Heater switch light bulb replacement 'How to'

Thank you, excellant pics and instruction, one happy Brit, just have to change the battery in the keyfob now?

Does the bulb end go in so it is horizonatal (flat end) with the ground or vertica up and down?

I just bought 2 bulbs at O'Reily's for $3.00 plus tax. Bulb number was 2171.

Thanks so much! Got two bulbs for $5 at Autozone - sounds like they're cheaper at some other places (from people on here), but I was already at Autozone and it wasnt worth driving around.

I was able to change it with just a pair of needle-nose pliers - I couldnt find a vacuum hose, but the pliers worked just fine for me! Yay for lighted climate controls at night again!

I tried this on a 1998 New Beetle and was not able to get the switch out (it pulled out about an inch, but would not come the rest of the way) and the fan no longer comes on.

Worked like a charm on the 2002 Jetta wagon.

Volks:

Just did this fix on the '03 Jetta I recently picked up in Michigan (Thanks again, Lew!). It is nice to be able to see the dials at night for the first time since I've owned the car.

Dan

dlu said:

I tried this on a 1998 New Beetle and was not able to get the switch out (it pulled out about an inch, but would not come the rest of the way) and the fan no longer comes on.
Worked like a charm on the 2002 Jetta wagon.

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The problem on the Beetle (which seems like it could occur with any model) was that the switch disk was stuck on the shaft of the fan control knob. When I pulled the knob out the disk came with it. In the process of pulling the wiper came out from under the contacts in the body of the switch (without bending or breaking, my lucky day). To fix it I needed to pull the central dash apart and then disassemble the heater control module (by pulling out all three knobs and then releasing the clips around the black part to allow me to separate it from the body). Once had it apart I was able to remove the disk from the shaft of the fan control knob and then put the disk back in place with the wiper underneath the copper arc shaped piece on the left hand side and snap it into the clip on the top. Worked fine after I put it all back together.
As far as I can tell the knob should be able to come out in any position. It might help to do a bit of twisting at one end or the other of the knob's range to help release the shaft from the disk.

Thank you Wingnut!

Excellent instructions and photos.

I recently purchased a 2004 Jetta Wagon with 108,000 mi. on it. As I made the four hour trip back home from Tucson in the dark I noticed there was no backlight for the heater controls. I've been lurking in the forums for a couple of years prior to this purchase (my first TDI!) and thought this would be the first place to look for info on the backlight.

My first attempt at pulling the knob out with a pair of needle-nose pliers failed - I hadn't seen the images when I first saw the instructions. Using the vise grips did the trick. $3.25 for some vacuum hose, 3.78 for a pair of bulbs (13.5V, 2.3W) from Checker, ten minutes of my time and I now have heater control backlights.

Thank you!

I am going to have to try this, ours died as well. Last time they went out a solid thump to the side of the radio/HVAC stack did the trick but no more. So the bulb must be toast.

My hvac illumination just died last night, but if I tap either side of the dash surrounding the hvac control the illumination will return for a short period of time. This an indication of a bad bulb? All the hvac control work fine.

Wingnut said:

I am not 100% sure about this, but I think the part # for the bulb is N 017 751 2. Maybe someone can confirm this for me?

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This the correct dealer part number?

Volks:

I bought the bulb I put in Liath from the dealership. The reciept lists the part number as N-017-751-2. So, yes SheeB, that is the right part number.

Dan

SheeB said:

My hvac illumination just died last night, but if I tap either side of the dash surrounding the hvac control the illumination will return for a short period of time. This an indication of a bad bulb? All the hvac control work fine.

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Yes, it is. The filament is broken, due to thinning out from the normal use, it boils away slowly and that is the blackening you see on the bulb globe.

--Nate

Thanks All of Us and PDJetta for the replies to my questions.

Well I did this today and it was a breeze! Hvac lighting once again

SheeB:

Cool, good job!

Dan

I removed the bezel that goes around the hvac controls, with the intent of unscrewing and removing the assembly to find the where the lamps are. I ran out of time, then found this thread last night. It saved me from a wild goose chase. I bought and installed the bulb today. I now know to alway look here for the correct information.

