How to change Heater Control globes (NON climate control)

[Fonzie]

Just posted this in response to a question thread, thought it might make a useful how to.
The following steps are assuming you have a pov pack commo. Aka, no climate contol.

Typical disclaimer; You screw anything on you or your car up, it's not my fault. And more importantly, not my problem.

1. Pull the auto/manual shifter surround off.

2. Undo screws and pull the radio/heater surround off.

3. Get down in the drivers footwell and on the left look for a white lever with a long threaded metal bolt/wire (about 2mm thick) going to it. That metal pipe bolt thing is clipped to the white lever, unclip it. You might need a small flathead screwdriver or something. If you can't unclip it with it in place, there is a screw in the middle of the lever. Just undo the screw, remove the white thing, unclip the bolt, and screw the white thing back in place leaving the clip on it open for when you put it back together. Pay attention to knobs poking into holes (mind out of the gutter guys) when screwing the lever back on, as aforementioned knobs move the heater/cooler flap. It pushes or pulls when you turn the dial from hot to cold. If you can't find it, look from as close as you can get to the accelerator, over the brake, towards where the bottom left corner of the 'knee' panel meets the bottom right corner of the wraparound panel for the center console.

4. Undo the screw attached to the heating/cooling unit. It's on the left side of the unit.

5. Pull the unit towards the rear of the car. If you can't get it very far, you probably skipped step 3. That thing NEEDS to be unclipped, or you'll rip a gear out of the back of the unit... And that's not fun to fix.

6. Remove plugs and hoses from back of the unit. You will hear hissing as it sucks air in... Relax.

7. Now you should have the unit completely detached from the car... The black fascia has a bunch of clips on either side you need to push in. Be careful, mine were fragile, and as a result they're not broken.

8. Remove fascia, change globes. There are 2 in there, they're T5 globes, the same ones that light up your auto tranny selector. Put it all back together. The hoses that you pulled off can only go on one way, don't force them on the wrong way. Make sure they have a good seal. Plug the plugs back in.

9. Push the unit back into place, making sure that long metal bolt goes down the drivers side to where it needs to be. Put the heater unit's screw back in, put the radio/heater surround back on, screw in place, put auto/manual shifter surround back in place.

10. Clip that metal bolt back to that white thing. Easiest method i found was the following: Turn the hot/cold dial all the way to the cold side, this will pull the metal pole towards the heater unit. Pull the white lever thing towards the rear of the car, clip the rod in. Now when you turn the dial to hot, it should push the white lever in the other direction...

11. The vacuum you lost when you disconnected the hoses? It means your system won't work when you put it back together, because the vacuum is no longer there. Don't , yell at shit for an hour, then go joyriding like i did. Just start the car, give it a few seconds, and she'll be ready to go. This is why you always here "SHHH" and "HSSSS" when you turn between them. Look at that, you learn something new every day.

Turn between foot/face/windscreen, then hot/cold, and fan speeds to test. And you're done. Have fun kids. PM with questions if you want.
Also, if anyone wants to post up some photos of this, I'll add them to the tutorial.

[azzfox]

6. Remove plugs and hoses from back of the unit. You will hear hissing as it lets air out... Relax.

11. All that air that gets let out when you disconnected the hoses? It means your system won't work when you put it back together, because the compression is no longer there. Don't , yell at shit for an hour, then go joyriding like i did. Just start the car, give it a few seconds, and she'll be ready to go. This is why you always here "SHHH" and "HSSSS" when you turn between them. Look at that, you learn something new every day.

Vacuum, not pressure. Air is getting sucked in. The vents and heater tap are operated using vacuum servos

[Fonzie]

Vacuum, not pressure. Air is getting sucked in. The vents and heater tap are operated using vacuum servos

I couldn't remember which one it was when i wrote the how to! And i didn't feel like pulling my dash apart again to find out. It's kinda logical that it's suction i guess, but ah well. Fixed now.

[trav27]

Thank you!!
Ive wanted to know how to do this for the past year , lol.
Just a question though before i try it , What type of globes do i use? t5?

[Fonzie]

Thank you!!
Ive wanted to know how to do this for the past year , lol.
Just a question though before i try it , What type of globes do i use? t5?

T5 Rings a bell... It's the same globe as the one that lights up the transmission selector. They're only a few bucks from Holden. Could you post back when you find out the code? I'll put it on the tutorial.

[trav27]

Sweet! thanks
I changed my transmission selector globe a few months ago and that was a t5 globe.
Im not sure what the code is , but autobahn sell them..from memory..i paid like $4 for a pack of them.

[Verynice]

Im gonna do a custom BLUE lighted heater panel. It will require 1 LED behind each icon. Not going to bother with the HOT/COLD selector cos its fine how it is. Will post pics when done