2005 Escape heater control lights

[rwb22]

The lights around my heater controls suddenly started acting up. When I start the vehicle, the are out, but if it "flick" the area around them some will come on. Flicking it again and the other ones will light. I know this is just a lose connection, but how do I get to them? How do I remove the plastic that is around the radio down through the heater controls? Do they just pull off?

In another matter, I purchased the vehicle in October. I was getting @25.4 mpg. Several weeks later when the first "cold" snap came, my mileage dropped to 17 mpg. Seems as though the colder it is, the worst the mpg. I used to let the thing warm up in the morning about 5 minutes but with that kind of mileage, now I start it and drive. I am getting around 19 mpg doing this. As the weather has started to warm up lately, at around 55 degrees, I got 24 mpg. Now that it has dropped back down into the 20's, I'm getting 19 mpg again. Any ideas?

[65comet]

Cold MPG problem. Do you have a very long commute? Do you have a Tach? When my 02 V6 gets very cold, it doesn't want to shift all the way into overdrive until it has been running down the road at least 10 minutes. Try watching your tach during warm and cold weather to see if it stays up around 2600 rpms on the highway at 55 mph for an extended period during the cold. When it is warm, my tach shows around 1800 rpm at 55 mph. During the really cold I get 22 mpg, warm I get 25.5 mpg. Almost all highway miles in my commute.

[rwb22]

I drive about 20 miles. Transmission seems to shift quick when it is cold. However I have noticed a hissing noise every now and then and come to realize that when I step on the brake pedal, it stops the hissing! What next?