Question on the lighted buttons radio/hvac?

[froggy47]

My "auto" button above the "mode" button on the hvac panel no longer lights up. Tried full bright on the adjuster & nothing. It functions 100% correctly, just no light.

Can they be serviced individually or does a cb need to be replaced?

04 c5z 45k miles

:)

[Junkman]

You can replace all of the bulbs in the HVAC unit, as well as the radio. The dealer will only replace the units for around $400 each. I did all of mine just a few months ago. See this 42 page thread for details. Get ready to do some reading!

[froggy47]

Originally Posted by Junkman

You can replace all of the bulbs in the HVAC unit, as well as the radio. The dealer will only replace them for around $400 each. I did all of mine just a few months ago. See this 42 page thread for details. Get ready to do some reading!

Thanks, the a/c is out also.

What is the bulb if I just want to replace stock to match the ones that still work?

I am not into making everything over into rainbow colors.

:)

[Junkman]

In that thread, they talk about the exact replacement. Look for post by Tim (tstar). He's the expert. I don't remember the bulbs I used.

[ToolGuy]

You need to know how to desolder and solder. Gone are the days of socketed bulbs for radio and HVAC controls which I'm not too happy about but it was probably done for cost savings.

While I can solder like a pro, I've not done my radio or HVAC yet. I did not want to pull it all apart right now. I did change all the other socketed bulbs in the car to socketed LEDs, that was the easy part.

Page #1 & 2 in the above link shows you were the current bulbs are and where you need to de-solder and solder in new for both automatic and manual HVAC controls.

I really don't agree with the traction control LED in that above thread. Use two sockted LEDs, to replace the two factory socketed bulbs and no hacking like in the link. The second example shows this.
Lights up just fine doing that and is not hacked, but a direct swap. Why create more work for yourself?

Anyway I digress, I have LEDs in all my cars, house, flashlights, pinball machines and so on. There are many choices for LEDs out there, trial and error is common with them.

[Junkman]

The bulbs that I used were straight plug and play. I removed the old bulbs and soldered in the new ones, nothing else. The bulbs I used had no polarity either. I think as that thread goes on, they improve what was used from when that thread started out. I don't know for sure because I haven't read the entire thread. By the time I got involved, they were down to the plug and play bulbs. It was easy for me because I use to be a Senior SMT for Motorola.

One more thing, you can't just replace one bulb. You must replace them all, or the ones you don't replace will burn out too.

[ToolGuy]

Originally Posted by Junkman

The bulbs that I used were straight plug and play. I removed the old bulbs and soldered in the new ones, nothing else.

But soldering is not "plug and play", no soldering required is...

I was just stating people need to solder in the replacment bulbs and not everyone knows how to solder. People that have never soldered can cause damge to boards if they use too much heat and keep it on the area to solder too long.

For those that don't want to go LED but stay incadescent, these are the bulbs I use and used to repair Delco radios. They work well.

12V/50mA Incandescent Bulb - RadioShack.com

Radio Shack also has leaded 12V bulbs possibly for HVAC where the bulb can lay on its side if needed for clearance.

[froggy47]

Thanks, to me P&P means no solder, but that's just different terminology folks use I guess.

Do I really have to do them all on the board?

When one on the board burns out does it oveload all the others?

I don't recall that the "a/c" was out, but now it is. Could be I just missed it or maybe it burned out after the "auto" light.

How about if I mail the board to one of you guys with a BevMo gift card, could you fix it up?

:)

[Junkman]

My plug and play is probably different to someone who doesn't know how to solder. Then, I have a really nice Pace soldering station.

If you fix the dim display problem on the HVAC, you will most likely have to replace all the bulbs. If you replace 1 bulb, you will definitely have to replace them all. I don't know why this happens but it has always been the same for me with every board that I have done. If you send your unit to tstar, he will do it for you for a price. If you are not good at soldering, it is well worth the price. It is some tedious work.

[ToolGuy]

Originally Posted by froggy47

How about if I mail the board to one of you guys with a BevMo gift card, could you fix it up?

:)

I would myself but I don't have automatic controls in my Vette, I have manual, thus I can't test it as I work or before I ship it back to you.