New Owner: Dash Lights and Wheels

Hi all, first post here so go easy on me! I picked up a 1998 Brighton wagon 5-sp almost a year ago and have been lurking here almost as long 150K miles when I bought it and now at 167K, no problems whatsoever. All I've had to do is re-charge the A/C and replace a frayed seatbelt. Love my Subaru!

 

I'm already looking into installing a tachometer from a GT wagon my mechanic's parting out, and have been able to find some really instructive guides out there. But, I'm not finding much on replacing light bulbs in the center of the dashboard, the ones that illuminate the fan/AC/heater cluster. They're all totally dark at night, and although I've pretty much memorized the location of some buttons I'd still like to see them. Are the bulbs back there easily accessible?

 

Also, my mechanic's parts car has some nice alloy wheels I've been eyeing. My Brighton's got some slightly rusty plain ol' wheels that used to be covered by crappy plastic hubcaps until I decided I liked them better without crappy plastic on them. My question is, is there any reason to get nicer wheels other than aesthetics?

 

Thanks in advance!

some wheels are lighter but really, it's going to be aesthetics on these cars

 

here's a guide for the HVAC lights

 

you need:

 

2 of these

3 of these (3mm)

and

4 of these

Wow that was quick and easy. Thanks Zues!

One thing: can I get the OEM bulbs I need at a Subaru dealer or do you recommend these aftermarket super bright LEDs? Not sure I need all that much light going on in the dash!

i'd recommend the leds, they last 500x longer and aren't really thaaaaaat bright... they also are dimmable via the stalk on the wheel and you can still get OEM green-ish coloring

Good points. Thanks again Zues.

I've used LEDs to replace dash lights (not on a legacy specifically) and the illumination was bright but not very even at all. Someone else can chime in if these have the same hot spot issues.

I did my HVAC bulbs today with radio shack bulbs. They aren't as bright as stock and won't be green (unless you manage to get the green gels off the old bulbs) but two packs of bulbs ended up being $5.

 

The bulbs are

 

272-1092

Part number 7219

 

Remove the old bulbs from the holders, put new bulbs in, wrap the wires the same as the original bulbs and you are set.

 

I am happy with the results.

I've used LEDs to replace dash lights (not on a legacy specifically) and the illumination was bright but not very even at all. Someone else can chime in if these have the same hot spot issues.

 

in the HVAC, you can see in this picture... the clear things spread the light out evenly

 

I personally went with the OEM bulbs ... still available from a number of sites ... restored original incandescent lighting. I used subarupartsforyou.com. Very reasonable and great service.

 

And, I know it's already been said, but I'll say it again. Disconnecting the temp slider cable from the passenger footwell is far easier than messing around with the eclip securing the cable to the slider. Just make sure that you have the temp slider all the way to the left before you d/c under the passenger footwell area. Very easy to disconnect and reconnect ... cable easily feeds behind the HVAC unit and down behind the center dash.

I've used LEDs to replace dash lights (not on a legacy specifically) and the illumination was bright but not very even at all. Someone else can chime in if these have the same hot spot issues.

 

This is what I'd worry about too. Although, we are talking about the itty bitty pictures of where the HVAC is directing air... is distribution of light really going to be an issue?

I personally went with the OEM bulbs ... still available from a number of sites ... restored original incandescent lighting. I used subarupartsforyou.com. Very reasonable and great service.

 

No chance of getting the bulbs from a dealer, huh?

Absolutely! Just call your local dealer up and tell then what you need ... three bulbs in total. They come with the plastic base and little blue 'rubbers' as well.

You should still be able to get them from a dealer. They're just generic neo-wedge bulbs which are used by many car manufacturers. You can buy a bag of 12v incandescent mini bulbs and make the replacements yourself if you want. Just twist the bulb and neo-wedge fixture out of the hvac unit, remove the 12v bulb from the neo-wedge, and wire a new bulb in. I went that route and it turned out just fine. You just need to be careful with the green gel caps over the bulbs because they rip easily.

Oh, another pointer. You might want to pickup the Radio Shack bulbs to replace the hazard and A/C button lights. Just easier to do since you'll have the HVAC unit out.

Oh, another pointer. You might want to pickup the Radio Shack bulbs to replace the hazard and A/C button lights. Just easier to do since you'll have the HVAC unit out.

 

So it sounds like these bulbs are all pretty standard. You're recommending Radio Shack for the hazard and A/C button lights because they're cheaper and I don't need the special green ones, correct?

i believe there are just little 'condoms' that slip over the bulb to change the color

 

idk why you guys are so against these leds . . . . . . . . porkchop. . . .

 

the spotty distribution pattern was worked around years ago, imma go find the thread

Yes, they are identical to the OEM in-switch bulbs except that the RS bulbs don't come with the little plastic base like the OEM bulbs. The RS bulbs are $2 for two bulbs and come with two long wires. You just need to unwind the wires off the OEM bulbs, remove the bulb from the plastic base and insert the RS bulb. Then wrap the RS bulb leads around the base and snip off the unneeded length of wire. Then insert back into the switch and turn 1/4 of the way to tighten. Once you've done one, you'll see how easy it is to do the other bulb in the switch.

 

The RS bulbs can be used to replace the hazard, A/C, rear defrost, cruise control and most of the indicator bulbs (18 indicator bulbs if I recall correctly) in the instrument panel. All these OEM bulbs can be replaced with the RS bulbs, just reuse the plastic bulb base for each one. If you want to replace the four general illumination bulbs in the instrument panel, I recommend ordering new ones from your Subaru dealership. The four general illumination bulbs in the instrument panel are larger than the RS bulbs and come with new plastic bases and rubber tips.

 

If you have any questions, let me know. I just replaced all the dash bulbs in my '98 Legacy recently.

Zeus - not against LEDs per se (you should see my desktop PC - lol), just like the OE look with the incandescent bulbs.

i believe there are just little 'condoms' that slip over the bulb to change the color

 

idk why you guys are so against these leds . . . . . . . . porkchop. . . .

 

the spotty distribution pattern was worked around years ago, imma go find the thread

 

Hahaha I'm only anti LED because of bad personal experiences. My first car, for reference:

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/2147/401/30365200185_large.jpg

 

LED swapped almost every incandescent bulb in that car including all of the buttons. I guess my dislike of LEDs comes from being dissatisfied with how overly bright it was while driving at night and the fact that I had to worry about polarity when installing LEDs (incandescent bulbs illuminate regardless of the direction in which the electricity is flowing). I don't know if it's been changed now but when I did all this, you would

- install all the LEDs in your console

- reassemble it

- find a way to plug it back in

- check which ones weren't illuminating

- disassemble

- flip them around

- reassemble

- test again and reinstall

 

I also had a number of them fail or flicker prematurely due to heat related failures. It just seemed like too much hassle, but if you have the time and patience to install, test everything, and make sure you have good quality LEDs that won't fizzle out, it can look pretty sweet.

 

/rant

thanks for the info ill be doing mine in the next couple weeks

Thanks again everybody, I used the very useful thread Zues pointed me to: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/change-heater-control-lights-95-99-legacy-26408.html and it worked like a charm. I'll post details over there.

Can't wait to replace my bulbs now that I know how. I hate not being ale to see the buttons.