donbryce

I did lots of research here on replacing the burnt bulbs in the climate control and radio. The best thread was this one https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...backlight.html There were others, but no one took pictures of what these units look like inside, so I took a bit of a risk tearing down both of them with no idea what to expect - and I have a perfectly working climate and radio systems that I sure didn't want to mess up just for the sake of a few lights!

Anyway, I had a burnt MODE button light, and the AM, TAPE, and CD button lights were dead, so I figured I'd tackle them all in one shot. I first ordered 2 of Toyota part number 84999-60440 from the dealer ($20.00 EACH!!!), which my searches said would take care of the MODE and one of the radio buttons (I actually only wanted the CD button lit, as the FM already worked. I mean, no one uses cassettes anymore, or AM radio, right?). I figured I'd order more, or source aftermarket, if they worked.

So, step 1 is the removal of the entire climate/radio unit as 1 piece. This is well documented here: http://www.carstereohelp.com/stereor...sES300StrR.htm I also took issue with the website author on removal instructions for the center vent, documented here: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...993-es300.html

Note that you can remove the lower 2 screws without taking the ashtray out, but it's tight, and you'll probably drop 1 of them down into the abyss in front of the shifter, so take the time to remove it. Also, I use a bit of sticky dummdumm (eavestrough sealer, but any gummy stuff will work) on the phillips screwdriver end to hold the screws taking them out.

OK, so you now have the entire unit on the workbench, so first, remove the screws (4 on each side) holding the left and right mounting brackets, which also hold the climate ctrl and radio together. Now they are separate, so first the climate control:

The first picture shows the 5 LED's, 2 yellow, 3 green, and their corresponding buttons. No one here has ever, to my knowledge, reported one of these out, but if you need to replace, they are soldered in. No idea what part no. or source is on these, but there they are for information.

The second picture shows the 2 screw-in bulbs, Toyota part no. 84999-60440 mounted on the housing of the LCD display. These work to illuminate the lower rocker buttons by shining light through the prisms behind the buttons. In my case, the rightmost one was burnt and thus gave no light to the MODE button.

Going back to the referenced thread above, autored by awhiteguy, and other threads I read concerning the illumination for the LCD itself, those bulbs are inside the white box, which I had no need to open, so those are not discussed here.

The last picture is out of order, but you can see the 7 of the 8 screws that need to come out to separate the circuit board from the faceplate. These are all black. The silver ones are for removing the LCD unit to access the bulbs inside. Also note that there are a couple of connectors that need to be removed to get at the LCD unit. If just the button bulbs are being replaced, the wires only can be moved aside.

I'll post a second part on the radio bulbs....

donbryce

OK, so here is the skinny on the radio bulbs. As noted in the previous post, awhiteguy's thread mentions availability of bulbs from Pioneer, and a contributor notes other sources as well. I'm in Canada, so until I get a chance to go stateside again for parcel pickup, I can't find a source here. Pioneer Canada doesn't even have a parts website.

Anyway, my concern was with the weeny little bulbs positioned behind the AM, FM, TAPE, and CD buttons. Picture 1 shows the unit from the top, after you pry off the top cover. This is necessary to access the large ribbon connector clamp, at the left of the picture. Pull up on the clamp and the ribbon can be pulled out. You need to detach this to safely remove the screws holding the circuit board in without straing the ribbon wires. Work carefully!

Pictures 2 and 3 show the removed volume control and connected ribbon, and the other ribbon connector at the top (both have red clamps). With the connectors released, there are 9 numbered screws on the board to be removed. You can now flip the board over to access the bulbs.

Picture 4 shows the bulbs, all of them fitted to tiny little plastic holders and soldered to the circuit board. I'm ignoring the LCD and it's bulbs since mine worked fine, but the other threads I listed and others here discuss this piece in depth. The two function light/lists that light up only when their respective buttons are pushed, TAPE and CD, illuminate from 2 bulbs each that shine through prisms on the faceplate. Generally, all the other buttons have a dedicated bulb.

For me, all I wanted to do was light up the FM and CD buttons. My FM bulb was fine, so I unsoldered the 2 that lit the tape function prism and replaced the unlit AM and CD bulbs. Sadly, one of the prism bulbs was also burnt, so I now have lit AM and still no lit CD button Oh well, at some point I'll find these little jeezers and fix them. The last picture shows the old (grey base) bulb for the MODE button on the climate control, the new one (brown base), and the little soldered in ones for the radio. The little ones are about 1/8" diameter X about 1/4" high, and 8V according to the other poster.

Hope this thread helps someone.