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[ posted: 04 May 2004 ]

Supra Climate Control Panel Conversion, Green to Red

Unfortunatly this project was completed in the days when I was not as fluent in documenting everything that I do very well. The pictures I have are only of the completed project, and not the before and during pictures I would of liked to of had. However, the good news is I will be doing this at least once more and I promise to document it fully for those that want to see it.

Anyway, the story goes like this. A friend of mine, Bishop, desired to have red illumination throughout his green supra. This was a long time ago, the pictures are dated August 27, 2002. This particular modification was not as common as it is nowadays, but none the less, there aren't tons of write ups on the procedure.

The first thing one needs to do, is remove the climate control panel from their MKIII Supra. I'm not going to go into detail on how to do that, because if you can't manage that, DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS. Furthermore, You will need light to moderate soldering skills and electronics knowledge to do this project. I disassembled the climate control panel, which is scary at first. I am telling this from memory, so bare with me. Once removed from the unit there will be some screws on the back of the unit that you will need to remove, be sure not to lose them. Once the screws are removed you will find black tabs in the tan plastic that hold the front face on to the entire module. Go ahead and carefully pry those until you seperate the two pieces. (News Flash: I have located another panel in my room, I will take pics and add it soon for these steps.)

You can now slide the control boards out of the tan plastic shell, once you have it remove CAREFULLY unplug the front face controls from the control board that was inside the tan shell. The plugs might be kind of stiff, keep in mind they've been in there for 12-17 years, just carefully pry the plastic connectors apart. Now you will see 4 screws that old the first control panel in place, remove the screws put them somce place safe. Now, here comes the tricky part, Nippon in their infinite wisdom designed what could possibly be the most idiotic feat in vehicle electronics with this panel. There are these white plastic clips that serve two purposes. They connect the actualy controls to their respective buttons, and they hold the illumination LED panel in place. You will need to carefully pop each one off of it's respective button to get it to come off. It is going to require a small bladed flat head screwdriver, lots of patience, and a whole bucket of "sonofabitches." You will hear a satisifying pop when each one comes off and they will become easier to manage as more and more of them come off. You might even break one or two, but don't fret, as long as 3 of the 4 clips for each button function, you *should* be okay. Once you've gotten all the buttons disconnected, the panel will come free easily, just put it some place safe for now. You will need to remove the white clips from the backs of the panel buttons, easily done now with a small flat head screw driver. Just inspect it carefully, you will see how they come of. Then, once you have both control boards apart, heat up the ole' soldering iron and get ready for some fun. You should have something now that looks similar to the below picture.

Now, we're going to do the illumination LEDs first. That's the panel that has the climate control double digit display on it. First, get an idea of what you're working with. Look at the back of the panel (the green side) and make sure the control plug (white thing with lots of wires) is on the lower left hand side. If you've got it held right, all of the LEDs positive (+) lead will be on the left side. There are two LEDs just below the double digit display, their (+) leads are on the bottom. This is VERY important, because if you are installing NEW leds, you will need to install them in the same manner. On the new LEDs, the positive lead will be the longer lead. Now, this part really is easy. Just take your heated up soldering iron and tap the back of the board where the LED lead pokes through until you can get the LEDs free. Remove them all, and discard. (NOTE: If your panel is plagued with the typical random blinking of the lights and you wish to keep the green ones, just heat the solder up on the LEDs and let it reharden. As an extra measure, just apply a little extra to each point and you're panel illumination will be as good as new.) If you're installing new LEDs you will need to bend them in the same shape as the legs of the factory ones, making sure the positive lead is in the right place. Then just resolder the new LEDs in with a small but adequate amount of solder, and you're good to go. The LEDs are provided around 1.8-2.1v and can draw around 20mA each and be safe. We replaced Bishop's with Red T1 (3mm) 2.1V 20mA Super Bright Red minerature LEDs from eLED. You can safely transplant any color that has similar voltage requirements and a breakdown voltage less than 1.8V. Once you get it all back together, if you're handy with a multimeter and you're lucky enough to own one that'll do diode check, you can check your connections. If you have any clue what I said, you'll already know what you're doing. If you don't... you a) shouldn't of attempted this and b) just pray it works at this point. :)

The indicator LEDs on the control board that have the button mechanisim are SUPER easy to replace. You literally just unsolder, remove, replace with new LED, and resolder. The LEDs we received from eLED had the same length leads as the factory ones, so not cutting or anything was necessary. If you hold the board the same way you did with the previous one, the plug on the lower left side, all your positive (+) LEDs leads should be on the top. Use your trusty meter to check. Once you desoler, remove, replace, and solder up... you should be good to go.

Now there's one more issue to address. That double digit panel is going to still be green. We converted Bishop's to red by prying (really hard) on the cover over the double digit LED. It will break apart or just come off, don't worry about it, it's just useless and it makes the digits really dim. Then you'll need to push slightly on the green lens from the back side of it until the sticker around the up and down climate TEMP buttons pops out a little. Run a flat head screwdriver (small one) gently around to unstick it from the panel. Once you get enough play where you can hold it apart with your finger (BE CAREFUL NOT TO BEND OR CREASE THIS PIECE AS IT WILL LEAVE A WHITE LINE), poke the green lens out and discard it. Then stick the TEMP piece back on, there should be enough sticky goo to hold it in place. If not, you can use any silicon based adhesive in a sparing amount. DO NOT USE SUPER GLUE, IT WILL MELT THE PLASTIC AND DISCOLOR IT.

Put it all back together in the reverse order. Make sure those ridicilous white clips snap in place on the control buttons. Check this by working the buttons on the front of the panel while holding firmly on the control boards to ensure operation. Sometimes pressing the front panel buttons assists in clicking the clips back together. Just make sure it's lined up, and be careful.

Once you put it back in the car, and if you have used RED LEDs, it will look something like this.

If you're looking to do some of the more difficult colors, such as blue, white, UV, etc... You will only be able to do the illumination LEDs, but you will need to change the resistors. This requires having enough electronics knowledge and a decent meter to be able to measure the current and voltage needed. There is no simple way to convert the indicator LEDs to any of the 3.8V colors (blue, white UV) because the voltage is regulated somewhere in that double stacked control board and not simply resistors onboard. Is it possible? Sure. Have I researched it? Nope. I have found a 2.1V Blue LED that's bright, but they are so expensive just the LEDs alone for this project would run you well over $100. If you're still interested, let me know, and I'll dig up the resource for them. I do not have it handy.

Damnit! That soldering iron burns,
Dave

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