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Climate Control Backlight


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hey everyone, I think I MIGHT be having the same problem, but I am not sure ( I got my 97 outback on friday). The lights under the buttons for vent mode (floor vents, dash vents, etc.), and the AC light comes on. Does anything else light up on unit?

 

Does anyone have any pictures of the unit turned on? (maybe a picture at night with no flash.)

If the pictograms are not glowing (nighttime, dimmer turned up) just like the cruise and rear defrost and foglight buttons, etc... then your bulbs are burned out. You may have 1, or 2, or all 3 out, it just depends. They even get intermittent (I know mine originally was). It's obvious... once you know. :)

 

Commuter

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excellent information in this thread for the anal unlightened.

 

with the information here, i replaced two burned bulbs with 7219's and couldn't be happier. but, wouldn't you know it, the 1, 2 and 3 on the stereo went out the same day i fixed the climate control. please tell me another trip to radio shack is all i need. are the radio lights the same as the climate control?

 

btw, i had no problem getting the green condoms to fit over the 7219's.

 

-B

95 legacy staywag

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excellent information in this thread for the anal unlightened.

 

with the information here, i replaced two burned bulbs with 7219's and couldn't be happier. but, wouldn't you know it, the 1, 2 and 3 on the stereo went out the same day i fixed the climate control. please tell me another trip to radio shack is all i need. are the radio lights the same as the climate control?

 

btw, i had no problem getting the green condoms to fit over the 7219's.

 

-B

95 legacy staywag

 

If anyone has experience fixing the radio lights, the light on my display that shows the station is out. Is there a fix? I've actually replaced the radio, but wouldn't mind fixing that light and selling the whole unit which is the tape/CD double DIN radio.

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Hello, I replaced my climate control lights 2.5 years ago with radio shack bulbs, still working now! I re-used the green rubbers. I want blue light. some one else posted this link http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=2032058&kw=12%20volt%20bulb Does anyone know which blue bulbs will work where we are putting the regular clear radio shack bulbs in the heater, fog light switch etc. ?????

Thanks

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I think it was me that posted that info. The number for the blue light is Catalog#: 272-335

I haven't replaced these lights myself but I assume they will work ok.

It's a question of whether they will fit. There is no way I can tell from the picture how big this bulb is. And it mentions a "snap in" base. I doubt there would be room for anything that has a base.

 

Careful of the mA as well. Some of the bulbs that turned up were quite low. The 7219 bulb is 60 mA.

 

Commuter

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  • 2 weeks later...

Great, helpful thread.

I know it was mentioned once before but for those who have a problem with the A/C light as well Ill try to let you know ow to take care of it. Its very easy.

 

Once you have the control unit out of the dash, you do not need to remove any screws, simply look at the bottom of the unit, directly under the A/C button towards the back of the unit, there is a tab which you can lift to release the button assembly. The button can then be pulled forward through the unit. Replace the bulb as with the others. To reassemble push button assembly back through the front of the control unit and attach the wiring

 

Hope it helps.

Hentai

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  • 1 month later...

After much searching I found a plethora of information on another message board dealing with this same situation. Here is the .pdf file with in depth instructions on replacing the burnt out bulbs in the HVAC Unit and almost any switch in Subaru vehicles. The Radio Shack bulbs are nice and cheap and work wonders. Be careful about using LEDs in the AC unit as they usually run 2V at 30mA and the OEM bulbs run 9.5V (or 12v) at 60mA. Using an LED of 2V is gonna look great (if it works at all), but only for about a week before it burns out from too much voltage and current. As far as changing of colors, Subaru uses these little rubber shields (or as some say, "bulb condoms"). If I were to go about changing colors, I would just buy some color gels (Rosco or any other theatre brand) and cut and stick them behind the switch or wherever you are putting it. Hope I've been of help to some. The bulbs from Radio Shack come in a package of two (272-1092) #7219 Micro Lamp (12V 60mA, Wire-terminal base). I got each pack for $1.50. The Radio Shack bulbs are slightly smaller so the use of a ballpoint pen ink tube cut up as a spacer works very well! The original bulb PN's are #72351AC051 and #72351AC061 and run for anywhere from $3-12 each! This "mod" will save you lots of money and time in a way as there are so many bulbs usually needing replacement and a limited number in stock at the dealerships.

 

http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4280

 

Good luck!

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  • 1 month later...

This is a super site. I replaced the three climate control unit lights using the instructions. Piece of cake.

However, two out of the three lights don't work. The fan control and temperature control lights don't work. The various climate control buttons are lit up though. I purchased the bulbs from the dealer so I'm suspecting bad bulbs.

HOWEVER, is there a special way to insert the bulbs? I simply tightened them until they felt "snug" with about a half twist.

The Chilton/Haynes manuals instruct me to disconnect the battery due to air bag sensor concerns so I had no chance to test the lights until I put everything back together. Bummer.

