Good Morning All,
Is anyone familiar with the climate control panel illumination. I have a 98 Coupe. The lights on the display are out. That is to say none of the charactors light at all. (Auto, Ext Temp., Fan speed, Mode etc...) Does anyone know how I might go about fixing this. Additionally, the a/c and heater and defroster all work but the display does not show anything. When it first happened, I could tap the display and it came back a few times. Now it's out!!!!


Thanks, Mike

 

it sounds like there is a bad connection in the dash somewhere..perhaps those are all run by a harness that also carries the power line for the lights?

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it is a common problem with early model C5's i also had to replace mine. It is a design problem with the solder runs and grounding inside the Climate Control head unit, ive heard of a few people that have re-soldered all the grounds and a few other cold solder joints inside and were able to get it back up. but my attempt was unsuccessful. just had to go out and buy a new one. I got mine for $250 from a local corvette shop in pensacola (leo' corvettes was the place)



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Mcat emailed me asking how to get the climate control head unit out and apart, i'm just posting my response here as well as emailing it to him incase anyone else was wondering.

Mcat wrote "Can you be more specific as to what the head unit looks like as well as
how I might get to it. I used to test and repair PCB's and if can get
my hands on it, I might be able to fix it!!!

Thanks again
Mike"


my response is below

sure it is the actual unit you see ( the one with the buttons and *****) once you remove the trim from around the radio and climate controls there will be 4 screws holding it in. on the back there is one quick disconnect plug. once you take it apart (requires a torx tip) if you hook it back up and shine a light through the back you will see that the unit is working just the back light for the display is not, from what i've heard form those who have had success is to re solder all the grounds and any cold joints you can find. like i said though there is no guarntee i am also 2m certified but was unable to get mine working again. Good luck


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I am having a no response at all with my 97 a/c control. My ? is what is the best way to test the control head to make sure it is bad before buying a new one. I have power, grd, serial data wires are good, ign feed (brn) shows no power when power is applied from battery it shows a slight arc like the connection is made but no action on the control. the illumination works just fine. This problem started out would come first start up, then not, then after awhile maybe, now finally not at all. do you have any help for me it's flaming here in Gonzales.

 

Another '98 Coupe here. My climate control lights just went dim this week. So dim that they are barely visible even at night. I hear it's a pretty common problem. Please post if anyone has any proven fixes without replacing the whole head unit.

 

The climate control on many of the C5s will go dim due to bad soldering inside. The cheapest way to fix it is to look on ebay and do a search on c5 climate control. There are several guys that will send you a refurbished unit for around $80, and all you do is take the old one out and send the new one back. The better guys offer a 5 year warranty for their work. I am very happy with my new unit and this was the cheapest, easiest way to fix the problem.

 

very common problem on 98+ older vettes and 01+ Z06's. Do a little search for tips on how to fix with pictures included....

 

Anyone have more information on who makes the refurb with the warranty and how to get a hold of them? Same problem as everyone it seems, unit works fine just dosent light up, and the **** dosent make setting a temp easy =-/

Was going to try and fix it myself, but after reading what luck the guys that are certified with working on boards are having, dont think I'm going to try...

 

*edit* I did try searching on eBay, but was only able to find a used working one from an 03, would rather find a referb with a warranty I think. Any help appreciated, or if there's someone that fixes these all the time around that might work as well. Thanks for the help!