Yes, it is simple when you know how to do it. I wonder what the dealer would charge for this little job? Hour labor and $10 for the bulb?

--Nate

I got lazy. They didn't have the part at Crappy Tire and the car was due for an oil change anyway and I now have a lighted HVAC cluster again for the sum of seventeen bucks. I also had the pigtail antenna changed, it was broken.

worked like a charm! Thanks for the tip!

excellent site

just another chime in that this is such a great site, and it's people like wingnut who make it happen.

in the space of an hour i sat down and searched the forums, found this thread, went to autozone and installed a new lamp. now i'm off to the next task.

thanks!

Kicking this up. This site rocks, better than a Bentley manual! Going to kick a small donation to Fred's just for this fix/tip.

Bulb insertion tool

My HVAC control panel bulb went dead over the winter, after a couple of days of being intermittant. Now that it's warm outside, and I had a couple of vacation days, I took a few minutes to replace the bulb. My car (2007 VW City Golf) was quite warm inside after sitting in the sun, and I was able to pull the centre knob off by hand, with a very firm grip. Easily pulled the bulb using the vinyl tube trick, and confirmed that the bulb was dead. It also had the tell-tale dark coating inside the lamp. I found that inserting a new bulb was a bit tricky, so I made a small tool. 1/2" diameter wooden dowel, about 6" long, with a hole drilled in the end to hold a bulb, about 15/64 diam and maybe 1/4" deep. Slip the bulb into the hole, and then insert the bulb into the switch housing socket, making sure the the "flat" at the end of the bulb is vertical. This tool made it easy to insert the bulb without risk of cracking the glass. However, all of the other suggestions in the thread would probably be just as effective.

For those curious where to find the 2721 bulb, it is available at NAPA auto parts. This is for Ontario, Canada. It is labelled as OSR 2721 European Mini Bulb

celry said:

just another chime in that this is such a great site, and it's people like wingnut who make it happen.

in the space of an hour i sat down and searched the forums, found this thread, went to autozone and installed a new lamp. now i'm off to the next task.

thanks!

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Ditto! Thanks Wingnut!

We just replaced the HVAC bulb on my son's Jetta.

After reading the entire thread, I went out and bought Bulb Pliers from Harbor Freight (item 65520) for $4.95. These are made specifically for small, recessed bulbs -- the nose-ends are lined with soft foam. See: Harbor Freight Bulb Pliers


With the bulb pliers, we could manipulate the tiny bulb with perfect control. The old bulb was tight, so removal required a little piece of double-sided tape on each nose-end foam pad to grip the bulb better. Then we took the tape off and installed the new bulb easily using the pliers.

Although most web-sites still list the 2721 as a 12V, 1.2W bulb, our Sylvania package clearly stated that the 2721 Longlife was 6.5V, 9.8W. Interesting, because this would up the amperage from .1 to 1.5 amps. However the light output looks evenly matched. I guess we'll see how long it lasts.

This site ROCKS! I had the radio out the cover plate off and four screws out only to discover the control panel is captured in the frame. I gave up and put everything back together and headed inside to consult tdiclub. Fist search; direct hit. Auto parts store at the end of my block took one quick look at the bulb and pulled out a replacement for 75 cents.

Thanks Wingnut!

Problems! Any one of three prior owners of my wife's A4 apparently tried to stuff a larger size bulb in the socket and bent the contacts to the point that the proper bulb doesn't stay in.
I need to pull the control box out to see if I can restore the proper capture curve to the contacts.

I used tiny, almost 'jewelers' size, needle nose pliers with duct tape folded to be 'double sided'. This stuck to the plier jaws and also to the bulb.

What is odd is that my first bulb in the fan control knob burned out at 40,000 miles and the Advance-bought Sylvania replacement is still working and my car has 124,000 miles on it. I thought for sure this bulb would be my next failure, but my temperature sensor crapped out last night.

--Nate

I have all of the 3 knobs not lighting up. Is the light bulb responsible for all 3 (temp,fan,position) knobs?