Vent Backlight Died
 

Anybody familiar with how to replace the backlight for these?

I don't suspect a fuse because wouldn't all the other center console backlights be out too?

https://i.imgur.com/fIHHzVv.jpg

A fuse might and might not be the issue. Don't assume; look.
Also if you are asking doubt you wanna tackle this yourself.

Not 100% familiar but if it's like any of the cars I used to own.
Remove AC controls.
Disassemble.
Solder in replacement LED/Light.
Reverse steps.

I did this on accident once and ended up purchasing a replacement panel on ebay for $40, which was definitely a little overkill. I ended up just shucking that part out of the one I bought and now I have a spare panel.


Search for 85201CA040.

I was curious if anybody has any prior experience doing this on the twins.

I put in the headunit, soldered wires for the reverse camera, and drilled in a hole next to the plate lights myself.

So, YOU messed it up - :eyebulge:

(jest ah messen wich ya)

Exactly that will fix it.

It's not a fuse. The same fuse is shared with other still-working interior lighting including the the fan speed and temperature control knobs.

The fix is marginally easier than described here though. The backlight for the knob is a neo wedge bulb; no soldering/desoldering necessary.
The temperature control uses the same bulb as the vent selector knob, both being Toyota parts. The fan speed control is a Subaru part, and its backlight is from a number of soldered-in LEDs. Those would require solder work to replace, or just replace the entire unit.

I think there are variants of the bulb for slightly different illumination colours, but part SU003-02102 covers many (but not all) applications. I don't know the exact difference between this part number and the other bulbs that have been used in this place.

When you tear things down deep enough to get to this bulb, the old bulb just twists a quarter turn counter-clockwise and should fall out (possibly needing a little percussive persuasion, but not much). Stick the new bulb in and turn it a quarter turn to lock.

You can consider getting an LED replacement for the original incandescent bulb. I believe it's size T4 - just search for T4 neo-wedge (eBay, Amazon, wherever) and see what talks to you. Note that the LEDs are polarized, so there's a 50-50 chance of putting it in backwards and it not lighting up. If this happens, take it out, and reinstall it rotated 180 degrees from before.

Thanks for sharing, I just got back from a road trip with some friends so I'm going to start dealing with this issue.

https://images.simplepart.com/images...a1_87C862A.jpg

Based on online parts diagrams, I think I'll just buy a new control switch: SU00302086 - https://parts.toyota.com/p/Scion_201...U00302086.html

I believe the wedge bulb you're thinking of is for the air circulation light (which is still working). The lighting of the vent controls seems to be independent somehow. It seems to be a $50 part for the entire switch, which is kind of steep for what it is but this really bothers me so I'll just fix it.

Since I'll be tearing out the center console, I think I'll finally do the soft knee pads swap found on +2014 models.

The light that's still working in your control is actually a hardwired LED built into the control. Despite the central location of the neo-wedge bulb (55910B), it's actually the backlight for everything around the central switch, and not the recirc indicataor. Similarly, the same bulb in the temperature control is for its backlight, and not the AC indicator.

The entire switch will certainly take care of it. But the bulb itself should do just fine.

See https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8336

In the first post, the OP replaces these bulbs with red LEDs. The backlight for the blue/white/red scale on the temperature control becomes all red with the red LED in place.

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/show...3&postcount=20

I'm scrolling through the pictures and his posts, it looks like the Vent mode backlight is done by LEDs as well. I'd rather just buy a whole new switch than solder on new LEDs.

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/show...&postcount=109

But it seems this person was able do just swap out the bulbs and found success .. so I guess I'll try swapping the bulbs.


Thanks for your help, I completely forgot about that thread you shared.

I'm not positive what he means by 2 each for the vent and temp controls. My first read was that he's counting the neo-wedge bulb as one LED, and he replaced the indiciator LED and is counting that as another. However, his posts don't show doing anything with the indicator (I think there's another thread or video somewhere that does) and more importantly, in the photo he shows of the replacement he uses for the neo-wedge bulb, his bulb has two LEDs.


http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...&pictureid=894

So I suspect the one bulb you would be replacing, constitutes 2 LEDs in the above post.

There you go!

One thing to be aware of with the LED neo-wedge bulbs, I think most tend to throw their light forwards, while the original incandescent lamps had a filament which would throw more sideways to the periphery of the dial. You can see this in the picture in the first post that I'd cited - the central button for the recirc button is much brighter than the icons around the vent control. The same thing is kinda visible with the A/C button being brighter than the temperature scale. If this bothers you, then either stick to the stock incandescent bulb (which ought to last you another 10 years) or you'll have to figure out some better neo-wedge bulb than what's typically sold (I've made my own in the past for other cars).

From what I'm sensing of your preferences, I would just go with the stock incandescent bulb rather than a neo-wedge LED.

You're welcome!

Got her lit up again!

The rotary vent assembly was annoying AF to deal with, took a few tries to get the teeth and parts lined up just right after taking it apart lol

https://i.ibb.co/rMjZf5g/Center-Console.jpg

Thanks a bunch @Luns