FAQ: Interior Lighting Questions (Dash/Guage Color)

Hmmmm. It's just buggin me. I don't want to take apart the climate control to find out there isn't any illumination ya know.

What year is your car.
maybe someone on here with the same year can tell you for sure.
you need to put some info in your sig so people can help you without having to ask the basics.

1997

I've got a parts list that says the HVAC controller are the same P/N for 96 through 99.
If that is the case then all your buttons should be backlit.

Thanks man. I appreciate your help with this. I guess I need to look at the bulbs then.

Yes, all the HVAC buttons are back lit. It's common for some or all of them to be out eventually. I used a guy on E Bay to go through mine. It was 80.00 + 10.00 shipping, and a 100.00 core charge if you want an exchange so there is no down time.

Larry,
What year is your car.?

Looks like the price dropped to 50.00.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1996-BUICK-PARK-AVENUE-DIGITAL-CLIMATE-CONTROL-SERVICE_W0QQitemZ280263235973QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4140fd9985

Rickw wrote:

Larry,
What year is your car.?

1998

LARRY70GS wrote:

Looks like the price dropped to 50.00.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1996-BUICK-PARK-AVENUE-DIGITAL-CLIMATE-CONTROL-SERVICE_W0QQitemZ280263235973QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4140fd9985

That's an excellent price considering that you would have to pay that much for a used junk yard part without knowing how long it will last.
At least here, for $50.00, your getting a re-worked unit with a warranty.

Rickw wrote:

LARRY70GS wrote:

Looks like the price dropped to 50.00.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1996-BUICK-PARK-AVENUE-DIGITAL-CLIMATE-CONTROL-SERVICE_W0QQitemZ280263235973QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4140fd9985

That's an excellent price considering that you would have to pay that much for a used junk yard part without knowing how long it will last.
At least here, for $50.00, your getting a re-worked unit with a warranty.

He did a great job on mine. I used the exchange service so there was no down time. Fast shipping. He works on all kinds of dash board gauges and units. It's Digital Dash solutions.

Steve (cross3) you may want to take advantage of this deal, unless you would prefer to do it yourself.
I know i could do it myself but i wouldn't knowing I can have someone else do it, replacing bulbs and whatever else he does to the unit, for $50.00. Very cheap service. IMO.

crosss3 wrote:

Ok, I know there are write-ups on replacing HVAC lights but my question is do all the HVAC and Radio buttons light up? It doesn't say in the manual and I find it hard to believe that the backlights for the buttons are all out at the same time. It's not a fuse so can someone just let me know. Thanks.

What happens is they go one at a time, but once one goes out the rest go quickly. And most (original) owners don't bother replacing them - they go to a dealer "please fix this" and the dealer says "not fixable, you have to get a new head unit for $$$." and the owner will not usually replace an entire head unit just for one bulb.

Same for the radio.

What the *dealers* do is when they go out they pull the radio and HVAC head and send them to a company like United Radio in Syracuse to be "shopped" - for relatively short money they will replace the bulbs and what-not. Actually in this area (NY/PA/NH/VT) a LOT of people send radios to United. They're quite good. See their web site: http://www.unitedradio.com/automotive/ What-not means that in our radios they often will also replace the final output amps.

There was another post on this site that pointed to resources for learning electrical soldering and troubleshooting. This is a case in which learning those skills would save you more than $400 and cost you less than $40.

Albertj

I really appreciate your help guys. I will look into that deal on ebay and see if we can get something done. Does anyone have any idea how long it would take to get the replacement unit?

Sorry I mean the unit back from being repaired.

crosss3 wrote:

I really appreciate your help guys. I will look into that deal on ebay and see if we can get something done. Does anyone have any idea how long it would take to get the replacement unit?

He is in Connecticut I believe. I used the exchange service. He charges you a 100.00 core charge, and ships out a refurbished unit. When you get it (took 2 days for me), you install his, and ship your original back to him. He then credits you the 100.00. No down time.

I bought a unit from a junkyard and installed it and then sent out the unit with the dim display. US Mailed from GA to CT on Monday and got the unit back on Friday of the same week. I was amazed that the US Mail worked that fast so the actual work had to have been same day. Still one of my best ebay experiences. Highly recommended.

How much did the junkyard unit cost.??
I'm just curious how much they are getting for these units.
I'm noticing my display is starting out dim then slowly getting bright after start up.
I'll assume that this is the beginning of the end for my control head.
I'll use this guy also, as he is only one State away from me, CT to MA, should be a quick turnaround also.

Even though the eBay guy has a very quick turnaround, for what it's worth, you may be able to find a local audio shop to do it for you as well... When the tape deck went bad in my stereo, I took it to the audio shop next to my brother's auto shop, and he replaced it with a new factory unit in a few days. Light bulbs should be available locally...

I thought I would post an update on my HVAC repair. The repair is covered by a 3 month warranty. I installed my exchange unit in September. At the end of December, the unit started to fail. I always leave the unit in "Auto" mode with the temperature set at 74*. When I started the car, the screen was blank, the buttons were all, non responsive. The only thing I had was the back lighting. If I banged on the top of the dash, the screen would suddenly show just the centigrade indicator. If I shut the engine and restarted, everything would come back, and it would be fine for a day, or a week, then the same problem would occur again. When the function did return, the mode was off "Auto", and the air was blowing from the heater and windshield outlets. I always got heat as the engine warmed up, but I had no control over anything when the problem was occuring, very strange.

I called Digital Dash Solutions. Even though the warranty was up, he told me to send it in and he would look at it. I did so this past Tuesday (2/2/10). He e-mailed me yesterday to tell me the unit was repaired and on it's way back to me. Hopefully, it will be fine. The bottom line is there was a problem, but he took care of it for free. I E mailed him back thanking him and asking if it was something simple, but he has not responded (it was after his business hours to be honest). I'll post again if he gets back to me, and if the repair works.

Just got an E-mail from Carl. The verdict, Broken trace on the PC board.

Got the unit back today. Put it in the car and it is perfect.

Does anyone know of a kit to make your gauges and gauge lights a different color?

If you remove the bulbs from behind the dash you can cover them with a rubber shield thats is of a different color, or get colored markers and paint 'em, it works!

.. or just put in led bulbs. My dash lights are blue! Just pull the cluster and swap the bulbs.