97 Es300 With Panel Lights Out!

[total1]

1997 ES300; 153K; great condition, too!; Mobil-1 synthetic oil ea 10K+ miles; Mobil-1 premium synthetic oil filter

Some of my panel lights are out. This is the 'radio/AC/heater' panel in the center of the front dashboard. I have two (2) lights that are out. These are the far lower left panel button lights. If I remember correctly, these are the AUTO and OFF buttons.

Are these lights part of the panel and hence I need to pay big $$$ to fix two (2) lights? Or, are these just simple light bulbs that need to be replaced? If light bulbs, what's the level of difficulty, if you know?

[lexusk8]

The climate control lights are not that hard to replace. To gain access to the lights, you have to remove the entire stereo-and-A/C cluster unit, then remove the A/C unit and unscrew the circuit board from the unit. You will find that the lights themselves are the screw-on type, and things should be self-explanatory as far as replacing them. You can get the replacement lights for around $2-$3 per light bulb at your local Lexus dealership.

[total1]

The climate control lights are not that hard to replace. To gain access to the lights, you have to remove the entire stereo-and-A/C cluster unit, then remove the A/C unit and unscrew the circuit board from the unit. You will find that the lights themselves are the screw-on type, and things should be self-explanatory as far as replacing them. You can get the replacement lights for around $2-$3 per light bulb at your local Lexus dealership.

Here's a picture of the back of the A/C unit with the circuit board. Are you speaking of the five (5) screw out bulbs seen on the circuit board or do I need to remove the circuit board itself? If I need to remove the circuit board, then how? I looked at the circuit board and removed the two (2) screws but I couldn't determine if when I was prying the board if it would break. Also, there appeared to be more connections than I could see. See for example the ...739.jpg image with the ribbon connector. What do I do here?

TIA!