Hey, I have a 97 impreza outback sport. The bulb that lights the air vent controls on the dash went out and i was wondering how difficult it was to replace the bulb, or if anyone had done this before. Thanks, allen

It's a pain in the rump roast, but the bulbs are dirt cheap. They are one of the parts that follow the "price vs. ease of install" rule; if it costs the same as a kidney, it will be easy to install. If it costs $0.35, it will take a month and a pint of blood to get it installed .

I coudn't agree more with Brian. But, if you want to save a few bucks, and have the satisfaction of doing it yourself, it may be worthwhile....

Yes, I did this before, but mine is a 96' Legacy, 2.2 Wagon. I am not sure if this applies to you...It took me a whole saturday afternoon and had to take out the cupholder, bezel, detach the heater cable, unplug wire harness and take out the climate control unit. Now begins the tricky part, to figure out how to get to the bulbs! , the parts in the control unit are very delicate. Things that look like they are fused together can be actually slid open, however this must be done very carefully and in the right direction. Once you figure out how (without breaking anything), the rest is easy with the stock bulbs as they come mounted on a base (cost little more). But if you want to go the extra mile and save more.. you can get bulbs from Radio Shack (12 volt mini bulbs) for less than a dollar. These must be mounted on the old base as they do not come with the bases. I did both (2 from the dealer and one from Radio Shack).

One last piece of advise, if you are planning to do, make sure that you test it properly before putting everything back...

I ended up repeating this again a month later as one of the bulbs was not lighting. It turned out to be loose and all I had to do was tighten it...Now it is almost 2 years and fortunately no problems...

Good luck!!!

climate control backlight

 

Commuter