Light behind the ac/heat controls

The light behind my ac/heat controls does not come on with my dashboard lights. I am assuming that it is a blown bulb. anyone know how to get to it or what kind it is?

It makes adjusting temperature at night rather interesting.

My ac/heat bulb in my 04 died also about 2 months ago. My dealer replaced the bulb under the warranty. It doesn't make sense to rip your dash apart, if the dealer will do it free!

My same light died last week. Will wait and watch to see if this is an easy repair. I live over 1 hour away from dealer. Not going to drive over for that light only. Ha! But I should know by now where those controls are anyway, right? With 42K, let's say I've been in the car enough to know by now.

samspock said:

The light behind my ac/heat controls does not come on with my dashboard lights. I am assuming that it is a blown bulb. anyone know how to get to it or what kind it is?

It makes adjusting temperature at night rather interesting.

Click to expand...

I think I read here the knob pulls off and the bulb is in behind. Memory is a small tube like a vaccume hose may be required to get the bulb out by pushing the tube over the bulb or something along those lines...http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=76513&highlight=light+bulb+in+heater

Just give the center stack, next to the HVAC controls, a good thump with your fist.

I kid you not. Worked for me, and worked on my 3-series BMW 10 years ago. German electrics at its best. The Germans spies must have captured the plans of the Prince of Darkness (Lucas) from the UK during WWII...and they're still using them.

I just replaced mine- took 60 seconds. The light is behind the fan speed knob. That knob pulls directly off (use a rag and a pliers and pull it straight out). Remember what the fan speed setting was before you pull it off- you'll need to put it back in at the same setting. I got the bulb at my local auto parts store... $2.39 for 2 bulbs. I'll have to track down the bulb number... but it was in stock by where all the headlight bulbs are on display.

I used a needle-nose pliers with little ridged teeth and gently pulled out the spent bulb. Then put the new bulb in just as easily- although it took more push than I expected to get it to seat in the socket. Replace the fan knob, an viola! If you go the vacuum tube method, a 4mm inside diameter tube works well... slit the end of the tube when you put the new bulb in (so you can remove the tube while leaving the bulb in place).

My fan light has been out since the day I drove it off the lot- I always wondered what kind of German engineer wouldn't light up the climate control knobs??? This tdiclub site rocks.

The bulb for the fan/climate control dials in my '02 Jetta is a Sylvania 2721 (W1.2W) European Lamp. Not sure if it's the same for the Passats...

Ok, I will check.

Going the warranty route won't work for me. I have 56k on the odo.

Fixed mine this weekend. It took about 90 seconds. Just a note of caution. Be sure to see how you take the bulb out so you can put it back in the slots the same way.

Some great pictures and detail on the process at.... http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=719392&postcount=1

Suggest a slender stick as a plunger inside the tubing to install the replacement bulb.

you guys rock - I just noticed this problem yesterday and thought it was a fuse, and see now it's probably the lamp. BTW - anyone know where to get a map of the fuse panel as to what is what? Do I need to get the Chilton or Bentley manual for that stuff?

Before going through all that effort...try thumping first! Mine went out twice and a solid thump on the side of the HVAC stack set things right again.

yup - the thump method worked quite well, of course I tried that AFTER I had stopped to buy the lights

I had mine replaced at the dealership after it went out at around 40k miles (which was about 14 months after I bought the car new). They replaced it, but then the woman at the service counter told me they had to charge for the lightbulb (and were supposed to have charged for the labor as well) because "lightbulbs aren't covered under the warranty". It only cost me a few dollars, but the implacation was that it SHOULD have cost $50 or so for the labor +bulb.

Seemed a little crappy at the time to me, but it wasn't worth making noise over.

got mine changed. I used a piece of clear plastic hose I had lying around. It took a couple of tries to remove but I got it out and a new one put in.

Thanks for the info!

Bulb Pliers

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=65520

Resurrecting an old thread -

This worked perfectly. I wrapped a pair of regular pliers and needlenose pliers in electrical tape. Used the regular pliers to pull the knob off. Then used the needlenose to pull the bulb out.

I used this video also - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8I9H0N2ykk

I put the new bulb in and - it didn't work. Taking it out, I saw the connector had bent on the way in. I reset it, put in the bulb more carefully and then things worked great.

Thank you all for the information!