HVAC illumination via headlight circuit

[Alan]

Picture's worth 1000 words.

(Help... I've fallen and I can't get up!)

[Dracula]

It's worth noting that, if your car is an automatic, the transmission light is still going to come on with the ignition circuit.

If I hadn't discovered this AFTER I put the center console back in, I'd have spliced it in to the HVAC panel lights and used the illumination lead for the transmission indicator to power a secondary 12v outlet instead...

[Greasy DeLorean Mechanic]

VIN 500's A/C panel:

VIN500ACPanel.jpg

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Patrick C]

It's worth noting that, if your car is an automatic, the transmission light is still going to come on with the ignition circuit.

Now I feel like an idiot. I tapped into this unused socket on my 5-speed car when I installed Dave's LED board and it is always on with the ignition. This explains why...

I've just lived with it and never looked further.

[Dracula]

This car has made me feel like an idiot more than once; though, I wish I had known that beforehand.

Hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes.

[Mark D]

VIN 500's A/C panel:

VIN500ACPanel.jpg

Bill Robertson
#5939

Not sure if anyone caught the thread on DMCTalk a while back about making reproduction A/C panels but there is quite a bit of good info there if you're interested. Specifically, around the same time that thread was going on DMCSELLER on ebay listed a drawing that basically showed the revision history of the panel from a complete blackout to the mid-range vin panel. At some point they pulled a new part number so the drawing did not have the complete revision history. I think the new PN came along when they changed from the outline text version to the solid text with font matching the instrument cluster.

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?10...l=1#post151373



I put together my own guess at the progression of how the design changed for the AC panel. It would be an interesting exercise to see what version people have and what their VIN is.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Mark D, nice write up on the different versions.

One other thing they did was the blue/red bars got flipped on #5 (bi-level). Probably just a layout mistake.

[Greasy DeLorean Mechanic]

To the best of my knowledge no production cars were built with the fully opaque panel.

Knut Grimsrud uses this Service Bulletin to start his production chronology at VIN 560 (subject line), by which time cars were definitely equipped with A/C panels with daytime visible lettering: http://www.dmcnews.com/bulletins/SC-06-7.82.html

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Mark D]

Mark D, nice write up on the different versions.

One other thing they did was the blue/red bars got flipped on #5 (bi-level). Probably just a layout mistake.

Wow I never noticed that before!

[Gary]

Sometimes I don't even need my car to feel like an idiot

Gary