*HOW TO* Replace heater control bulbs

[Rage]

not long had my nova van and found that the heater control panel was dark which was no help considering I don't know which control does what in the dark so after asking around I've managed to replace all 3 bulbs so I can now see what I'm adjusting. Here's how to do it:-

This is for a mk2 dash.
to get to the heat and position controls (the left and right dials) you have to take the left hand vent out to get to a phillips screw and remove all the T20 torx screws from the top of the vent (2 of) the top of the speedo pod near the windscreen (2 of) and at the front of the speedo pod level with the wiper and indicator stalks once these are all removed the speedo pod can be lifted enough to wriggle the vent surround above the heater controls out of the dash this then gives you access to the back of the heater controls where you will find a black and a brown wire leading to the bulb holders of the left and right dials.
once you have pulled the bulbholders from their homes in the back of the heater controls replace the bulbs with bulb #286 which you can find from Halfords at £1.30 a go.
Replacement is literally reversal of the removal procedure.

For the centre speed dial that also does the heated rear screen you may need a second pair of hands as you need 2 small flat blade screwdrivers to get the tabs.



Pull the switch as though you are turning the rear screen on then by looking between the switch knob and the dial face you will find a pair of tabs at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock. This is where your screwdrivers and second pair of hands come in. use the screwdrivers to push the tabs together as you pull the switch out of the dash.

I didn't have enough hands to show the 2 screwdrivers



with the switch out you can see the tabs more clearly



with the switch out of the dash you can now see where the bulb is



This is in the same holder that the one are in for the left and right controls



Once this is out pull the bulb from the holder and replace with another 286 bulb



again refitting is a reversal of removal but the switch will need a little jiggle to align the bulbholder and the switch.

then once your done it should look something like this

without the rear screen on



with the rear screen on






hope this helps anyone that gets stuck like i did and thanks to all those that helped me to figure this out so i was able to write this guide

[CorsaBBoomer]

Nice one

[Rage]

cheers hopefully this is clear enough that people can follow it and have working heater control lights

[edkillick]

Always wondered if there was meant to be lights behind them or if I was meant to suffer putting the heating on cold when really I wanted to heat the windscreen at night haha cheers for this!

[Rage]

i had the same problem especially not having had a nova before and only really driving her early morning and late evening so i figured they might be lit up so started looking for dead bulbs and thought i would make this how to at the same time.

hope you have some warmer driving now

[edkillick]

With the weather being that cold I just left them on full wack warm the whole time anyway but when I wanna turn them down I genuinely wasnt sure if they had that tech back then haha cheers though gonna be sorting that out soon. How about a guide on changing the bulbs for the dials? Really fancy having my speedometer in blue or white at night instead of the beige glow I have right now haha