Freakin' light is out behind HVAC controls!

[savedbyzero]

Just noticed it last night! The light behind the the left knob is out! How? I don't know! But I need to replace it! It's driving me nuts looking at it! Anybody have any ideas on how to get back behind the plate to get to the bulb and such? My full warranty is up, so I gotta do it myself....

[joatmon]

in http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=6683, daughertyryan had one burn out, and we never heard if he ever got it replaced. It does not look trivial to replace one.

[ragingfish]

Mine is screwy behind the temperature control (rightmost one).It someitmes doesn't come on, but if i bang the knob, it kicks in. Did you try that?

[savedbyzero]

no...I'll get the hammer...

[ragingfish]

As joatmon said, I looked into replacing a bulb so i could open my climate controls to figure out what was wrong with my bulb (as said, it comes on and goes off randomly). Turns out getting to them is VERY difficult. I never even figured it out. I just gave up.

[savedbyzero]

thanks for the encouragement...I'll show you all! I can do it! MUWA- HA-HA-HA!Maybe....

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by savedbyzero »thanks for the encouragement...I'll show you all! I can do it! MUWA- HA-HA-HA!Maybe....Did you do it yet?

[ColonelPanic]

So, did we ever figure this one out? My lovely car has fallen victim to this same flaw...If I punch the HVAC bezel hard enough, the light for the mode knob (left) comes back on. The temperature and fan speed knobs still have their lighting working.Help.... And no, just dealing with it is not an acceptible answer. heh

[joatmon]

http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=17244

[jeffgtx]

hi colonel panic, welcome to genvibe. we have a lot of useful information posts and you can use the search feature to find answers to most questions. congrats on getting the vibe.hehehahahoho

[ColonelPanic]

Hi, thanks for the warm welcome! I've had my Vibe for about 2.5 years now and have already racked up 53,000 completely trouble free miles... But I haven't had a reason to post, this is the first problem. I've been lurking here for a while now, glad I finally posted. I have a method behind the madness: Here, I thought I would post regarding the taking the thing apart, the other thread is more so for the bulbs themselves... I found today it's developed an automatic feature! Start the car after it's been sitting for a while and no light. Take it out of park, viola the light comes on! But if you put it back in park, it stays on until the next time the lights are turned on. That is, if you wait for longer than a few seconds. It will come right back on if you turn the lights off then on immediately.Doesn't this just complement my purple LED's magnificiently?

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[jeffgtx]

where do you come up with these problems?!you weren't playing with the PRNDL trying to make automatic locks were you?

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by jeffgtx »where do you come up with these problems?!you weren't playing with the PRNDL trying to make automatic locks were you?Woah, I missed this. Nope, didn't do anything. Just got in the car one evening and it was dead. Ok, here's an update: I've obtained *some* access to the bulb but I can't get it out. Pulled off the center knob and took out the one philips screw. Removed the trim around the shifter which also is the same piece around the HVAC controls.Now, I have both bulbs in plain sight. The left one is loose - you can wiggle it ever so slightly in its socket, whereas that isn't possible w/ the right. That's where the problem originates, I do believe. Just barely touch it and the light comes on.Sadly, I'm at a loss on how to get them out. I can't seem to get the white piece for the HVAC controls out of the dash. It looks like it's just kinda floating there, I can't see anything that is holding it in place. I can probably try to change the bulb without removing the assembly provided the bulb pulls out of its socket (didn't attempt to remove it thus far.) But I'm thinking I need to look at the back of the assembly and see if I can twist the bulb and socket out that way. I really think I need to bend the contacts inward on the socket to make a more secure connection for the bulb. Or perhaps even replace the socket.Any ideas how to get the HVAC control assembly loose from the dash? What exactly holds it in? I think if I can just get it loose and find a way to pull it out enough to disconnect the cables, I'll be in good shape. Hopefully.The bulbs are tiny, once I get 'em out I'll try to find a match. Suspecting something like a 74 would work but not sure. I've gotta figure out how to change the bulbs before trying to figure that out though.

[joatmon]

if I remember right, the vibe service manual says to pull the radio to get better access to the stuff on the back of the climate controls.

[ColonelPanic]

I did pull the radio today, but that didn't seem to help. There still wasn't anything to be accessed from there that was holding the stupid piece in.I figured it's probably like our speakers and they decided to rivet the SOB in. Then I stick a screwdriver between the dash and the white piece, finally got one side (right) loose. It would only pull out so far due to the cables, and I'll be damned if I could figure out how to remove them from the back of the housing. I went to the left side with the screwdriver and got that side of the housing to pop loose. In the process though, the right side snapped back in palce. So, I go back to the right side with the screwdriver and SNAP! Broke the clip that holds the thing in place and some piece of plastic falls into the dash. Uh, oops or something...So now the housing for the HVAC controls won't snap into place on the right side. I said screw it and put everything back together. Stuff still works, but the entire bezel and HVAC controls just kinda move around if you touch 'em. I'll let the next owner deal with it, and I guess I'll just have to keep beating the hell out of the dash to get the stupid light to come back on. I should probably try to replace what I've broken, but blah- sir knocksalot doesn't deserve that.