I picked up my '04 TL 6-MT Navi last May and eventually realized that all of the buttons on the steering wheel should probably illuminate. So a while ago I hunted around to find instructions on replacing all of the various lights on the steering wheel (including the HFL and voice control buttons) but have just been putting off the job.

Then, just the other night, I discovered that the lights that are out are not consistent. Sometimes I have no cruise control lights; sometimes I have them all; sometimes only cruise or cancel are out. Same goes for the audio, HFL and voice control. The same is also true for the dashboard buttons (dimmer adjustment, max brightness and info display scroll and selector). They are never all out at the same time.

If the lights were bad, they wouldn't come back on. If the fuse was bad, they wouldn't come back on. Does anyone have any thoughts why the lights would work sometimes, but not others? (And what the fix would be?)

Thanks.

 

Previously deployed airbag? Def. the clock spring.

 

Sure as hell better not be a previously deployed airbag! No, the car checked out when I bought it -- no previous accidents, only one prior owner, all records, maintenance, etc. So it's not an airbag deployment issue.

You think it's the clock spring?

 

No, its not the spring.
Those lights are little incandescent bulbs in what is called a Neo-Wedge mount---basically a little piece of plastic that gets inserted into the button module and turned so the leads make contact with the brass leads on the socket to get power. I'm thinking the wedges are not turned all the way to make solid connection to the contacts.
Check in the 3G Garage for a number of threads posted by DeathMetal and myself regarding swapping out these bulbs for LEDs. Even if you don't want to go the LED route, the threads have great info on getting to those bulbs.