mjr24

OK I got you. No, the wattage likely are the same bcause the climate should be darker as we all agreed.
I just replaced the button lights last week, wish I had ordered 3 extra.

Ryan

Now take apart the back sides to reveal the two solder points for each bulb. Heat up and suck out the solder (no not with your mouth, try a solder bulb). While it is hot, pull the bulb out gently from the other side. Then remove old bulb from the black base you see in the picture and replace it with the new bulb. Finally re-solder the new bulb and base and replace the old blue covers. This is a no brainer once you get in there. Just realize that the new bulbs don't have as much wire length on them to rewrap around the black base as before - this doesn't even matter. Sorry guys, no pictures doing the soldering (I was busy!). Have fun!

Ryan

Ryan

Mjir,

You got it man. Again, I don't have a lot to compare with so you will all have to judge from the pictures.

Ryan

mjr24

Seriously, very good writeup though. Very informative, lots of pics on a common problem people didnt know how to fix. Much respect to you Ryan....now get your a** working on the needles lol.

Keith13b

iTrader: (3)

Ryan - Kudos for the write up - It helped me out...ALOT.

Taka - I have a 92 SC (referring back a few pages...but at least I replied)

Man this thread took off in one day!

I now have my list of parts for the next several projects and I'm headed out to the dealer next week to drop waaaayyy too much money.

Anyway - Thanks again.


Keith

Ryan

Glad I could help guys - that's what we are all here for. I'm beginning a total restoration of my car right now and this was one of the first steps. I plan to spend 6-7K and that's not including mods. I'll have pictures in a few weeks. Good luck guys!

Ryan

VQT

Thank you for this work Ryan. Save us a lot of money on buying reman. unit.

mjr24

I did this fix yesterday. Its better than nothing, but the bulbs certainly are not the same ones that were in the climate LCD originally and it is definately dimmer than what it was originally. I would say its about 75% of the original brightness, which like I said is better than nothing. Im going to try to find the actual bulbs.
Taka! You resoldered yours 2 times, the first time was REAL dim....but did the second time give you good results with the Denso bulbs?

Taka

yea i think they (Denso) are the same as original one. They are much brighter than the one I previously installed. I satisfy with the result now.

mjr24

taka is there anyway you could take a pic??
where can i order denso bulbs from in the u.s?

Ryan

Hey mjr24,

Sorry you are not that happy with the result. I only had one light still on before I did the conversion, so it was really hard to tell the difference. I wouldn't disagree there is a difference in brightness, I tried to show this in the pictures as best I could. If you guys figure out the exact replacement bulbs, let us know.

Ryan

Ryan

Guys,

I think I may have a solution. Can someone please measure the resistance of one of your original bulbs (it must be working obviously). I am guessing it should be about 13 ohms, based on rough calculations (glad that BS in physics is good for something). I will be out for a few days (Vegas, CES), but if someone (2 would be better) could post the resistance it would help me with the solution.

Thanks,
Ryan

Ryan

Guys,

Please help me out here. I think I have a Lexus part that may be an near exact replacement. For those of you that have burnt out lights and are hesitant to use what I have posted here because it is not quite as bright as OEM, this could really help you. I just need someone to measure the resistance with a multimeter.

Thanks,
Ryan

Bentley1

Is it possible to buy the factory bulbs directly from Toyota or Lexus? If not, have you been able to find a more suitable replacement?

Thanks!

Ryan

I think I am very close at this point and have found a Lexus bulb that should look like OEM.

I have done some calculations and if you use the same bulb as the buttons (posted above), it will produce 75.8% of the brightness of the OEM LCD bulb. I have found another bulb (Lexus part) that should be 92.6% as bright as OEM. I don't think this is enough of a difference that would even be noticed by the human eye. I am going to take another look around and see if I can get closer on another part.

Honestly I am pretty happy with only 75% of the brightness, but I have come so far on a common problem that I would like to get it 100% solved to benefit all the other CL members with this problem. Call it the relentless persuit of perfection. I want to use only Lexus or Toyota part numbers so that everyone can easily get the bulb. BTW, I no longer need the resistance values, someone was kind enough to send it to me. I will post something when I am done.