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Air con switch not lighting up.

1460 Views 11 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  Dan_in_WA, 
AMB
Hi, my son has just bought a 2002 Cooper. We have had the air con professionaly tested and re gassed. We know it works as you can hear the compressor kicking in and feel ice cold air flowing into the car. However the little green light on the snowflake button doesn’t work so when driving we cannot instantly tell if the ac is on. Is there a way to replace this one switch? The circulate and rear screen heater switches both light up when on. We’d be grateful for any advice, thanks in advance.
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D
Do you have the manual control with 3 knobs or the Automatic A/C control with one knob in the center and a whole bunch of buttons?

Sounds like a bulb is out if you have the control with 3 knobs.
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AMB
Dan_in_WA said:
Do you have the manual control with 3 knobs or the Automatic A/C control with one knob in the center and a whole bunch of buttons?

Sounds like a bulb is out if you have the control with 3 knobs.
Click to expand...
I have the manual control with 3 knobs. Really thought there was on 2 bulbs in this unit illuminating half of the area each. Does the ac button have it’s own light as everything else is working properly ?
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D
Yes, the A/C button will have it’s own bulb.

IIRC the A/C control has to be removed from the dash and at least partially disassembled.

Do you have a Bentley manual or other instructions for getting the control out of the dash?
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AMB
Hi, I don’t, although we have removed the tape player successfully following a YouTube tutorial so know how to take the 2 dash pillars out. Could you direct us to instructions on how to do this job please ?
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D
Just ignore the last 2 photos and captions on the 2nd page. You have the IHKS, not the IHKA.

I'll see what I can find on getting at the bulb and replacing it.

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D
I found this thread;

www.mini2.com

How to replace a blown bulb in the heater control panel

Disclaimer: This worked for me. Your mileage may vary. I didn't break anything when I did this, but that does not mean you won't! Proceed at your own risk. If your car is still under warranty it makes no sense to do this as a DIY job. This has to be one of the most fiddly bulb replacements...
www.mini2.com www.mini2.com

I did a quick scan but didn’t see any mention of the A/C button bulb, but this will get you where you want to be.
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AMB
That’s great, hopefully I can get whatever bulb it is in Halfords.
Many thanks for your help.
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D
Let me know what you find, I’ve got the same A/C control.
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AMB
Will do,thanks again.
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AMB
Hi, finally got round to removing the heater control panel following the useful link you mentioned. Once I got the unit out and on to the bench the back was taken off by releasing the really small black tabs in the rear of the panel. A clever friend at work then replaced the SMD (surface mounted diode)that illuminates the air con button. It is now refitted to the car and working perfectly.
Next mission is to repair/ replace the rear silencer hangers !
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D
Thanks for the update! Do you have a part number or information on the diode that was used to replace it?
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