LED DIY: AC Controls

Mikey

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This one's in the proper section, lol. Oy! It's a biggun, too. Not for the faint of heart. I had a few moments where I almost freaked out, lol. This one involves "popping" things out and off, some of which were/are glued in place, changing over to LEDs and removing those pesky blue/green filters. But, alas, I did it, so you can, too.

Bulbs replaced were white neowedges and as follows; 3-5mm, 2-4mm and 1-3mm. The 3mm is for the display. The 4mm are for the bottom row buttons and the 5mm are for the knobs.

Again, this was in a 2001 EX V6.

STEP 1: As with last time, removing the clock piece by prying it out and unplugging it. Then comes the radio surround piece. 2 screws at the bottom, then one behind where the clock was. *BE CAREFUL* It's not detrimental, as I lost mine, but some people are pickier than others, lol.

Give her a gentle tug and slowly work her out. She'll come off. But dont yank her too far. Once you get the whole shebang out, you'll wanna unplug the 2 plugs from the back of the AC unit. 1 grey, 1 black. Now the surround and AC unit are seperated from the car.


STEP 2: Flip that over and you have this....

314967_10150364659726463_963352043_n.jpg


STEP 2-B: The bulbs are indicated by the red arrows. There's only 6 and this is where they are. Remove them using a small Phillips or flat-head screwdriver.

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STEP 3: See those 4 black screws at the corners? Remove them and the AC unit will seperate, like this.....

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STEP 4: Now, set aside the surround piece, as you wont need that until re-installation. On the back of the unit, are about 10 gold screws. Some will come out, others will not. Again, careful as they are small, but unscrew them. Remove the ones you can, others can be left attached to the grey plastic backing.

Now, the front piece, with the buttons/knobs, attaches via 11 or 12 clips. Undo them. Rock it back and forth until you get the knobs lifting off, then, remove the knobs. They just pull right off. Once you have the knobs off and the front face detached, you'll have this.....

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STEP 5: Now for those buttons. Look at that, they're hinged and just pop right off. Be gentle. And, dont forget where they go, lol.

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Look at those ugly filters hiding in there! How ever will we get them out???


STEP 6: Next come the hard stuff. The circuit board comes away from the front piece. **IT DOES NOT DETACH** At least I didnt detach mine, as you can see....

390168_10150364663901463_1943894954_n.jpg


**WARNING** Behind each button is a little pin-like thing. 2 blue ones up top and the 5 white ones for the bottom buttons. If they fall out, THEY'RE SMALL and they look like this....

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>>>>>>> STEP 6.5: LeAccord found out that the filter behind the display can be removed. While you've got the circuit board apart and seperate from the backing piece, now would be the time to remove it. It's a thin piece of plastic that is glued in place under the disaply. CAREFULLY lift the display and, with a small flat screwdriver, pry the filter up. Im not sure if you can bend the display back and out of the way, but I didnt want to risk it, so I just worked with the space I had.

image-6_zps9539188e.jpg


It takes a little working back and forth. If you have a super tiny pair of pliers, they'll come in handy here as you could probably grab it and pull it out. Once it's out, it looks like this...

image-6_zpsc4ada0d0.jpg

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STEP 7: This a big, long step, lol. Now the 2 upper filters, for the AC and MODE buttons, just pry/pop them right out. They're thin and flimsy. I used a small flat-head screwdriver to remove them. However, the 4 lower filters are a little harder...

If you look closely, you'll see this...

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The filters are one, long piece sitting under a longer, clear plastic piece. That clear plastic piece needs to come out. It's held in by a teeny, tiny little clip on either side of it. You can see them in the above pics. Once you pry it out, it looks like this...

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And you'll have this....

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The filters are actually one long piece and its glued in place. It pries out. I found it best to push up on it from the under side, using a small screwdriver. Push up through each button-hole and pry as needed. Remove it and you'll have this...

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Now, remember that long, clear, grooved plastic piece you removed a minute ago? Just snap that back in place. Like this...

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STEP 8: Now, carefully put your circuit board back, flip it over and it should look like this...

311056_10150364670951463_344043123_n.jpg



STEP 9: Re-install everything. Reattach the backing piece with the gold screws and reattach the unit to the surround using the 4 black screws. Now is also a good time to replace those bulbs. The 3 big ones are your 5mm, the 2 on the bottom of the unit are you 4mm and that one that's kinda left-upper-center is your 3mm.

***SIDENOTE: An issue I had with my bulbs is I had to use a tiny file and not only file the holes/contacts for the bulb-holes, I had to file the sides of the bulbs down a smidge, too. They fit and they're tight, but they'll work. Id suggest having a thick, thin-tipped screwdriver for inserting them, as they're gonna be a pretty snug fit. ***

At this point, I wouldnt reinstall it in the car yet. Take it out to the car and plug in the black and grey plugs to the unit and turn on your lights, make sure everything lights up. If you did it right, it should look like this...

317502_10150364671206463_2109759592_n.jpg


See how brighter, whiter and crisper it is! I love it!


BEFORE.....

375960_10150364659091463_1737781051_n.jpg


AFTER.....

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YAY! So much prettier. Here's a full shot with LED, filter-less clock and LED, filter-less AC controls...

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And dont worry, the orange little lights still light up orange, too.

IMAG1211.jpg


Any questions, feel free to ask. It's not confusing, just trying and you have to GO SLOW, as this removes and pops out tiny pieces. Enjoy! :beer:
 
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Mikey

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Thanks! I had no idea what I was doing going into this one so it was trial and error. Luckily, there was no error, lol.

I will say though, for those interested. After removing the filters, there are 2 teeny, tiny opens spots where light shines through, from around the buttons. It's not noticeable, nor does hinder anything, it's just one of those things. Im a bit of a perfectionist though. But I do say, this is 99% ok by me. :D
 

Bax

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You couldn't just fix those tiny spots of light with electrical tape?
 

Mikey

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The tiny holes? Eh, I suppose you could try. Again, I try not to "rig" anything. The small black pieces that branch off the filter piece are probably what cover said spots. I supposed one could slice them off and adhere them back in place. Or use tape, lol.

By the time I got everything back together and in the car, I was spent. Im sort of low on mobility at the moment so climbing in and out of the car gets bothersome, lol. If it becomes an issue, I'll fix it. Otherwise, it works for me. :)
 

gold4door02

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NICEEEEE! I always thought you had to solder to replace these. . . Good 2 know, and cant wait to get mine started!!!
 

Russianred

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Great write-up! I think you can also use nail polish remover to take the coloring off the stock filters and make them 'clear'. This will reduce hot-spots as seen for example in your recirculation button in the middle there. If the nail polish remover doesn't take off the black border, that will remain there too for covering of the few places where light shines through. Overall great job!
 

NocturnalEvo

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Will this apply for the 98-99 climate control too? I would think so. Guess I'll find out when I give it a shot lol
 

cirsurvive711

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Good job man, my two cents though maybe you should keep the filter in the recirculate button only because (at least from the pics) it looks like that button is a hot spot. I did a similar thing when I converted my HVAC unit to leds.
 

RedRyder

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^But if he did that, wouldn't the color be different for that button because of the stock filter's blue color? Since he's using white LED's, I would just use some white paper or something similar to diffuse it instead of the stock filter.

Nice write up, Mike. I'm sure this is helping people. 98-00 may be different, I can't see the photos on my work computer to compare.
 
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