XB: A/C Color Lighting Change

[cz3ch]

(CREDIT: Scionlife Tech: Xbassist)

This post is for anyone who has wanted to get rid of that damn amber lighting once and for all! I did this to my xB in about 15 minutes, and got rid of the amber lighting in the A/C control for good! Enjoy.

First thing to do is run to your local Autozone and pick up some little rubber bulb cover things in the color of your choice.. (I chose green)

http://www.euroxb.com/images/tech/acchange/01.jpg

Of course, this is not the same size as the ones covering the LED's that light the A/C controls... They didn't have the correct size, nor did the 100 yr old man that I asked know that they had EVER had any that small... But hey, a pair of these things were $1.25.. If they weren't going to fit, oh well...

So anyway, get yourself a pair of these little rubber caps.. Now to install them.. First, remove the center dash piece by removing the A/C dials, and then the 2 screws on either side.. I marked where the screw on the right side is... The left one should not be hard to find, as it is in the exact same place, only on the left ;P

http://www.euroxb.com/images/tech/acchange/02.jpg

Now to remove the center dash piece.. pry the bottom corner of the silver-colored piece up enough to get your fingers under it.. I used a flathead screwdriver for this procedure.. You may want to cover it in a piece of cloth, or just be very careful so that you don't scratch the plastic.. Also do not pry too hard.. If you are prying hard, then you are prying in the wrong places ;P... Once you can get your fingers under the corner, just pull:

http://www.euroxb.com/images/tech/acchange/03.jpg

Just pull around the whole thing until it all comes lose... Then disconnect the 3 wiring harnesses connected to this piece, then pull the whole piece out...

http://www.euroxb.com/images/tech/acchange/04.jpg

http://www.euroxb.com/images/tech/acchange/05.jpg

Now, flip the piece you just removed over... You'll see this:

http://www.euroxb.com/images/tech/acchange/06.jpg

Those 2 little grey circles are the LED's =) ... Ok... Take off that whole damn cream colored piece there... It snaps out, really easily... Be careful not to disturb the circular..err.. thing below it with the spring.. I do not know what this piece is, and I didn't mess with it..

These are the LED's you'll see poking through the underneath of the cream-colored piece that you just removed... Take off the yellow rubber cap..

http://www.euroxb.com/images/tech/acchange/07.jpg

Now if you are like me, right now you are thinking,"Hey, I could just leave this rubber piece off and have white lighted controls".. WRONG... These LED's shine in the color of old-assed headlights... kinda that dull white/yellow color... uhg.. You don't want that... Ok... you got those off, now looking back at the dash piece, you'll see 2 holes where the LED's shine into...

(I've already stuck a green cap into the left side in this pic)

http://www.euroxb.com/images/tech/acchange/08.jpg

Just put your new caps in the holes...

http://www.euroxb.com/images/tech/acchange/09.jpg

Now then, put everything back together... Should be cake...

Next: wait until night-time, hop in your xB (or xA I suppose, this guide was done on an xB)... Flip on ya headlights and enjoy your new, color of choice A/C controls... Here is my horrible, horrible picture of the finished product.. Believe me, it looks like it came from the factory with green lights in person.. My digi-cam just doesn't like the dark.. Enjoy!

http://www.euroxb.com/images/tech/acchange/10.jpg

http://www.euroxb.com/images/tech/acchange/11.jpg

[crkrbox]

hey good info. i wander if Jon (FNSCION) has done that to his box yet
almost all my lights r blue on my car,

[Glorious Midget]

is that mostly the same for xAs?

[baker]

is that mostly the same for xAs? yes it is

[Lady Luck]

I needa do this to my car do match my other green lighting...

[FrankenScion]

I did it with green in mine and it looks great.

[Anonymous]

mmm....looks like another thing to add to the list before asylum!

[whatmovesu]

what are the colors you can get?? Green, Yellow, Blue, Red

[Anonymous]

nice! I think I'll have to do this over the weekend!

[otaku_d]

You can also take out the LED's entirely and put neon fire-wire (even an LED tube) in the background. That's what I did and it is $#it load brighter too. You will have to remove the clear plastic ring around the A/C control knobs on the inside. You can even use the stock LED housing to wire to for power. The stock wiring can handle the extra power draw, I haven't has a fire yet.

[Anonymous]

any help on what size bulbs I should pick up?

[JayDizzle]

Awesome write up man!!

[transformerxa]

yeah i did it in blue and it sucked. it came out crappy and not as bright. so i have some LEDs from my cup holder mod, so i want to wire em up to the ac controls

[midnightxb]

where did you get them and how do the green ones cost

[FrankenScion]

I got mine from Autozone and they only cost a few bucks.

[midnightxb]

thanks for the intel...

[Haxx]

how many of these cap things would i need for EVERY light on the dash? im going to do this on my lunch break

[FrankenScion]

This mod really only works on the AC lights, and I think you need 3 for those.

[Haxx]

so this wouldnt work for the lights behind the speedo?

[FrankenScion]

Definitely not, that requires a complete led change. We have a company in the Scikotics Supportes section that will do it though.

[Haxx]

k i just went to get the things to do this but they didnt have the caps so i had to get bulbs i hope it works haha because me being the genius i am didnt check the bulb size i just got the only "interior accesory" bulbs they had that werent for the cabin light thing

[Haxx]

ok now that i look back through this, i got the wrong bulbs looks like im goin back to auto zone on my next break! haha anyone know the size i need so i dont get the wrong one

[otaku_d]

so this wouldnt work for the lights behind the speedo?

You can always go the cheep route and use a Sharpie marker to color in your speedo! Seen it done before on a Dodge pickup and it doesn't look bad at night, but during the day it looks like crap.

[thehulk]

i went bye autozone here and they said they dont have them, where else would have them?

[FrankenScion]

O'Reilly's? Pep Boys?