Back Lighting for Rear Heat and Rear Defrost Buttons

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M

mjulian

10 Year
Joined
May 22, 2013
Threads
3
Messages
5
Location
Northern Virginia
2003 LC. Both the rear heater and rear defrost back lighting (greenish light that helps locate the bottons on the dash at night) are burned out. Do these switches pull straight out or do I need to take the dash out to access the bulbs? The lights that indicate that the heat and defrost are on (orangeish lights) work fine. Any info on how to access these would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
On my '98, I went in to replace those with LEDs, only to find that the lights are built onto the circuit board, so no dice. The button caps for the switches pop out of mine, but I could not see a way to change the bulbs. YMMV
 
If I remember correctly, on my son's 2000, we pulled the center panel (with the A/C controls), removed a plastic cover (on the back of the panel) and swapped them out with LEDs.

AC Illumination

LED instrument panel/gauge cluster

I haven't had to deal with this on my 2006 yet, so I haven't looked.
 
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PabloCruise said:
Bummer...

Is there supposed to be a light down by the shifter showing what gear is selected? I know there is the one on the dash as well...

'99 LX
Click to expand...

I think so? Pretty sure someone showed a picture in one of those threads jLB linked. I could be wrong though.

EDIT: Those definitely are supposed to be illuminated.

jLB said:
If I remember correctly, on my son's 2000, we pulled the center panel (with the A/C controls), removed a plastic cover (on the back of the panel) and swapped them out with LEDs.

AC Illumination

LED instrument panel/gauge cluster

I haven't had to deal with this on my 2006 yet, so I haven't looked.
Click to expand...

I was under the impression I could swap them out too, based on those threads. When I got in there though, the were all surface mounted for those buttons. If there's a way to do it, I'd love to get back in there and finish the job. What I did swap out with white LEDs looks sooo much better to me.
 
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yotasavg said:
I think so? Pretty sure someone showed a picture in one of those threads jLB linked. I could be wrong though.

EDIT: Those definitely are supposed to be illuminated.



I was under the impression I could swap them out too, based on those threads. When I got in there though, the were all surface mounted for those buttons. If there's a way to do it, I'd love to get back in there and finish the job. What I did swap out with white LEDs looks sooo much better to me.
Click to expand...

Lex's post about shifter illumination:

LED instrument panel/gauge cluster



On the buttons below the A/C controls, the light that indicates that the switch is "ON" is surface mounted, but the "backlight" is one or more of the socketed bulbs.

I'm pretty sure about this for 2 reasons:
1) When we purchased my son's LC the only lights that worked in that area was the clock, which was what caused us to install the LEDs. Those buttons are now backlit in his LC.
2) Every picture I've seen posted with on mud where the owner has put white/colored LEDs in that area, those buttons are included in the color change.
​
 
jLB said:
Lex's post about shifter illumination:

LED instrument panel/gauge cluster



On the buttons below the A/C controls, the light that indicates that the switch is "ON" is surface mounted, but the "backlight" is one or more of the socketed bulbs.

I'm pretty sure about this for 2 reasons:
1) When we purchased my son's LC the only lights that worked in that area was the clock, which was what caused us to install the LEDs. Those buttons are now backlit in his LC.
2) Every picture I've seen posted with on mud where the owner has put white/colored LEDs in that area, those buttons are included in the color change.
​
Click to expand...
Ok that really helps, I've been struggling with this since I dug into it over a year ago... but not constantly lol. I decided I wanted to go with white LEDs for a clean look. For whatever reason though, the hvac knobs turned white, but those buttons and my center diff lock button remained greenish, even with the white LEDs behind them. I guess I assumed that the surface mounted buttons were causing them to still appear green. Maybe with a stronger color like blue I wouldn't be noticing this as much. Thoughts? Recommendations?
 
yotasavg said:
Ok that really helps, I've been struggling with this since I dug into it over a year ago... but not constantly lol. I decided I wanted to go with white LEDs for a clean look. For whatever reason though, the hvac knobs turned white, but those buttons and my center diff lock button remained greenish, even with the white LEDs behind them. I guess I assumed that the surface mounted buttons were causing them to still appear green. Maybe with a stronger color like blue I wouldn't be noticing this as much. Thoughts? Recommendations?
Click to expand...


This pic shows the light locations:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/cruiser-climate-control-jpg.775002/

You'll see that the diff-lock and hazard are on a separate small PCB.

You'll also see all the little "light pipes" that distribute the light to those lower buttons.

From what I remember, the clock (x2), antenna, diff lock and hazard switches were directly lit with and individual bulb for each. The other spots were more indirectly lit (and dimmer).

As far as green tint, I can't help you there because my son opted for green LEDs for the HVAC and antenna w/ white LEDs in the hazard and diff lock. (After seeing some of the mud pictures of LEDs behind the clock, we didn't touch those)
 
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