Climate control/radio backlight?

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toyotasr542
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My tercel:: 1984, tercel sr5 wagon

Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by toyotasr542 »

Hey all, just a quick question I can't seem to find the answer to. Do our rigs have a backlight for the climate control and radio area? Or just the dash and inclinometer. Can't seem to find any info or maybe I'm using the wrong search terms
Last edited by toyotasr542 on Tue Jan 15, 2019 10:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
'90 4runner 4wd sr5, OM617.952 turbodiesel/R150F transmission, ~155k on odometer, ~10k on swap
'84 Tercel 4wd sr5,
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splatterdog
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Re: Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by splatterdog »

Yes, and if I remember right it is a special tiny bulb only available from the dealer.
toyotasr542
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Re: Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by toyotasr542 »

Where is it accessed from, haven't torn into the dash before
'90 4runner 4wd sr5, OM617.952 turbodiesel/R150F transmission, ~155k on odometer, ~10k on swap
'84 Tercel 4wd sr5,
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splatterdog
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Re: Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by splatterdog »

Mostly just the panel bezel and climate control knobs gets you in. I think the controls have just enough slack in the cables to get to the bulb. Radio might need to come out. Been a while..
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Petros
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Re: Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by Petros »

as I recall, it is not difficult to access. you remove the trim around the radio, and than the one around the heater control panel/upper vents (all Phillips screws, four as I recall). the screws on the upper panel on on the underside of the cross beam in the center. from there you can unscrew the face plate after removing the knobs on the heater control panel. the light is behind there. Inspect the bulb filament, if it is good, clean the contacts and check the wires/fuse to make sure you have 12v getting to the panel (check with a volt meter when the lights are on).
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Abletobecain
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Re: Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by Abletobecain »

I ran into this a couple weeks ago after discovering on some other thread that there is supposed to be a light back there. They were burnt out on both of my cars.

I did what Petros said until the "unscrew the face plate" part. I shimmied and wiggled enough slack on all of the vent control cables to tilt the heat control panel up just enough to twist out the socket for the tiny little bulb. If I'm understanding correctly though...if I pop the knobs off, I can remove the face of the panel and then access the light? That would have been way easier I'm sure.

To my surprise the bulb from the junk yard car worked. It makes a huge difference having that light in there. I recently ordered some led replacements so that I'll (hopefully) never have to change it again.
1977 BMW R100S 1WD ("Brunhilda"/Summer Fun)
1983 DLX Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Charlie"/Daily Driver)
1987 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Sprocket"/Off-road-Camping)
1985 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Lucky"/Project)
1983 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Cadaver"/Parts Car)
1985 Ford F250 6.9IDI ("Franklin"/Hauler)
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NWMO
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Re: Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by NWMO »

Please let us know what LED bulb you are using if all goes well.

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Abletobecain
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Re: Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by Abletobecain »

So I ordered ten of them from superbrightled.com or something like that. Mostly because they were a buck each and shipping was no different for multiples. Thought they'd be a nice little gift to fello T4WD drivers if we get a meet organized.

Anyway from what I can tell these are the specs on the stock bulb on the left and the LED replacement on the right. Can anyone see any reason why they won't fit?

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1977 BMW R100S 1WD ("Brunhilda"/Summer Fun)
1983 DLX Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Charlie"/Daily Driver)
1987 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Sprocket"/Off-road-Camping)
1985 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Lucky"/Project)
1983 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Cadaver"/Parts Car)
1985 Ford F250 6.9IDI ("Franklin"/Hauler)
1987 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Ravensburger"/in a million pieces)
2006 BMW 530XI Wagon ("Inga"/Roadtripper)
1969 Mercury Montego MX Convertible ("Big Ed"/My Dad's Old Car)
1983 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Al"/for sale soon)
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Re: Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by The Professor »

I'm not so worried about fitment, but about light dispersion in the HVAC control head. LEDs are directional, point sources of light, like a period ".".

Incandescent bulbs are like a log shape because of the filament, but they're brighter at the middle and dimmer at the ends "------".

It looks like you will only have one diode on each of those LED bulbs pointing, essentially, at the center of the rear seat backrest. I worry the light won't get to the extreme left and right ends of the HVAC control head so you'll have a very bright center portion and unlit ends.

