FurBall

I noticed today that the green light from the Cruise Control button, on the left side of the steering wheel (just above the change pocket) is no longer working....

The backlighting still works fine, cruise still works fine, it's just the green LED behind it to denote that it's pressed/on is no longer working...

Anyone know where the fuse for this is? If it's not the fuse, how hard do you think is it to get to the bulb/LED? Anyone work on this before?

MrXclusivE

iTrader: (8)

mine just stopped working a week ago, let me know if u get it fixed

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

lol i dont even have my switch anymore. just threw it behind the dash. its actually just a bulb with a green condom. you can take out the switch and twist off the holder and just get a small bulb and replace it. open the coin tray, unscrew the one screw, and pop the panel piece off. then take out the cruise switch and look for the bulb up top where the green light is. turn it and shake it out, untwist the bulb wires, and then put a new bulb and retwist the wires back the way they were.

FurBall

It wasn't too difficult to remove actually....

- Flip down the pocket change drawer, and remove the single screw.
- Once removed, the entire panel will be loose, which includes the entire faceplate to the 3 buttons (Cruise, Sunroof, and Power Mirror controls)... Flip it downwards, and pull towards you. This will freak you out, and the entire piece will come off.
- Slowly unplug the grey adapter to the Cruise Control switch. What's left in your hand is the entire piece. You now have to remove a baby blue rectangular piece.
- BE CAREFUL. I snapped some small pieces off, but it did indeed snap back in fine with the broken parts no longer there...
- The only thing I can advise is to use a small knife/flathead screwdriver and pray off the clips, and pull the blue piece from the butt-side outwards. (Think of it as opening a door. It 'hinges' on 1 edge.)...
- On the blue piece you'll notice 2 little circular brown pieces, each with an LED on it. They're not LEDs They're actually bulbs with coloured condoms on them. Use your nail and slowly unscrew it. Bring this in to order... Acura charges me $7+ for the stupid green bulb ... I have not ordered yet. People say you can go to Honda for cheaper.
- Reverse the steps...

- Now, if you break the blue piece, it's $34+ @ Acura.
- I decided to try and DIY and replace the bulb, and went to Active Surplus. Not remembering that it is a bulb, and not an LED, I bought 6 LEDs, and slowly replaced it. Didn't work....... I will try this again when I get a chance to get back to Active Surplus....... Basically, when you see the picture of the bulb holder piece of plastic, you'll understand.... Just 'unwrap' the metal legs of the bulb, and throw it away. Buy a new bulb, and thread it as the original........ Or buy the entire piece from Honda/Acura.
- Removing the piece should take about 5-10 minutes if you're extremely careful, and swapping of the bulb with another one should take no more than 5 minutes, even at my amateur speed. I just gotta freaking buy the right bulb, that's all....

FurBall

I went back to Active SUrplus, and picked up 3 bulbs that was as close as possible to the size of the original. I figure, I'll take the green condom and try to slip it on these bulbs, even though they're bigger...

So, I crack open the panel, and ghetto-rig the wires to see if the bulbs will light up. First one - no go. Second one had long wires with fabric covers on the wires. No go. ****. I decide to hotwire it to the existing working bulb by touching the bare wires. It lights up orange... Hrm... Let's try the third bulb (bare wires.) No go.... Try to hook it up to the existing bulb. HOLY **** I'M ON FIRE. I ended up burning 2 lines onto my middle finger...

I gave up, and drove to Honda to pick up a new bulb, hopefully cheaper than Acura. Came out to ~$7. Wasn't the exact same colour for the plastic base (blue instead of brown), but the guy was very helpful and took my bulb and went into the back to find a matching one....

On the way there, I freaked out as my Cruise was no longer working at all.......... Turned out it was because I didn't have a connection in the socket (I had an LED in there, it wouldn't light up, but it at least completed the circuit.)

Thanks to the Honda Parts dude....

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

Any chance you could post the Honda original part # for the bulb ??

Thanks !

