Replacing Radio And A/c Button Lights

[Lex94]

WOW, I'm new to this forum and really impressed with the information to be found here! Thanks to "SK" and "Stevie" and others I've already found answers to several questions about my newly acquired 94 ES300.

I have been reading posts for about 4 hours but have not found the answer to one of my problems. Some of the button lights on the radio and A/C are out. The Lexus dealer told me I needed to replace both units at a cost of about $400 each because the bulbs are not able to be replaced individually. I hope this is not so. There must be a way to remove the face plates and replace the bulbs without replacing the whole unit. Can anyone help me or point me in the direction of someone who can?

Thanks in advance for your help. Again, what a great site this is!

[blake918]

They are definantly replaceable; here is a similar post: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...=4402&hl=lights. I think you just pull the whole unit out, take it apart to get access to the lights, and replcae the burnt ones. I don't know where you can get the bulbs <_< . Welcome to the club, and enjoy the 'new' Lex :D . What color is your '94?

[Lex94]

Thanks, Blake. I followed the link you sent. Now just need to figure out how to pull the vents without breaking them.

It's a white beauty with only 70,000 miles on her. Looks much newer as the car is in really great condition. Original paint still shines and the leather is nice for a 10 year old.

[Lextech2k3]

hey lex..man....i'm sorry to tell ya but i'm a tech for lexus...you can't change those lights man....some of them you can but not that one....however there are ways around the dealer for those parts....ask around to find a good import boneyard....or even check ebay..you would be suprised at the amount of shtuff that you can find on there....and hey you just pull on the center post between the vents while you pry on the top to get them out i believe...then you work from the center consol around the shifter and work your way up to get to the radio....you have to remove them both at once if i remember right....it's been a while since i did one and i've slept since then..

sorry to give you bad news but i wouldn't want you to break the thing and not have it at all.

you will need a flat head screw driver, a 10mm and an 8mm socket, ratchet and extension to do it yourself...just buy the display and slap it in..it will take you about an hour since you haven't done it before...and we get i think about that to put it in at the dealer..and my dealer charges somewhere around $90/hr....save yourself that 100 bucks.(ps a cordless drill comes in handy if you can put a socket on it)

[Lextech2k3]

you have to remove them both at once if i remember right

i was refering to the radio and climate controls...not the console and the vents...sorry for the way that read.

[Lex94]

Hey, thanks for the info Lextech. That is a bummer though. Problem is, when you buy from a boneyard or ebay you don't know if the lights work on them either. Most if not all junkyards don't warrant electronic parts either. Sounds like I'm stuck with most of the lights out unless I want to fork over 800 bucks for new radio and A/C units. Maybe I just won't drive it at night....Buyers remorse is setting in right about now. Should have bought a car with minimal gadgets. If they ain't there they can't break.

[Lextech2k3]

i will double check man but i'm pretty sure that's how it is...back then they didn't think about that stuff....you gotta figure this company only started up in 1989 as a 1990 model. btw i thought only your ac controls were out...the radio...no nm i think they are all like that...sorry

[SKperformance]

Actually lextech the lights are replacable and are available from lexus parts counters.

I have replaced them all in my 94 ES the dash backlighting the a/c buttons and the radio one all at once so i don;t have to remove it again just to fix one bulb a year.

The bulbs are about 2-5 each and sorry i don;t have a part #.

I just took the units apart and walked with the bulbs and got replacments.

[Lex94]

Thanks, SK. Now I'm feeling better. Can you please advise more specifically how to remove the trim without breaking? Do they pop out easily or is there a preferred method or tool to do this? I think I read another message yesterday where someone broke the vents trying to pry them out. Thanks again. You've been very helpful to me and, I'm sure, a lot of LOC members.

[SKperformance]

no problem.

I use a specific tool calle d a trim or moulding remover. It is a bent forked end like a screwdriver.

Just do it slowly and the vent will pop out as some people have broken it.

It is being held in by only 2 or 4 clips no screws. But you need to get it out to acess the upper bolts to remoev the radio and hvac. There are screws on the side of each peice by the front of them .Remove them and the face comes off and you can acess the bulbs easily.

[Lex94]

Thanks SK. I'll get the tool and give it a try. So there are only 2 screws holding in the Climate control and radio? Doesn't the trim piece below the radio have to be removed too? I think I read that somewhere else in LOC.

[SKperformance]

Yes ,there is a tim peice below as well to be removed much easier. But you where only asking about the upper vent .

[HoeBag]

yea lextech... youre not a great lexus technician, or maybe just not familiar with the lexus electronics, but yea... the bulbs can be replace.. i think they need to be soldered in though

[Lex94]

OK...Do I have to get my soldering kit out before I tackle this job?

[SKperformance]

yea lextech... youre not a great lexus technician, or maybe just not familiar with the lexus electronics, but yea... the bulbs can be replace.. i think they need to be soldered in though

I wouldn't say he isn't a good technition ,as none of us have met him. There are always tricks and tips the dealers don;t know about .But some one has gone out and found a fix for .He just isn't aware of it being that simple as the mandate of a dealship is to replace the unit not repair the unit.

