Does anyone know how I can put in the AMB button in my ACC???
06-06-2003, 01:36 PM
#1
Pizda Boy
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 2,794
Does anyone know how I can put in the AMB button in my ACC???
pretty much says it all in the title...i have a 98 SE and don't have AMB option i'm sure there's some way of doin'it without buying new ACC....i donated $20 to the .org to have the search option but it's still not working and i wanted to get it done tonight or tomorrow..any responses are appreciated
06-06-2003, 03:23 PM
#2
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 16
Sure...
Take out the radio and climate control and storage bin. They will come out together. Separate the climate control from the radio and storage bin.
All around the front of the climate control unit, there are little tabs that you have to pry up slightly. When you pry all of them up simulaneously, you can get the faceplate of the climate control unit off. Take your time, and don't force or break anything. Take the faceplate off with the front of the unit facing down, so the buttons don't fall out.
Inside the climate control unit behind where the faceplate used to be, you'll see some white/clear rubber buttons. These are the actual physical buttons for the climate control; they get pressed in by the hard plastic button caps you see on the faceplate. There's an "extra" rubber button in the middle between the recirculate button and the temp down button. This is the AMB button. It has no corresponding hard black plastic button on the faceplate. If you want to try it out, go back to your car with the climate control unit (no faceplate), plug it back in, turn the car on, and press the AMB rubber button with a pencil. It works!
To add an AMB button, you'll need:
1) Something to use as a button. I used the overdrive button from a Volvo 245 (my previous car) because it was black and exactly the right shape and size. See photo at the end of this post. You might be able to order an AMB button from Nissan somehow, but that would take forever. You could also get one from a car in a junkyard (the Infiniti J30 has a nice looking, similarly sized AMB button)
2) A small drill bit
3) A small triangular file and a small flat file. Really small.
4) Some masking tape
The idea is to create a hole in the climate control faceplate for your new button. You'll see this hole forever and ever so do a good job of it! Take the masking tape and use it to mask off the area surrounding the desired button hole. This gives you a nice, straight guideline as to where the edges of the hole should come to. You should now see black plastic only where you want the hole to be. Use the drill bit to drill out the majority of the plastic to make the hole. Stay away from the edges for now. Use the files to finish off the hole edges so that it's the exact size you want, with nice clean edges. Test it with your new button (whatever that happens to be) to make sure it fits just right.
Now, you have to make sure the new button is the right size to actually press the white/clear rubber button down. Take out one of the existing climate control buttons, and use that as a guide. If your new button is too short, add to it to make it the same depth (I glued some wood to the bottom of the button I used). If your new button is too deep, file or cut it down until it's the right size. Now, the button should fit nicely in the faceplate and push in the rubber AMB button. The next thing to do is to make sure it doesn't fall out the front of the climate control faceplate. The button cap I used was square with straight sides, so it would pull right out of the front; there was nothing to hold it in. To fix this, I heated up a pin until it was hot enough to melt through the button. I poked it through the side of the button and cut it to length, so that it would retain the button behind the faceplate and not allow it to be pulled through the front.
Now, reattach the climate control faceplate (with your new button installed) and put everything back in the car!
Matt
P.S. Here's a photo of what it looks like when it's done, with the Volvo button installed. As you can see, I did it back in the winter when it was frosty (-23.5 degrees!)
Take out the radio and climate control and storage bin. They will come out together. Separate the climate control from the radio and storage bin.
All around the front of the climate control unit, there are little tabs that you have to pry up slightly. When you pry all of them up simulaneously, you can get the faceplate of the climate control unit off. Take your time, and don't force or break anything. Take the faceplate off with the front of the unit facing down, so the buttons don't fall out.
Inside the climate control unit behind where the faceplate used to be, you'll see some white/clear rubber buttons. These are the actual physical buttons for the climate control; they get pressed in by the hard plastic button caps you see on the faceplate. There's an "extra" rubber button in the middle between the recirculate button and the temp down button. This is the AMB button. It has no corresponding hard black plastic button on the faceplate. If you want to try it out, go back to your car with the climate control unit (no faceplate), plug it back in, turn the car on, and press the AMB rubber button with a pencil. It works!