I'm not a huge fan of LED lighting in older cars anyway (except for DOT-legal LED headlamps and dome/map/trunk lamps, those rock!) so I'll probably just stop by the dealer for the bulb. I'm sure it's a goofy, non-standard 14V 1.5w bulb anyway...
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Abletobecain
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Re: Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by Abletobecain »

I was wondering about that too. The leds say they have a 100 degree beam but it mounts so close in there that it may not disperse enough. I hope it works cause I don't want to change it again!

As far as I can tell from my research, the OEM part (JKL EWG203) is no longer manufactured and the E74 bulb is the replacement.
1977 BMW R100S 1WD ("Brunhilda"/Summer Fun)
1983 DLX Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Charlie"/Daily Driver)
1987 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Sprocket"/Off-road-Camping)
1985 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Lucky"/Project)
1983 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Cadaver"/Parts Car)
1985 Ford F250 6.9IDI ("Franklin"/Hauler)
1987 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Ravensburger"/in a million pieces)
2006 BMW 530XI Wagon ("Inga"/Roadtripper)
1969 Mercury Montego MX Convertible ("Big Ed"/My Dad's Old Car)
1983 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Al"/for sale soon)
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Petros
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Re: Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by Petros »

I would think it works, it lights up the panel by channeling the light through the clear plastic part of the front plate, not by projection onto the back side. though the LED may have a slightly different color than an incandescent bulb. I did not realize you can not buy them, I always would pull them out of dash from cars in the wrecking yards (about 20 percent were bad), so I had spares. seems like Amazon should have them if you know what to look for. but even at the dealer (if even they have them) they are not likely that costly.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
toyotasr542
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Re: Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by toyotasr542 »

cool thanks everyone.

My stock radio has the little reception lights on the left, is there more than than those lights on the stock head?
'90 4runner 4wd sr5, OM617.952 turbodiesel/R150F transmission, ~155k on odometer, ~10k on swap
'84 Tercel 4wd sr5,
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Abletobecain
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Re: Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by Abletobecain »

Got the lights in today and I couldn't wait till it was light out tomorrow to install it. It's a tight fit but it works great. Won't ever have to replace that PITA again!

superbrightleds.com bulb E74 if anyone is interested.

Image
1977 BMW R100S 1WD ("Brunhilda"/Summer Fun)
1983 DLX Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Charlie"/Daily Driver)
1987 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Sprocket"/Off-road-Camping)
1985 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Lucky"/Project)
1983 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Cadaver"/Parts Car)
1985 Ford F250 6.9IDI ("Franklin"/Hauler)
1987 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Ravensburger"/in a million pieces)
2006 BMW 530XI Wagon ("Inga"/Roadtripper)
1969 Mercury Montego MX Convertible ("Big Ed"/My Dad's Old Car)
1983 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Al"/for sale soon)
toyotasr542
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Re: Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by toyotasr542 »

awesome, thanks for the photo! Should have asked your roommate to bring one the other day. Small world!

Any way I could pay you to send one to 98225?
'90 4runner 4wd sr5, OM617.952 turbodiesel/R150F transmission, ~155k on odometer, ~10k on swap
'84 Tercel 4wd sr5,
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Abletobecain
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Re: Climate control/radio backlight?

Post by Abletobecain »

Yeah, he told me about that. Kinda crazy!

I could send one to ya for sure, but they're like a buck on the website...I think it'll cost more to ship it.

Waaaait...I could just put it in a letter. PM me your address.
1977 BMW R100S 1WD ("Brunhilda"/Summer Fun)
1983 DLX Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Charlie"/Daily Driver)
1987 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Sprocket"/Off-road-Camping)
1985 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Lucky"/Project)
1983 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Cadaver"/Parts Car)
1985 Ford F250 6.9IDI ("Franklin"/Hauler)
1987 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Ravensburger"/in a million pieces)
2006 BMW 530XI Wagon ("Inga"/Roadtripper)
1969 Mercury Montego MX Convertible ("Big Ed"/My Dad's Old Car)
1983 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Al"/for sale soon)
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