FurBall

I've attached pics below. I have the Honda item code, and the Acura item code. I'll post it when I get home. Alternatively, go into your dealership and show them the part, and/or ask for it. If they are nice, they can go into the back and fine you ***ANY*** bulb that matches the look of the one below.

I'll go into detailed steps again...

The Honda part nmber I have is 35852-ST3-G01 "Bulb G, Comp"


- Car: This is for a 2001 Acura EL, which should be identical to a 2001 Honda Civic, and others...
- Problem: LED light for Cruise Control button is no longer working. Cruise still works...
- Time to fix: 5-10 minutes.

- Open the coin pocket, and look for a single screw. Unscrew it, and keep it in a safe place. The entire faceplate piece will now come away from the dash, including the buttons. The red line denotes where it will come apart. Pull and push downwards, and the entire piece will pop off. This will easily go back in place, so don't worry.


- You'll see the cruise control adapter on the outer side. It is blue in colour, connected by a grey adapter. Gently detach the grey portion - there is a little lip on the other side that you have to push it for it to come apart easily.
- The 2 brown circles you see are the bulbs.


- Now that you've detached the grey plug, you now need to remove the blue piece from the console. Be careful, as you will almost definitely end up breaking off some parts of the plastic. The blue piece costs $34 + tax CAD at Acura, and comes with the 2 bulbs... So try not to break it.
- What you need to do is use a flathead screwdriver or a swiss army knife and pry upwards on the black clip that is at the 'top' of the blue piece. (It is directly above the brown circles, and has a little space that you can put your knife in.)
- Whatever you do, do not break the black clip, or the tiny tiny blue clips on either side... I broke off pieces of blue plastic, but not the important tiny blue pieces that clip into the black clips...
- While you have the knife prying the black clip upwards, 'swing' the butt of the blue piece outwards... (the butt section is where the grey plug was plugged in.)


- Tada! Hopefully you didn't break off too much blue plastic. Now, be VERY careful with the actual Cruise Control switch, as it will become loose from the console, and you could end up losing the spring.
- Notice the brown plastic, which houses the green bulb. The green bulb is NOT an LED, but a regular white bulb, with a green condom on it. You can easily twist this off the blue piece.
- If you are great with finding bulbs, either try to replace the bulb with an LED, or alternatively, you can easily remove the existing bulb by untwisting the wires from the plastic housing. I was unable to find a proper bulb that worked..... So I ended up buying the same part.


- The friggen culprit bulb.... Notice the silver wire... You can unwrap these from the brown plastic housing, and try your best to find a working LED or bulb and replace it with that.
- I was unsuccessful, so I ended up buying another OEM part.
- Basically the exact one was not in stock, but the Honda Parts guy went to the back with my bulb, and found one with a green condom, and a yellow condom. The only difference was the brown plastic was baby blue.
- I will post the Honda and Acura OEM part codes when I get home....
- Put everything back together, test it out, and reverse the process.
- VOILA!

Some notes:
- Your cruise control will not work unless you complete the circuit: you need to have the busted bulb in that slot otherwise it will not work.
- I tried hotwiring some ghetto bulbs I bought from Active Surplus.... LEDs didn't work for me. When I tried a bulb, it didn't work. I tried another one by touching the bare wires to the orange bulb's connectors, and it worked. I tried a 3rd bulb I had (bare wires only), and I ended up getting burned bad, and the entire dash lights dimmed... Fortunately no permanent damage other than 2 burned lines on my middle finger.
- You do NOT need a green bulb if the dealer has other coloured bulbs. You just have to do a bit more work, and take the condom off the old bulb.... Or, enjoy the new colour!

TeLLy

iTrader: (23)

^^You need a resistor for an LED to work....I think it's 470 or 330ohm, just solder it in between the wires on the plug there....

ross3093

im trying to get my whole panel off but it seems like its stuck on the bottom... is there a clip or something i need to wedge loose? i dont want to break anything

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

just remove the one screw under the coin tray and yank it out. theres a clip yes.