What did I break? (HVAC lamp)

[Nlkko]

So I attempted a LED lamp swap in the HVAC circuit board (according to krazieboi guide in the installation section). I soldered the first one and it lit up fine.

But the second one won't lit up. I thought it must be the connection between the LED lead and the board so I melt the solder using the soldering iron and twist the lamp a little bit. The lamp started to move but the light still didn't come on and right after that, the first LED went off. FML.

The 2 rear defrost and AC LEDs still come on properly so I don't think I shorted the whole circuit board, just the lamp? I suspect both the negative and positive leads of the 2nd LED must have touched the positive side of the board at the same time or both leads touch each other because of the horrible soldering jobs?

What did I break there and how do I go about to fix it? Not sure if pictures would help. I didn't burn any part of the board and it looks normal.

Here's the pics:

The whole board aftermath:
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/Nlkko/photo1-1.jpg

The LED that I fk'ed up:
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/Nlkko/mail.jpg

[Nlkko]

EDIT: I just tried turning the HVAC control on and off and I can see a tiny flash from both LEDs but it comes off right away. Suggestion?

[xCraZyEddiEx]

i did the same mod but i used the original base of the lights and it came out great. maybe you have the wrong connection + - try reversing it.

[chillan420]

get a continuity tester to check the traces

[yodaddyguido]

get a continuity tester to check the traces

theyre very fragile...

[Nlkko]

I got the +,- right. I tested it before soldering it in.

Anyways, .there's more damage than I thought:

- When I switch the light knob from "OFF" to "-":

+ The OEM Radio screen has no light instead of dimming it (I can still read the content on the screen in day light, not when it's dark. Note that the OEM LED does come on when I set the E-brake.
+ The shift gate does not light up (I have an auto)

- The clock, the glove box bulb and the window control LED still operate normally.

I hope this extra info helps diagnosing it.

Would buying a new OEM circuit board fix it?

[yodaddyguido]

holy cow, this sounds exactly like my situation... maybe i damaged something a long while ago. mine just happened to show up coincidentally after i hit a truck tire on the highway, but the situation is the same. here's a fun test for ya, during the evening as its getting dark, if you have your drl's disabled, take your ebrake off, and press the brake. not sure if its the same with an auto, or if it matters if youre in gear or not, but the backlighting for my radio actually comes on whenever the brake is pressed. its weird. im pretty sure theres a fried trace on your board (and mine) that may be backfeeding somewhere.

[xCraZyEddiEx]

did you check your fuses? if the shift lights are out its probably a fuse or a new bulb.

[Nlkko]

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the bulbs. I never touch them.

My clocks, trunk light, dome light, glove box light all work normally so.. if I blew the multi fuse then they all should be out?

I think (a) blew trace(s) on the HVAC circuit board might have done it but that doesn't explain the dimming knob turning all the backlit (radio, shift gate) off instead of dimming it.

And the HVAC settings work normally when I turn the HVAC knobs. It's just ... light's out.

Is it safe to use the continuity tester on the HVAC board? Someone said it's fragile.

[yodaddyguido]

i was referring to the traces being fragile. the continuity tester doesnt stress anything from what i understand, just produces the info for ya. i know its not a fuse either, same thing goes for me. look for my thread 'lights out' and lemme know if that sounds like what youre doing. my rheostat (dimmer knob) works on the gauges just fine, but like you, my hvac panel lights are out as well as the radio lighting. w/e is blown/damaged also can damage a pass transistor in the gauge cluster, which is happening to me as well. im working on getting a new board and getting the transistor replaced again in hopes that'll solve it.

quick question, did you remove the board completely before you soldered on it? or was it still attached to the car/hvac unit when you did it?

[Nlkko]

That's exactly it. Gauge cluster dims fine. Everything works except for radio backlit, HVAC panel and auto shift gate (it's weird though, I just ran some errands just now and I can see the little orange LED that indicates the position of the gear on, not the letter P,D,R,.. though)

It was still attached to the car when soldering. My dumb ass didn't know how to remove the whole unit (I only read Dooly's guide until after that), there's a screw on the bottom that I'd have to remove before I can pull the board out.

So what's the solution? Is the gauge cluster fine or should I stop driving it until it got fixed?

[Nlkko]

I read the "Light's out" thread and just checked:

-Radio backlit doesn't work if headlights is on (I have auto-on headlight so whenever I turn on the engine, lights out, backlit only works with car turns off, headlights off).

- Hazard light backlit is also not working.

- My wiper and fluid pump (front and rear) works fine so I guess they're unrelated.

- The orange LED I mention on the auto shift gate isn't actually a LED (it's more like a piece of color plastic that doesn't shine in the dark).

