night illumination

Hi - I am hoping to get some help on how to fix night illumination problems on my control panel.

Most of them work, but my passenger side seat heat button does not light up at night, and just this morning (still dark) i noticed my volume control and tuning controls are dimmer than the rest of the lights.

Are these bulbs? Will i have to take off the face?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi - I am hoping to get some help on how to fix night illumination problems on my control panel.

Most of them work, but my passenger side seat heat button does not light up at night, and just this morning (still dark) i noticed my volume control and tuning controls are dimmer than the rest of the lights.

Are these bulbs? Will i have to take off the face?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The seat heater switches have a small bulb (or 2, don't remember) in them. Both mine burnt out too 1.5 years ago, and I replaced the bulbs with blue LEDs (in series with a resistor). The Hi-Lo heating indicators though are LEDs from the factory and will never burn out. To replace you'll need to dissemble the switch and take out the little printed circuit board, and you'll need to solder the bulbs off and on. You'll need to re-use the bulb holder if you're replacing with bulbs. If you break the blue color rubber sleeve that gives the light a blue-ish hue, and cannot re-use it, you may want to paint the new bulbs blue. My local Radio Shack store carries the tiny 12V bulbs. If you're replacing with LEDs, like I did, make sure you do not install LEDs backwards, otherwise they don't light up. Experiment with the series resistor value (in case of LEDs are to be used) so that the brightness goes in harmony with the rest of the night illumination.

To take out the switches you need to pull the bazel off, and remove two torx-head screws that hold the switches to the the back of the bazel.

I had burnt out bulbs in the power mirror control switch too and have replaced with LEDs. Never had problem with other interior lighting so I can't tell on that part.

Thanks, i think i understand what you are saying.

what about the volume and tuner knobs, how do i take off the face panel to change those?

My seat heater button lights never used to work, but after I pulled the bezel one day, the pass one lights up, but the hi-lo thing (not the led) doesn't. Also, i've taken apart the radios and probably one of the lights inside has died. If you are good with electronics and have lots of screwdriver heads, you'll be able to replace the dead light in the radio.