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How To: Repair your Radio Button Lights (3ES Pioneer)

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Old 11-19-12, 10:01 AM
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McFerran
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[QUOTE=MrBooby;7602302]You don't want a bulb longer than 6mm, that's what I used and they were still a bit too long. The blue one that you posted is 8mm.[/QUOTE

I have come to realize that replacing the green lights is as easy as replacing the green caps on the bulbs. Do you know where I can get blue caps for the bulbs? if not maybe some kind of blue film URL's would help me tremendously. Thank you!
Old 11-19-12, 10:00 PM
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Hayk
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Sounds like a plan, let me know what you find.
Old 01-25-13, 10:43 PM
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[QUOTE=download;7220049]Great post!

I used T5 leds, cut the legs and solder 2 wires as bulb.
But the quality of leds were not so good, 1 or 2 burned out already.

HI ...what radio is that? the one you have ? its the closest to stock design i have seen and it plays mp3?
Old 01-26-13, 06:35 AM
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It is stock 98 Toyota Picnic radio with 5-disc changer, support CD mp3 only and no aux in.
Old 02-14-13, 11:13 AM
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DGIKULJOT
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Originally Posted by download
Great post!

I used T5 leds, cut the legs and solder 2 wires as bulb.
But the quality of leds were not so good, 1 or 2 burned out already.









See the reason the leds probably burned out is because you most likely didnt use a current limiting resistors. See leds need very little current compared to the original bulbs. So basically you have to put a resistor in series with the led to limit how much current will flow through those leds otherwise they will burn out alot sooner. You can google led resistor calculator but will need to know what voltage the radio supplies to those bulbs,
Old 10-20-13, 12:08 AM
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I really want to change all my bulbs to pink if that is a possibility someone PLEASE let me know!!
Old 02-05-14, 03:54 PM
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Does anyone know the voltage and resistance for the bulb buttons? Would really love to have those values so we can use LEDs. I've searched for a straight hour
Old 07-31-14, 06:55 PM
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Tripoderik
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Would love to know what size resistor to get as well, I've searched too...
Old 10-15-14, 11:21 PM
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nttung1711
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Originally Posted by dlamb89
Does anyone know the voltage and resistance for the bulb buttons? Would really love to have those values so we can use LEDs. I've searched for a straight hour
You can use 470ohm resistor for each single led.
Old 11-19-14, 10:44 PM
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Damn dude the before and after pictures are nice lol.....I recently bought a bulb to replace the key light circle since it was out but swapped it for the glove compartment bulb which made a huge difference. I figured that's more important than the key light which is on for a second before I start the car

I need to do this for my ac controls when I put a double din in. they're very dim and its getting to me
Old 11-20-14, 10:43 AM
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Originally Posted by funcrusher
Damn dude the before and after pictures are nice lol.....I recently bought a bulb to replace the key light circle since it was out but swapped it for the glove compartment bulb which made a huge difference. I figured that's more important than the key light which is on for a second before I start the car

I need to do this for my ac controls when I put a double din in. they're very dim and its getting to me
Thank you. I'm working on a video to complement the tutorial, which should be up in the coming weeks.
Old 01-10-15, 10:51 AM
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PennyLane
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Default 8V bulbs?

I'm installing the new bulbs now (25-995 from MCMelectronics.com and noticed on the label they are 8V. I guess they regulate the voltage down from the car's 12V or they would be burning out for people pretty quickly. I have a climate control bulb out too and will replace it with this one also. Hopefully the voltage is correct. Oh well, if it burns out early at least now I know how to do the job. By the way, there are 7 other bulbs soldered to the other side of the climate control module's board. Those would be a real pain to replace if they burn out because the display and flex cable captivate the pcb. You would have to unsolder those multi-pin connections or risk disconnecting the LED display connections to get to the bulbs.

Last edited by PennyLane; 01-10-15 at 12:52 PM.
Old 01-10-15, 07:50 PM
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Originally Posted by PennyLane
I'm installing the new bulbs now (25-995 from MCMelectronics.com and noticed on the label they are 8V. I guess they regulate the voltage down from the car's 12V or they would be burning out for people pretty quickly. I have a climate control bulb out too and will replace it with this one also. Hopefully the voltage is correct. Oh well, if it burns out early at least now I know how to do the job. By the way, there are 7 other bulbs soldered to the other side of the climate control module's board. Those would be a real pain to replace if they burn out because the display and flex cable captivate the pcb. You would have to unsolder those multi-pin connections or risk disconnecting the LED display connections to get to the bulbs.
Great question about the voltage. I personally always wondered what the voltage is for the radio. I know every electrical component in the car's 12v circuit varies. Some things are 5 volts, some things are 8, etc.

What year is your ES? The 3ES has separate lights bulbs for the HVAC.
Old 01-10-15, 08:26 PM
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Thanks for replying about the voltage, and thanks for the great instructions on replacing the bulbs. We have a '98 ES300, same color as yours (my wife's car). Penny Lane is our boat's name on facebook. She's happy with it and aiming for 300k miles or 20yrs, whichever comes last! I tested the old and new bulbs with 12V and the new ones are definitely brighter. Unfortunately the front and rear defrost buttons are not lit and I think those bulbs are the ones sandwiched within the climate control module boards. I'm game to fix those too, but I'd have to measure the voltage first to decide on replacements.

Last edited by PennyLane; 01-10-15 at 08:31 PM.
Old 01-12-15, 07:32 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by PennyLane
Thanks for replying about the voltage, and thanks for the great instructions on replacing the bulbs. We have a '98 ES300, same color as yours (my wife's car). Penny Lane is our boat's name on facebook. She's happy with it and aiming for 300k miles or 20yrs, whichever comes last! I tested the old and new bulbs with 12V and the new ones are definitely brighter. Unfortunately the front and rear defrost buttons are not lit and I think those bulbs are the ones sandwiched within the climate control module boards. I'm game to fix those too, but I'd have to measure the voltage first to decide on replacements.
For HVAC controls on the 3ES, it is very easy to repair the backlights. Scroll through this thread to see how it works. Bulbs can be purchased through any Lexus dealer - no soldering.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...t-problem.html


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