So in my attempt to transform my interior with Hyper white bulbs to change the climate control and switches etc. I apparently killed the climate control buttons on the sides. It no longer illuminates. I have checked fuses, wiring etc. Does anyone know if it uses a microprocessor to control lighting? I know my s2000 was like this but unsure with this vehicle. It worked for a period of time then it started to flicker intermittent then just off all together. I guess it's a wrap when it comes to this transformation. Lesson learned not to fuck with the interior lights controlled by complex circuits. Does anyone have an extra climate control screen and the lighted buttons on the side? If so I'd like to buy it.

 

sounds like you shorted something on the board when you soldered the new LEDs in. i say go back and take a close look at your work and make sure there are no shorts. otherwise if you used the same spec LEDs as the OEM ones the circuitry should not make a difference

 

I used led bulbs, I got them from superbrightleds. They worked like a charm in the seat heater switch, but when I had them in the buttons for the climate control they worked good for a little bit but then blew out. I am not sure if they are the same spec as oem because they didn't have details about them. I am wiling to bet that the resistor in line with the led was too small and to much current got through the whole circuit. Maybe this is a sign for me to leave it alone and just do the navi conversion.

 

Have you tried replacing the LED's to make sure its not just burnt LED?

 

Yes, I swapped them into the heater switch to see if they worked and they did. I put the oem bulbs back in and nothing at all still. I am pretty certain that I blew out the microprocessor that controls the lighting in the box. Because both right and left strip of buttons don't work. It's definitely the unit I am convinced. There is no other explanation for this. I am just hoping someone can hook me up with the factory non-nav screen for cheap or I may have to bite the bullet and go all out on nav conversion either way right now it really sucks not being able to see the climate control buttons at night.

 

who was the guy who lived in new jersey that would do a complete nav conversion for like $2k. I'm just a little annoyed with all this now and would rather not ever screw with this again.

 

Wow that really sucks! I changed just my "dual" green LED with a blue one and that was dicey enough for me. You must have went through a lot of work to try your experiment and I give you credit for the balls to do it.

You should remember that specs are VERY important though. 1 LED like mine is OK but it adds up if you do a bunch. If something is off by even a lil bit, with all those LEDs calculations add up and it is too easy to fry something. When you look at SBL (superbrightled's) webpage they give you full specs on all their LEDs and you should try your best to match them exactly. By your story with the flickering it sounds like the values were off.

Aaanyways see if you can score a set of switches from someone with a toasted nav unit, there's gotta be a few somewhere....You know ones with a cracked screen or jammed changer and that has been ditched. If I remember correctly, the switches from the dealer alone go for about $75 per side and that's if you can find them to order....

I checked in advance in case I toasted my board too when I was experimenting. The good news is they can separate from the nav unit and are pretty easy to unplug and swap out.

 

Well I appreciate the respect and all. I'm a little frustrated in myself because I do electronics for a living. Specifically working with this kind of stuff, not vehicles but avionics. Anyways, I should have looked into this a lot more than just assuming that superbrightled's 3mm wedge bulb would be the same resistance as the oem bulbs, or for that matter should have checked to see if it was just strait voltage powering these bulbs or a circuit.

The resistance on these bulbs was probably a bit less than oem, and it just overloaded and fried it circuit. It's a shame but lesson learned. I can at least say that if you are putting these bulbs in switches where voltage is direct and not controlled by a circuit board go ahead and give it a shot, but don't mess with this otherwise or you'll have as bad of luck as me. I'll take a picture and post just to show you guys how the LED heater switches turned out.

 

Here is how the heater switch turned out. Sorry the picture didn't turn out to good, all I have is a point and shoot.

 

ah i didnt realize that they were just plug-n-play LEDs, i figured all of the ones on the inside were SMTs.

 

Nope the SMTs are in the radio and door switches and stuff. The 3mm wedge bulbs are twist type they go in the climate control, heat seater switches and probably a few others but I hadn't gotten this far because of the climate control crapping out on me.

 

Oh I thought you were soldering SMTs here too....so you got those twist-in #74 neowedges, is that what you were talking about? Now I can understand why you didn't check specs. They don't post specs about those, you'd probably have to ask them. They post specs on all their loose LEDs.

 

I have had the same problem with the climate control buttons and the heated seat buttons, but I think the lightbulbs fell out during another mod project. I've dreaded trying to fix these small problems. Is it easy to find where these bulbs go?

 

For the most part you can tell right away. You physically have to remove stuff you know, and then you can see if they are the crew type 3mm bulbs or just leds. They are polar sensitive meaning they only work one way. So if you put them in and they don't light up. You'll have to take it out reposition on opposite terminals and you should be good.