2005 caravan HVAC control replacement light bulbs

Posting here because the Dodge groups seem to be basically abandoned.

2005 Caravan SXT HVAC control pod has 3 of the 4 light bulbs burned out. Bulb is same size as a 74, but it is fastened into a base which is NOT interchangeable with the PC74 bulbs the owners manual implied would fit. Dealer says the bulbs are not available seperately- if they burn out, apparently Chrysler will only sell you the whole assembly.

Anybody know a source for these bulbs? Or am I going to have to do microsurgery and transplant generic 12v grain-of-wheat bulbs in there, and hope I can bend the leads into the slots on the base correctly?

Talk about piss-poor engineering- there was plenty of room to use the pc74 bulbs like the main instrument cluster uses, and those are easy to find. But no, they had to use some weird specials that look very much like the lights embedded in an old analog radio.

Only other option I can think of is to (when warm weather hits) start cruising junkyards and harvesting bulbs from wrecks, and hope they work.

Reply to
aemeijers
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aemeijers wrote in news:lY- dnXdrQ6TH7L_QnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

That's the #1 source for odd stuff like this. Chrysler minivans are ubiquitous in wrecking yards. Those bulbs will be available by the millions, and for pennies apiece. I exaggerate of course, but not by much.

Harvest a bunch and keep them on hand for future use.

Reply to
Tegger

Just don't visit the yards near me, I hit them about every 3-4 weeks just to get the oddball bulbs used in some of todays vehicles.

It's getting kind of hard when they use 3-4 different bulbs across a dash panel just to keep the levels even...

Reply to
Steve W.

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