I don't really care for the HVAC light that much cause I have them all wrapped anyways. The non-working radio backlit and shift gate light however is kinda annoying and I fear that my gauge light will go out next.

The crossed lead (positive and negative of the 2nd LED on the HVAC that I install) must have caused it. I don't know how to fix though. I can read instruction and follow but as far as troubleshooting these stuffs, I have no clue. Should I bring to the stealership?

I'm also planning on LEDMod gauge cluster LED swap soon. Should I put a hold on that? Can they worsen the problem?

[yodaddyguido]

i dont think youll be worsening the problem and i dont think it was the leads crossing that caused this. it may very well have been the soldering job. the car is 100% drivable so you dont need to worry about that, and for pete's sake, do NOT ask the stealership for an opinion... youll end up replacing the gauge cluster, the center console, the radio, the hvac, and probably your license plate holder just because lol. ive got a new hvac board coming in the mail soon, so whenever i swap that out, ill get back to you. if youre in a hurry to do it yourself, id recommend posting in the WTB area that you need hvac stuff and people will get at you quick. ive pretty much narrowed it down to the board in my car, and somehow its causing an odd backfeed w/e happened because its blowing that transistor you may have read about in my 'lights out' thread. the gauge lights will most likely remain unaffected, so i'd confidently say youre safe there. as for the shift gate light.... its most likely on the same loop as the one youre having issues with. this would include the cig lighter (light only, you should still be getting juice to it to power things, its separate), hazard backlight, hvac lights, and radio backlight.

[Nlkko]

I'll wait for you to test it then. Are you getting the HVAC circuit board only? Is it this part?

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=getJointLocator&siteid=214001&chapter=&sectionids=9,0&groupid=10074&subgroupid=60009&make=34&model=Celica&year=2003&catalogid=1&displayCatalogid=0

I read above that you're also getting the transistor replace. What part is that?

Waiting more info from you. Subscribed. :D

[yodaddyguido]

lol, the transistor can be purchased through 2way, the moderator in this section. i think he's still got a few laying around. i actually MIGHT end up having to buy another one if all of this doesnt work, but our situations sound way to similar to be something completely different. the transistor is a bit trickier to swap. ive got a local pro doing the board work in a lab environment for that. i can ask him what it takes, but you may want someone else doing to the soldering on that part. its in a much more sensitive, and expensive area of the car. and im not sure about that part. it could be, but theres no illustration to give me a pointer. if he's reading, deltaB might be able to provide insight on that though. he's the parts # guru around here.

[Nlkko]

Do you think doing continuity test on the traces and use a conductive pen to fix the blown traces would fix it?

[yodaddyguido]

potentially. im not an expert on how currents behave, or traces for that matter, how they handle shorts or damage. i know traces are repairable in most cases, but it takes some know-how and the right tools. if you know what youre looking for, go for it, and post your results, but thats been my issue. im to the point where i have almost no spare time to spend rooting through the electrical in my car so im ordering the piece, finding an alternate way to wire up leds (w/o soldering the board itself), restoring the oem bulbs in the meantime, and then figuring out what went wrong on my last board with the help of an engineer buddy ive got local. thats the plan at least. ill keep you posted :wiggle:

[blkcelica01]

I think I might have an a/c unit laying around that has a good circuit board in it
if someone wants to buy it.

[Nlkko]

^ I might have to, if worse comes to worse.

I ran to this article: http://www.newcelica.org/forums/showthread.php?t=177355

Would that fix the problem? I'll try the work around first--sounds easy (almost as easy as soldering a LED to the board which I fk'ed up)--before asking 2way about the transistor. Moving in a few days so shipping is really a hassle until I settle down at the new place.

[Nlkko]

^ Ok, I followed the above guide and that fixed it. It won't dim but I don't mind it.

Now soldering in the LED :D

EDIT: Soldered in and everything works. No dimming is fine, I'm not looking at the console when I'm driving anyways. The bulbs I ordered give out blue blue (not cyan blue) so it looks awesome :D

Blurry cellphone pics:

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/Nlkko/photo-1.jpg

The board wasn't damaged. Turn out I only test +,- for the first LED, which is different from the 2nd LED :(

Replacing the transistor would fix the dimming and backlit altogether but too much trouble for me atm so this gotta do it for now.

[yodaddyguido]

well rock on man. nice work, and props for searching lol. you'd be amazed at how many people havent figured out how to do that yet :wiggle:

[2way]

& how many blow the dimming transistor messing with stuff they don't fully understand.

[yodaddyguido]

count me as one... lol, i think. im still trying to figure out if its the heat from the soldering thats causing the damage, or the led bulbs themselves that are doing it. this example led me to believe it was soldering, on my car, i didnt touch that area of the car until i had done quite a bit of other soldering work making it as clean an install as i possibly could.