Apparently dashboard lights woes common

Nov 01, 2003 16 Replies

My 98 Subaru Legacy SW heater illumination lights went out and I read some google newsgroup archive posts on this and apparently it is a common flaw to have dashboard lights burn out in Subarus. Anyone on here recently had this happened? Wonder if there should have been a recall if it is so common. Though not a serious problem, it sure is a nusiance.


Doubt you'll see a "recall" on this non-safety issue of a 5 year old vehicle. Bulbs are replaceable if your a little handy with tools.

No recal but had to replace them in the heater/AC and in the switches for the rear defrost and cruise control on my 95 lagacy SW. Funny, if you call the dealer and ask for these bulbs, they all know exactly what you need......... Replacing the bulbs in the heater/ac unit is easy, getting the damn assembly apart to do it is a PITA. I had a link on how to do it. If you search google it will list it, I think it was "Russ' little subie page".

snip

2001 legacy wagon, fan control light.

F. Plant

yeah, i just bought a 95 and to pass the safety, the mech insisted the LED under the defrost button be fixed. three months later and the recirc LED is burnt out!

-- Dominic Richens | snipped-for-privacy@alumni.uottawa.ca "If you're not *outraged*, you're not paying attention!"

site is down, but If found a old link...No pictures

formatting link

I bought a '98 Outback Wagon (Legacy) new, and the HVAC bulbs were out within a year. In fact, I didn't even realize there *were* bulbs behind those control buttons until I read about it on this NG. I took the car to the dealer, and their mechanic told me the buttons were

*not* illuminated and there were no bulbs to replace. I didn't bother with it. I traded the car back to the same dealership this past summer--now it's their problem.

C. Brunner

One more site with great pictures and description. Promise I'll stop after this.

formatting link

Yuppers, I've had my 96 Legacy LSi for a year, and today, you made my day by telling me that it's fixable. I thought I'd have to go to Subaru and pay THEM to fix it, which is out of the question.

I wonder if the day will come when Subaru realizes that they're NOT so special and they can stop charging twice as much as the next guy for standard parts.

Chris

Actually, I just remembered something! The lights in my stereo have gone out too, or at least in the CD Player part of it. Anyone exprienced this, and is it related?

Thanks, Chris

Chris, I'm not sure who you are thanking, but I wonder if you caught the URL for Scoobymod folks? I found that after reading one of the replies here and I was wiped out with amazement at how detailed, how complete, and how easy they make it look. Good photos to go with the instructions, too. Not only for dash lamps, but lots of other things on the Subie!

I really need to thank whoever provided that URL.

Thanks!

Nope, don't recall the URL, but the name of the site actually included the phrase "ScoobyMod".... Check google!

instructions,

Here is the URL to ScoobyMod with detailed instructions and pictures.

formatting link

instructions,

2001 legacy had 2 heater bulbs repaced at 60k km, and another one blew in a few hundred km. That was replaced and then blew out in 2 blocks. Dealer just replaced all three no charge just in case it was a bad batch of bulbs. Will wait and see how long they last.

F.plant

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required