If all of us knew everything about everything we would either be pompus or GOD.

My bulbs in my 94 did not need to be soldered just twisted and removed.

[HoeBag]

dude, you dont know? i AM god :P

[Brotherkain]

My bulbs in my 94 did not need to be soldered just twisted and removed.

I have a 1995 ES300 and the bulbs in my CD player are almost all out (except the FM button, the panel, and the bass / treble / etc adjustments). I took the vent and trim out, then I got the CD player and AC unit out. I dissambled the thing and all that good stuff and I got the circuit board controlling the lights and buttons out that had the lights on it. And I found that the lights are standard LEDs, but they are soldered on. Of course I am at school in South Carolina and my soldering kit is in TN so... no lights just yet. I was wondering if there is a difference in the 1994 / 1995 premium sound system on the ES300 (pioneer)? and if anyone knows the voltage / current ratings on the LEDs in the stereo and if they are standard enough to be found at like radio shack.

Thanks,

Brother Kain

[Brotherkain]

Well, I'll reply to myself in an attempt to get some help. I took the CD player back out and got one of the lights out... and its not an LED, just a lamp (but I did have to solder it to get it out). Anyways, I have 10 dead bulbs, and I was wondering if anyone knows where in the world I could get some. When you say a local lexus parts dealer, could you explain a little better than that? Do you mean a lexus dealer? How bout a Toyota dealer, or better yet, autozone? :) Maybe someone knows what type lamps they are and I could get one whereever. Thanks for the help.

Brother Kain

[skippy]

is there any writing on the metal ends of the bulbs? it might have the part number on there. also, if you could take a picture of the bulb, it might help.

[Brotherkain]

Well, I got all those 60 mA bulbs from radio shack put into the buttons on the stereo. It turns out 60 mA is a bit dimmer than what is stock. They are still easily readable, but it is easy to tell the old lights from the new (I left the Climate control unit lights and changed the stereo lights). This still isn't a bad fix though. I found some 65 mA bulbs from a site in the UK that are specifically for car audio purposes, and they come with those little blue sleeves already on them. I had to take the blue sleeves off of the old lights and put them on the new, which wasn't difficult. I would say 65 mA or maybe a little brighter would be about right, but I'm not going to change it again for it. Anyways, if anyone wants I'll write a little blurb about how to change it all out start to finish, but if nobody says anything then I won't worry with it. I'd say it wasn't too bad a job, but its just kinda risky messing with the electronics of the thing if you're not comfortable dealing with circuit boards and what-not.

Brother Kain

[skippy]

hey Brotherkain i'd love to see a write-up on this. if you could include any pics that would be even better, but seeing as you're all done with it, i wouldnt want you do open everything back up. i think whatever you can manage to post will be of great benefit to the whole community here at LOC.

[SKperformance]

you didn;t need to buy new bulbs and solder them

you needed to buy the oem lexus ones that come with the twist base to remove and replace as tehy are one peice

[Brotherkain]

I would've loved to buy some of those, but I had no idea where to get any. I don't really know any lexus parts people around here, and the lexus dealer wasn't going to sell me any, so I just did with what I had. I don't see how you'd get the lights off without a soldering iron though, as the lights were soldered directly through the circuit board and required soldering to remove them...

Brother Kain

[SKperformance]

The board inside the climate control?

I just pulled forward the face after removing the side screws and it shows the bulbs for the backlighting right there.Twist and remove and replace. There is one bulb for a couple of butons and part of the screen about 6-7 total at the most.

I did no soldering on mine 6 years ago.

[Brotherkain]

I didn't take the climate control apart, I suppose it must be different by what you are saying. I just did the stereo, and there is certainly no way of doing it w/o soldering. I had to take the unit out after taking the vent and the trim peice off. I seperated the climate control unit from the stereo unit by removing the stereo from the bracket. Then I took the screws out of the side and took the face plate partially off. When I got it off I found a ribbon cable that was attached from the circuit board behind the face pate to the circuit board controlling the stereo functions. So I popped a metal plate off the top of the player exposing where the ribbon cable connected to the circuit board (the main board, not the one behind the face plate). I then pulled up on the plastic peice releasing the cable, and allowing me to seperate the face plate from the rest of the player. Once I got that apart, I had to take 9 screw out of the circuit board to get to the back of it. Once I got that out, I had to pull on the volume control and remove that large button. Then I think there were about 17 lights and then 3 or 4 more at the bottom for the fade / treble stuff. I had to solder the two legs from each of the lights and remove them. Then I took the blue covers off of each of the lights and put it over the new lights, and then soldered the new lights back in there and then cut the excess of the leads off of the lights. Then I put it all back together and that was that. I didn't take the display apart exposing the LEDS and backlights because mine weren't out. I'm not sure I would've messed with that though.