[scoobysaurusrex]

I am posting this for ardinos, a memeber on nasioc and i-club who for some reason could register to post here.

here is the post with images
http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83728

here is the text directions.
1. Remove the shifter tray and remove the two screws underneath it holding in the stereo and ac control trim.
2. Remove the AC control trim carefully. I had to give it a good hard tug and use a plastic spatula to pry it out.
3. for the AC control, remove the hose going into it and the screws holding it to the trim. Unplug it then bring it in the house.
4. On the back of the AC controls on the white plastic cover, unhook the little two wire white plug, then unscrew the screws that hold the white cover on.
5. Unclip and remove the white cover, the controls should pop out and expose a circut board.
6. Remove the knobs themselves, just give a gentle tug and they'll come right off.
7. You'll see three small white squares in the bottom of each control, these are the LED's that light up the knob, they're white by default. I used paint to paint them red.
8. They won't be bright enough alone so you need to add an auxillary led for each control. I simply bought 3000mcd red LED's from radio shack, 3 for 2 bucks each. Be sure to lightly sand each LED to help them difuse the light more evenly. They should look cloudy instead of clear when done.
9. Get some of the thinnest wire you can find, VERY thin, run two leads under the black plastic that holds each of the knobs to the circut board. I had to use a very small screwdriver and gently pry the plastic up high enough to snake a small wire in.
10. Be aware LEDs are directional, hook them up backwards and they won't light.
11. Solder one LED for each knob using the leads you just fished under the black knob holder. Then solder the leads in series, positive to negative.
12. Hook up a resistor to the first led in the series on the positive wire going in.
13. Looking at the circut board from the knob side, you can see the backs of the pins for where the two main plugs plug into the board. Solder the resistor for the positive wire to the bottom leftmost pin.
14. Solder the negative lead coming out of the last LED to the top pin, second from the right on the set of pins for the first plug from the left.
15. Test it before putting it back together, if the leds light up, make sure the buttons push in fine and don't get stuck, I left the LEDs poking up just above the button in the bottom of each knob holder.
16. Put it all back together and enjoy the fact the lighting matches.

TRM 03-AUG-2006: added to the How-To catalog sticky

[bah14]

nice write-up. I've been looking for a good one for this mod. Thanks for posting it.

[ardinos]

I finally was able to join today, thanks scoobysaurusrex!

[daalis]

Can you fill in more info on what resistor you used, what guage wire.

You had to hook up the second one to get enough light? Was it to overpower the inside being green as was stated in the other thread?

[denver133]

Can someone post the picts? I dont want to register with that site.

[esemes]

any chance you'll wanna sell-swap out with others, for core + cash?

interested, indeed, but no way i can even contemplate this....

excellent job, BTW

ese

[ardinos]

Ok, more details, the resistor I used was > 430 ohms. I think I used a 470 because I had one lying around, 1/4 watt should be plenty. What resistor you should use depends on the type of LEDs you use. I used 1.7 volt 20milliamp ones, if you used a different voltage, (3.5 or 4 volt blue LED's for example,) you'd need a different resistor.

The gauge wire? Well, REALLY thin. All the wire I had was too thick so I went to my bin of computer parts and stole some from an old SCSI cable I had lying around. I was never going to use it so I hacked the end, and took enough to do what I wanted. I'd guess 24 gauge or less, I had 22 gauge and that was too thick. You can test by seeing how far up you can pry the black plastic knob surround. I couldn't pry it very far so I just found thinner wire.

Why the additional LED for each knob to go with the 3 tiny ones that already sit in each knob? Well the reason is simple. The green knob acts as a filter, it will pass mostly green light, but also a little bit of other wavelengths. The white LED's that were in the knob will put out substantially less power once you paint them red. What was fine when all the power of the LED was let through, isn't now that substantially less is coming through. If you don't add the additional red LED and just paint the existing LED's, the knob is too dim, (in my opinion.) It's not overpowering the green, it making enough red light to shine through a filter that's blocking much of the red wavelength.

[ardinos]

I'd consider doing it for someone else but it's a bit of work and I'd have to charge to make it worth my while.

Thanks for appreciating the effort, I'm just glad all the green is gone. Almost anyways, now if I can just fine a way to replace the green stereo number display I'm all set.

[esemes]

understandable.

i wouldnt want it for cheap, anyway.

[metaL_STi]

how did you mod the stereo to red ??

[daalis]

So you can't remove the green filter? (This was my hope, remove the green filter put in a red one) I assume you considered that first. I am a bit hesitant to break out the solder since I will probably clutz my way into no lights at all. ops:

[ardinos]

No way to change the green color of the knob. The plastic itself is green, not like other things (intercooler sprayer switch) where you can simply clean off the green filter with a bit of nail polish remover.

The best way is to paint the existing LEDs and add the auxillary LED. It's not that hard, and you're not messing with the existing LEDs beyond painting them. Wiring up the extras is pretty straight forward. Try it.

[R4ND0M_AX3]

Do you think replacing the stock LEDs instead of painting them would reduce the need for the auxilary one?

[ardinos]

Ok, the stereo was done to red by following directions I found posted elsewhere, nasioc has them I believe and they may also be posted on this website. Basically it's very easy, remove the stereo, pop off the face plate via the clips on the side, put bulb covers on the bulbs (or paint them like I did.) Put it back together.

The three LEDs that are in the HVAC controls stock can't really be replaced. At least I couldn't do it, if you can you're a better man, (and solderer,) than I am. They're small square LEDs with 4 contacts, I'm not even sure how they work, what's positive, ground etc. Trust me, leave them be, paint them red and put another LED in there.

To do the drivers side window control I had to pop the Green LEDs that are similar to those little square LED's in the HVAC controls off. I couldn't solder the new LED's I put in there back to the contacts that already existed so I had to wire them separate.

About the most complicated I'll go is the 4 LED's for the HID headlight leveler switch. Anything more complicated than that I won't tinker with.

[STi_BRi]

Can anyone post the pics here so we dont have to join?