To add an AMB button, you'll need:
1) Something to use as a button. I used the overdrive button from a Volvo 245 (my previous car) because it was black and exactly the right shape and size. See photo at the end of this post. You might be able to order an AMB button from Nissan somehow, but that would take forever. You could also get one from a car in a junkyard (the Infiniti J30 has a nice looking, similarly sized AMB button)
2) A small drill bit
3) A small triangular file and a small flat file. Really small.
4) Some masking tape
The idea is to create a hole in the climate control faceplate for your new button. You'll see this hole forever and ever so do a good job of it! Take the masking tape and use it to mask off the area surrounding the desired button hole. This gives you a nice, straight guideline as to where the edges of the hole should come to. You should now see black plastic only where you want the hole to be. Use the drill bit to drill out the majority of the plastic to make the hole. Stay away from the edges for now. Use the files to finish off the hole edges so that it's the exact size you want, with nice clean edges. Test it with your new button (whatever that happens to be) to make sure it fits just right.
Now, you have to make sure the new button is the right size to actually press the white/clear rubber button down. Take out one of the existing climate control buttons, and use that as a guide. If your new button is too short, add to it to make it the same depth (I glued some wood to the bottom of the button I used). If your new button is too deep, file or cut it down until it's the right size. Now, the button should fit nicely in the faceplate and push in the rubber AMB button. The next thing to do is to make sure it doesn't fall out the front of the climate control faceplate. The button cap I used was square with straight sides, so it would pull right out of the front; there was nothing to hold it in. To fix this, I heated up a pin until it was hot enough to melt through the button. I poked it through the side of the button and cut it to length, so that it would retain the button behind the faceplate and not allow it to be pulled through the front.
Now, reattach the climate control faceplate (with your new button installed) and put everything back in the car!
Matt
P.S. Here's a photo of what it looks like when it's done, with the Volvo button installed. As you can see, I did it back in the winter when it was frosty (-23.5 degrees!)
06-06-2003, 05:16 PM
#4
Pizda Boy
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 2,794
cornblatt YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!
one more quick question, how did you make your ACC read out in Celcius??? is there a way to diagnose the ACC??? i also owned a maxima in europe and it read out in celcius i'd like mine to do the same thing...thanks again
one more quick question, how did you make your ACC read out in Celcius??? is there a way to diagnose the ACC??? i also owned a maxima in europe and it read out in celcius i'd like mine to do the same thing...thanks again
06-06-2003, 06:47 PM
#5
Originally posted by MaxedOutOfCash
cornblatt YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!
one more quick question, how did you make your ACC read out in Celcius??? is there a way to diagnose the ACC??? i also owned a maxima in europe and it read out in celcius i'd like mine to do the same thing...thanks again
cornblatt YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!
one more quick question, how did you make your ACC read out in Celcius??? is there a way to diagnose the ACC??? i also owned a maxima in europe and it read out in celcius i'd like mine to do the same thing...thanks again
Thanks/
06-07-2003, 06:57 AM
#6
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 16
Originally posted by MaxedOutOfCash
cornblatt YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!
one more quick question, how did you make your ACC read out in Celcius??? is there a way to diagnose the ACC??? i also owned a maxima in europe and it read out in celcius i'd like mine to do the same thing...thanks again
cornblatt YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!
one more quick question, how did you make your ACC read out in Celcius??? is there a way to diagnose the ACC??? i also owned a maxima in europe and it read out in celcius i'd like mine to do the same thing...thanks again
Self test procedure:
Before you start, remember that it's not my fault if you mess up your climate control by doing this, and I can't help you fix it if you do. Try at your own risk.
Turn the car on (doesn't have to be running, but climate control has to turn on) and immediately hold down the OFF button for at least 5 seconds. Press hot, cold, hot, hot, hot, hot. It should say '51'. Now it will show the temperature detected by each of the car's temperature sensors (ambient, in-car, and a bunch of ones in the engine compartment). Use the defrost button to cycle through them. Be careful about touching other buttons; I don't know what they do when in the self-test mode. To exit the test mode, press AUTO.
I've got a printout that describes this in more detail, but I can't find it right now. If you're really interested, I'll look harder...
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