Changing lights for Gen1 and 1.5 clock and SLE auto HVAC
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 10:24 amFirst, I take no responsibility for what happens as you work on your clock and changing bulbs in your HVAC.
I would highly recommend that you log onto car-part.com and purchase another auto HVAC which will be the entire assembly. You will have something to use if the one your working on gets screwed up. You will have many units from different dismantlers and at a wide range of prices.
I would recommend that you purchase the #74 bulbs that I used from autolumination.com. They are listed as the second bulbs on the page. You should be able to see through the transparent casing to see the resisters used with the bulb. The cost is $2.50 each and I bought 6 of them. You can also order the "neo - wedge instrument panel bulbs" for those needed for the rest of the lights on the back of the PCB. They are the ninth bulb listed on the page and cost $2.99 each and I bought 7 of them.
First of all I assume you can take the radio surround off. This will expose the clock and HVAC.
For the clock, I took off the brown plastic cover from the surround which left the clock face exposed. Next I got some light blue transparent plastic from a paper and art supply store. At the same store I purchased "Createx transparent airbrush PTHALO blue" paint. A perfect match to the blue bulbs. The trick is to NOT put so much paint on the plastic to make it opaque. I used a cheap airbrush and sprayed the plastic. I then cut the plastic to size and put it in front of the clock glass and used white glue so the plastic would not shift. Works great. I DID NOT put the brown plastic back on as that would be defeating what you just did. Can't tell that it was there before. Looks great.
As for the auto HVAC, to do this, having soldering skills is a plus because this part requires de-soldering and again soldering the bulbs you just took off the PCB. You will also need "solder wick" to take up the solder from the wires of the bulbs you take out.
Unscrew and take out the HVAC assembly and then take the lower tray and yellow plastic after body from the HVAC. You can then take the front housing of the HVAC off exposing the glass and lights of the front side of the HVAC and the back of the PCB. Take kleenex and after folding several times, use masking tape and tape the kleenex over the glass face. Don't touch or scratch the glass.
Turn the PCB over and check the four light wires that I de-soldered. The lights that I changed are the "inside and outside air, auto and a/c".
These are the only bulbs I changed.
Use "solder wick" to take the solder off the PCB for the bulbs you want to change and take the bulbs out of their holder. BE CAREFUL NOT TO SCRATCH OR DAMAGE THE TRACES OF THE PCB. If you do chances are that the bulb won't work.
I then used a drill bit the diameter of the hole and by HAND, I reamed out the bulb housing to take down the raised piece of plastic that the original bulb rested on because it is smaller. After you do this you will be able to use the #74 bulb. Do NOT take the plastic down to the inner trace because once you cut the trace you will ruin the PCB and the bulb won't work. I would recommend that you wrap masking tape around the drill bit at the depth you decide to use. You don't have to take all the plastic out. All you need to do is take enough out to have the top of the bulb about even with the top of the housing. Measure the depth the bulb need to go and transfer that measurement to the drill bit.
Take the #74 bulb and after straighting out the wires at the base of the bulb, bend them out to 90* so you can use small wire cutters and cut off the plastic that hangs down. Then GENTLY slide the remaining plastic off the rest of the bulb.
Use these bulbs in the replacement of the original bulbs. Remember, if it won't light up the way you put the bulb in then turn it 180* and try again.
Plug in the yellow plastic rear piece to the car wiring and then hold the back of the PCB with the new bulb to the male connector to see that the bulbs are lighting before you solder the bulbs in place. You should do this every time you put a new #74 on the PCB.
Using the "neo-wedge" bulbs with attached base put them into the remaining holes on the back side of the PCB.
The same thing applies to these bulbs if they don't light up the first time.
Assuming everything light up ok, put everything back together again and enjoy.
I didn't write things down as I did this and its been several months so while I don't have Alzheimers I do have Sometimers. I hope this helps.
I would highly recommend that you log onto car-part.com and purchase another auto HVAC which will be the entire assembly. You will have something to use if the one your working on gets screwed up. You will have many units from different dismantlers and at a wide range of prices.
I would recommend that you purchase the #74 bulbs that I used from autolumination.com. They are listed as the second bulbs on the page. You should be able to see through the transparent casing to see the resisters used with the bulb. The cost is $2.50 each and I bought 6 of them. You can also order the "neo - wedge instrument panel bulbs" for those needed for the rest of the lights on the back of the PCB. They are the ninth bulb listed on the page and cost $2.99 each and I bought 7 of them.
First of all I assume you can take the radio surround off. This will expose the clock and HVAC.
For the clock, I took off the brown plastic cover from the surround which left the clock face exposed. Next I got some light blue transparent plastic from a paper and art supply store. At the same store I purchased "Createx transparent airbrush PTHALO blue" paint. A perfect match to the blue bulbs. The trick is to NOT put so much paint on the plastic to make it opaque. I used a cheap airbrush and sprayed the plastic. I then cut the plastic to size and put it in front of the clock glass and used white glue so the plastic would not shift. Works great. I DID NOT put the brown plastic back on as that would be defeating what you just did. Can't tell that it was there before. Looks great.
As for the auto HVAC, to do this, having soldering skills is a plus because this part requires de-soldering and again soldering the bulbs you just took off the PCB. You will also need "solder wick" to take up the solder from the wires of the bulbs you take out.
Unscrew and take out the HVAC assembly and then take the lower tray and yellow plastic after body from the HVAC. You can then take the front housing of the HVAC off exposing the glass and lights of the front side of the HVAC and the back of the PCB. Take kleenex and after folding several times, use masking tape and tape the kleenex over the glass face. Don't touch or scratch the glass.
Turn the PCB over and check the four light wires that I de-soldered. The lights that I changed are the "inside and outside air, auto and a/c".
These are the only bulbs I changed.
Use "solder wick" to take the solder off the PCB for the bulbs you want to change and take the bulbs out of their holder. BE CAREFUL NOT TO SCRATCH OR DAMAGE THE TRACES OF THE PCB. If you do chances are that the bulb won't work.
I then used a drill bit the diameter of the hole and by HAND, I reamed out the bulb housing to take down the raised piece of plastic that the original bulb rested on because it is smaller. After you do this you will be able to use the #74 bulb. Do NOT take the plastic down to the inner trace because once you cut the trace you will ruin the PCB and the bulb won't work. I would recommend that you wrap masking tape around the drill bit at the depth you decide to use. You don't have to take all the plastic out. All you need to do is take enough out to have the top of the bulb about even with the top of the housing. Measure the depth the bulb need to go and transfer that measurement to the drill bit.
Take the #74 bulb and after straighting out the wires at the base of the bulb, bend them out to 90* so you can use small wire cutters and cut off the plastic that hangs down. Then GENTLY slide the remaining plastic off the rest of the bulb.
Use these bulbs in the replacement of the original bulbs. Remember, if it won't light up the way you put the bulb in then turn it 180* and try again.
Plug in the yellow plastic rear piece to the car wiring and then hold the back of the PCB with the new bulb to the male connector to see that the bulbs are lighting before you solder the bulbs in place. You should do this every time you put a new #74 on the PCB.
Using the "neo-wedge" bulbs with attached base put them into the remaining holes on the back side of the PCB.
The same thing applies to these bulbs if they don't light up the first time.
Assuming everything light up ok, put everything back together again and enjoy.
I didn't write things down as I did this and its been several months so while I don't have Alzheimers I do have Sometimers. I hope this helps.
