C bulb, the button hung up a little on a small nub in the plastic (the RS bulbs are not the exact same size, but close enough...except for where that nub is!).  A two second bump with the dremel flattened the nub enough for the button to work normally.

 

I learned the hard way that it is WAY easier to undo the cable for the temp control down in the passenger foot area.  The connection of that cable at the back of the control unit is a huge pain.  I spent more time on that than it took to replace the bulbs (including losing that damn clip into the bowels of the back of the radio).

 

I was able to reuse all the old green colored "bulb condoms" that cover the ends.  

Edited November 26, 2014 by upnorthguy