Next up, the HVAC buttons. I cannot stress enough how much of an amazing PITA it is to do these, nor how easy it is to break them, so you should be reallyreallyreally sure you want to do it. The backlighting bulbs are easy enough, the button LEDs are not.
First, you need to pull all the backlight bulbs out of the HVAC cluster, remove the AC switch board, and finally remove the white backing plate. Once you do, you'll have this:
The 12 LEDs for the flow control button and HVAC buttons are now visible. Each small white "box" with the diode label above it is a LED. In order to change them, you need to remove this board, and in order to do that you must remove the buttons from the front of the unit, like so:
The buttons just snap into the white actuators under them. However, the plastic is very fragile and prone to snap. If you snap the little tabs off the buttons, they will need to either be replaced (good luck finding them), or epoxied on. If you epoxy them, you will never be able to take the controls apart again, so make sure you pick a color you'll be happy with if you want to change the LEDs.
The rear defrost button snaps out of the housing via two nearly impossible to get tabs, and pulls out backwards. More on this little SOB later.
Once you have the board free of the housing, it'll look like this:
You must then remove all of the white button actuators without breaking them. This is also an amazing PITA, and requires some very gentle work with a screwdriver to pop them off of the blue tabs without snapping them. I managed not to break any, but the removal process took three hours. When they're off, you can pull the clear plastic light channels off the board, and be left with the buttons and the LEDs:
In order to remove the LEDs, you need to desolder them from the back of the board, while pulling them gently out of the button holders. This is a complete PITA. Using a kelly clamp makes it a little less annoying. Once they're out, you can insert your new LEDs. Again, you must insert them with the correct polarity. Match the long positive annode of the led to the "arrow" side of the diode diagram on the back of the board.
There's one other LED you can replace, which I didn't photograph, and that's the "on" light for the AC button. It's fairly straightforward to desolder and replace it. I used blue for the hell of it, even though my AC system is presently removed. :twisted:
First, you need to pull all the backlight bulbs out of the HVAC cluster, remove the AC switch board, and finally remove the white backing plate. Once you do, you'll have this:
The 12 LEDs for the flow control button and HVAC buttons are now visible. Each small white "box" with the diode label above it is a LED. In order to change them, you need to remove this board, and in order to do that you must remove the buttons from the front of the unit, like so:
The buttons just snap into the white actuators under them. However, the plastic is very fragile and prone to snap. If you snap the little tabs off the buttons, they will need to either be replaced (good luck finding them), or epoxied on. If you epoxy them, you will never be able to take the controls apart again, so make sure you pick a color you'll be happy with if you want to change the LEDs.
The rear defrost button snaps out of the housing via two nearly impossible to get tabs, and pulls out backwards. More on this little SOB later.
Once you have the board free of the housing, it'll look like this:
You must then remove all of the white button actuators without breaking them. This is also an amazing PITA, and requires some very gentle work with a screwdriver to pop them off of the blue tabs without snapping them. I managed not to break any, but the removal process took three hours. When they're off, you can pull the clear plastic light channels off the board, and be left with the buttons and the LEDs:
In order to remove the LEDs, you need to desolder them from the back of the board, while pulling them gently out of the button holders. This is a complete PITA. Using a kelly clamp makes it a little less annoying. Once they're out, you can insert your new LEDs. Again, you must insert them with the correct polarity. Match the long positive annode of the led to the "arrow" side of the diode diagram on the back of the board.
There's one other LED you can replace, which I didn't photograph, and that's the "on" light for the AC button. It's fairly straightforward to desolder and replace it. I used blue for the hell of it, even though my AC system is presently removed. :twisted: