Is it true that you need an entirely new climate control panel to get all the bulbs working again? I have some that are burnt out and my mechanic said to live with it because to change out the panel is a royal pain in the butt.

Can just the bulbs be changed? If so, what's the procedure?

 

I've been through this on my '92 civic. First off, you have to remove the stereo. To do that you have to remove the plastic part at the bottom which holds the ashtray and coin box. There are some screws in behind where the stereo was located that will eventually allow you to remove the unit. I also recall removing the cable that controls the temperature from the slider. And all that just for 2 measily bulbs. Make sure you get honda bulbs since they will last. I don't recall 100% all of the steps since it has been about 2-3yrs since I did mine. To pull the climate control unit out, there are some connectors in behind that must be disconnected. Be careful, because when it's not connected, your turn signals don't work.
It was a pain but worth it because when it's dark in the winter time, you can see what you're doing. Pickup a Hayne's manual since they have good pictures on how to do it.

 

Thanks, what you describes was what I was afraid of. The mechanic just put it in, he had all those pieces you descirbed out, plus the cables for the temperature slider level, and I think the air directional doors throughout the dash all disconnected. We looked at the climate control unit (well my old one) and could not find where to replace the bulbs as it looks like they're all contained within the unit. I have a 90 meg PDF file, which I believe is the Hayne's manual. I'll check that.

Thanks.

 

You'll have to open up the unit to get access to the bulbs. I can't recall how I did this but it took me a few nights of work for the whole project. I also replaced lights in my hazzard light button and defrost button (there's two lights in here too) Good luck.

 

heres a good writeup on how to change the bulbs out: http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=661308

 

Mine have been out for about a year, until I recently smacked the dash and they came back on. Including the LED back light of my aftermarket radio. Something on yours may just be loose. Just a thought before you rip it ALL out.

 

I used to smack mine too and they'd all come on. Eventually they stopped coming on and I had to replace mine. The filament in the bulb may have broken and by smacking the dash, it reconnected.