crashmanmike

I have a 4th Gen Maxima with the automatic climate control

I need to replace 3 of the climate control backlights

I tried 12 volt 75mA lights (too dim) and 12 volt 120mA lights (too bright). Besides the luminecense, the bulbs are not the original shape and the blue bulb condoms don't fit right.

Anyone know where to find the correct replacement bulbs?

Thanks

Mike

Quick note, the 120mA bulbs work GREAT in the pop out ashtray by the shifter. A little brighter than stock.... does a great job.

fearthegecko

goto your local nissan dealer, but make sure you bring the original bulbs, because the morons at the parts counter can't give you the right bulb even though they've got an expensive computer with nissan-only parts software, they'll have to match it. Even if their computer grew an arm, smacked them upside the head and still gave them the correct part number, they'd still have to match it up. Then bend over and let them have their way with you. It may hurt at first, so bring some lube. I've dealt with my dealer so many times that it doesen't even hurt anymore. That's the only place to get exact replacement, except for Japan. And trust me, getting raped by the dealer is a hell of a lot easier than going to japan for bulbs.


But if you do happen to choose going to japan, could you pick me up a pair of JDM fairlady calipers and rotors? I promise to pay you back.

DR-Max

iTrader: (3)

I went to the dealer today and inquired about these bulbs. Check this out...these bulbs don't have any numbers on them, however, the parts counter guy says that they are not all the same. Depending on what side and area of the climate control panel they came from, the price differs. One is $5, the other is $12, and the most expensive one is $40...can you believe that bullcrap? The parts guy told me that almost all the LED's on his dash are out and he wouldn't be able to get himself to pay such an astronomical price for tiny bulbs. crashmanmike, I'd be very happy to find an alternative and it doesn't really matter to me if they are too dim. Where did you find them and what make or part number are they?

crashmanmike

Just went to my local mom-and-pop electronics store and found some bulbs. The ones I found are a little too tall, but fit in the sockets just fine. They are too tall, so the bulb condoms don't fit right. As such... part of the enviro. control unit appears white, instead of a green tone to match the rest of the dash. Mainly, its just the OFF button that appears white. Im sure a little blue paint would fix it right up good as new.

Yeah, there are definitley ways to do this cheaper than $40 per bulb!

Back to your question... sorry, no part numbers. This mom and pop place buys in bulk and packages and sells the bulbs seperatly. The scary part is the lady I talked to there (the mom) said I bought 3 of the last batch of 10 they had in the store. Apparently they lost their supplier for those bulbs and wont be getting any more! So beyond that, I'm clueless.

As I said in my earlier post... the bulbs I tried were 12V 75mA (too dim), and 120mA (a little too bright... but its my recommendation, they actually look okay, especially if you replace all the bulbs so they match).

At any rate... good luck!

Mike

DR-Max

iTrader: (3)

I went to Fry's today and found a 12VDC-75mA subminiature lamp. It reads in the back: "used in many automotive units including tape players, CB radios, etc." The bulb seems to be the same size as the OEM ones, however, instead of the really thin "legs", it came with really thin insulated wires. I guess I can strip off the insulation and somehow get it to wrap around the plastic fitting the same way the oem bulb fits.

crashmanmike

I tried that with a Radio Shack bulb. Couldn't strip away the insulation close enough to the actual bulb so it fit right in the socket. The bulbs I got from the mom-and-pop place had bare leads coming from the bulb.... much easier to work with.

With the insulated wires, I tried to strip the wire about a 1/4 inch from the bulb, then took a utility knife to peel away the rest of the insulation. Tried it on three bulbs. Never worked. I'm too clumsy or something, because on each try, I ended up stripping off or cutting the wire itself.

Let me know if you get it to work for ya! Once you get the insulation off, its easy to wrap the leads around the little plastic fittings.

If I run across any commercially available bulbs, I'll be sure to add it to this post. Beyond that, I figure your best bet is the not-so-big named electronics stores. The store I went to that had them had EVERYTHING electronic... like LCD screens and blank printed circuit boards and every kind or transistor and resistor out there. It wasn't yuor average store... it was for the true hobbiest. Find a place like that. The bulbs cost me about 90 cents a piece.

Good Luck

Mike