Any tips out there?

 

A little confused.

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I have a 91 Leg LS with the digital display automatic climate control (temperature is set by telling it what temp you want it to maintain and then it automatically determines air flow direction and can also display outside temperature) Will your directions also work for me because I don't think any cables are involved.

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I gave it another shot and realized that the two bulbs that didn't work were not aligned properly. It looks like about 80% of the rotational area provides a contact for the bulb wires. I just managed to hit the unlucky 20% on two of the bulbs. A minor twist on the two bulbs and all my lights are working. No more driving in the dark.

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  • 1 month later...
any info on replacing the backlight for the auto transmission indicators?

 

I saw earlier in the thread that there was a link, but linky no worky...

 

anybody got the beta on that one?

You will need to remove the instrument cluster and the bulbs are on the back and very easy to change. I've recently done that procedure on my car. Reattaching the speedometer cable to the back of the instrument cluster can be difficult. Reach in under the dash and push the cable onto the cluster. Pushing the cluster onto the cable will drive you insane.

 

Hope this helps

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  • 4 months later...

Let's start by saying what a great Subaru Forum this is. I have just seen my 96 Legacy Outback light up like the cockpit of a airplane ! Finally I can see what is going on. I just wish I had found the site a little sooner. I paid the $3 bucks each from the dealer for the lamps in the climate control, then found the group and did some reading and went shopping at RadioShack, replaced 4 more lights that were out for the price of one from the dealership. What a great source of info... Thanks to all... I'm so Happy..:banana:

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This must be a big problem seems like you guys have been dealing with it for awhile. Does anyone on the group know anymore about the life span of the Radio Shack bulbs as compared to the OEM??? The OEM only lasted five years in our '98 Ru!!! the Re-circ. light went out on our car and as you can see from my previous post and I AM going to replace ALL the bulbs when I do it.

I have had many used cars and one new one; it seems to me the avarage life span of the factory bulbs is about 5 years give or take a year; Replacements are are another story, I have not had good luck sylvania, but have had great results with phillips.

John

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  • 5 months later...
I get an error message for your link.

 

File not found: /pstp/stude..lights.htm

 

Please try the following:

Browser Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)Remote Address 24.16.87.222Referrer http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?p=569543#post569543Date/Time 26-Jan-07 09:39 AMStack Trace (click to expand)

 

coldfusion.runtime.TemplateNotFoundException: File not found: /pstp/stude..lights.htm at coldfusion.filter.PathFilter.invoke(PathFilter.java:77) at coldfusion.filter.ExceptionFilter.invoke(ExceptionFilter.java:47) at coldfusion.filter.BrowserDebugFilter.invoke(BrowserDebugFilter.java:52) at coldfusion.filter.ClientScopePersistenceFilter.invoke(ClientScopePersistenceFilter.java:28) at coldfusion.filter.BrowserFilter.invoke(BrowserFilter.java:35) at coldfusion.filter.GlobalsFilter.invoke(GlobalsFilter.java:43) at coldfusion.filter.DatasourceFilter.invoke(DatasourceFilter.java:22) at coldfusion.CfmServlet.service(CfmServlet.java:105) at jrun.servlet.ServletInvoker.invoke(ServletInvoker.java:91) at jrun.servlet.JRunInvokerChain.invokeNext(JRunInvokerChain.java:42) at jrun.servlet.JRunRequestDispatcher.invoke(JRunRequestDispatcher.java:249) at jrun.servlet.ServletEngineService.dispatch(ServletEngineService.java:527) at jrun.servlet.jrpp.JRunProxyService.invokeRunnable(JRunProxyService.java:192) at jrunx.scheduler.ThreadPool$DownstreamMetrics.invokeRunnable(ThreadPool.java:348) at jrunx.scheduler.ThreadPool$ThreadThrottle.invokeRunnable(ThreadPool.java:451) at jrunx.scheduler.ThreadPool$UpstreamMetrics.invokeRunnable(ThreadPool.java:294) at jrunx.scheduler.WorkerThread.run(WorkerThread.java:66)

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  • 4 years later...
Does anyone else get error messages when they click on the links ?

 

They've been dead for years. If you're looking for HVAC light procedure here's a pretty good writeup:

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/change-heater-control-lights-95-99-legacy-26408.html

 

Hint: Skip step 7. Unhook the control cable from the other end--it's much easier!

 

Good luck.

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http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/change-heater-control-lights-95-99-legacy-26408.html

 

Hint: Skip step 7. Unhook the control cable from the other end--it's much easier!

 

Good luck.

 

the control cable goes where btw ? i gotta do this too and as much info would help.(i even book marked the above link)

 

is there leds that can be put in there in place of reg bulbs ?

 

Glad this thread got brought back from the dead,saves me the trouble of searching :brow:

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