Heater control back lighting inop.

[schollsfinest]

So I've searched around and nothing has come up pertaining to this subject that I could find. As the the title States my backlighting for the heater controls is inoperable, well except for the A/C button which has its own light. I've removed the section with the two center vents and hazard switch to gain access to the rear of the HVAC controls but I can't seem to see/find where the light source is located. Can anyone tell me if this can be done without having to disassemble the dash and remove the entire control assembly?

 

[spyderdrifter]

There's only one light for the entire hvac panel. It should be located right under the a/c switch, so you may need to remove that to get to the light. There's just little tabs to push in to remove the switch. You'll know the hvac light when you see it, it has two red wires. No black, no green, just two red wires.

 

[schollsfinest]

Thanks for the quick reply, I did find a connector with 2 red wires leading to the location you mentioned. I tried figuring out how to remove it to no avail, as I had a hunch that was it I was planning on pulling my car back in after work today and letting my sausage fingers give it another try. Does it just pull straight out or is there some sort of locking tab I need to disengage?

 

[spyderdrifter]

There are two little tabs that hold the connector to the hvac base, and you should be able to wiggle the connector a bit to slide it out of those tabs. Once you got it out of the tabs, there's no real easy way to separate the connector halves. In the past I've just used wire cutters to cut the tab on the female side so the male side could slide out without needing to depress the tab on that side. It's a bit of a pain in such a cramped area. But once you do that, you won't have the issue anymore. The connector haves are tight enough to not need to be locked together and they don't move anyway. I've had to do this every time I've changed the HVAC to LED lighting, so I also extend the wiring so that I don't need to mess with the damn connector.

Here's a link I did a few years ago that shows the unit better. Hope this helps.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/how-to-disassemble-your-2g-hvac-unit-without-breaking-it.454483/

In the first picture you can just barely see the female sided of the connector sitting in the tabs on the base.

And this is the piece I cut with wire cutters:

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[schollsfinest]

I was able to get the connector loose and disconnected, I was meaning the light itself where it connects to the controls under the A/C switch, I tried pulling straight out on the wires some but didn't want to break it, I also had to get home so after about an hour of messing around in my dash i threw it back together and headed home. I'll get back in there today like i mentioned and I'll update you on my frustration . Thank you again spyder for the info and the help, I spent hours between google and identifix trying to find this information.

 

[spyderdrifter]

No problem. The black piece that mounts under the a/c switch has to be rotated to come out. No sure if you did that or not.

 

[talonesi95t]

I just did mine a few weeks ago and put in a led. I don't have sausage fingers and i couldn't get to that light with the ac switch out of the way. I had to pull the hvac complete out. Maybe with some curved needle nose pliers you can have better luck getting to it without disassembly.

 

[schollsfinest]

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Thanx again guys I was able to remove the A/C switch and use a small set of needle nose and coax it out, coincidentally I just had a customer that wanted his PRNDL lights replaced in his instrument cluster so I had a few spare bulbs lying around that were the correct fit. So if you have enough determination and some tiny tools this job is entirely possible with just removing the center vent assembly.