Light display on the A/C control

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May 5, 2004 | 04:13 PM

shotman

Thread Starter

6th Gear

Joined: Jun 2003

Posts: 6

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From: Burlington CT

Light display on the A/C control

The light display for my A/C on my 98 coupe has started to act erratically. Sometimes the display comes on with full brightness like the rest of the dash and sometimes the display is darkened, then will return to the correct brightness. When I turn the headlights on, the condition is unchanged. The
brightness will respond to changes in the dial for the dash lights but the A/C
display will stay darker. Has anyone had a similar problem with their dual temp. units?

May 5, 2004 | 07:21 PM

NVTHIS

Le Mans Master

Joined: Dec 2002

Posts: 7,981

Likes: 37

From: Piedmont, SC Currently Own: 99 Nassau blue FRC. Previously Owned: 84,95,98 Indy Pace,01 Z06

Re: Light display on the A/C control (shotman)

Sounds like your A/C unit may be going out!! I have already had to replace mine due to similar reasons!! :seeya

May 6, 2004 | 06:54 AM

shotman

Thread Starter

6th Gear

Joined: Jun 2003

Posts: 6

Likes: 0

From: Burlington CT

Re: Light display on the A/C control (shotman)

Replace the unit? Or replace the vacume flourescent tubes. I can't imagine you would need to replace the whole unit because of a faulty light display.

May 12, 2004 | 12:10 PM

shotman

Thread Starter

6th Gear

Joined: Jun 2003

Posts: 6

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From: Burlington CT

Re: Light display on the A/C control (shotman)

Can anybody offer any suggestions?

Mike

May 12, 2004 | 05:43 PM

Pipes

Drifting

Joined: Aug 2002

Posts: 1,525

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From: Santa Cruz Mountains CA

Re: Light display on the A/C control (shotman)

Sure, I'll reply.

Try putting your finger over the daylight sensor located up on the dash while in daylight. Does the A/C display dim? Remove finger, does the display brighten? If so, everything is okay and you don't have to loose sleep.

Sometimes around dusk or in trees the brightness can look wacky because the daylight sensor is switching from night to day and back again.

May 12, 2004 | 05:54 PM

gonbad

Melting Slicks

Joined: Aug 1999

Posts: 3,452

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From: Spring, TX

Re: Light display on the A/C control (Pipes)

Is it the lights for the buttons and *****. If so do a search here and you will find a post about how to replace the little bulbs with LED's. If you are talking about the display for the temp and settings then these are known to go out over time with the earlier C5's. Eventually it will go dark permanently. It is not repairable and will require replacement of the unit. Best idea is to find one used here or on Ebay. A new stock unit goes for over $1000 at full stealership markup. You can get new one from Fichtner for about half that but still pricey. I had to replace mine and I found one local for about $75.00 which is way cheap. Used they are normally over $100.

May 13, 2004 | 07:59 PM

SmashF15C

Burning Brakes

Joined: Nov 2003

Posts: 785

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From: Hutschenhausen

Re: Light display on the A/C control (gonbad)

Actually I'll correct the above as I just did it. The Dual-Zone unit from Karshop is $150 for a ~ 01 or better as he says, used. Supposed to last longer. Fichtner sells the new ones for $180. Takes about 1/2 hour to install. I decided to go used. The Karshop one I got was dinged up but I swapped the internals and it was useable.