6 Star Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 So, on my '85 Brat there are some things going on that are not critical but annoying none the less. First, my heater controls (dails/function selection/ect) don't light up when I have the headlights on. All the other dash lights (speedo/tach area) light up. I poked around under the radio console and under the drivers side of the dash and all plugs/wires are attatched like they are supposed to. All of my fuses are good. I don't have a radio currently, so I don't know if that would be affected right now either. Does anyone have any idea why this is happening? Also, my door chimes do not work. And the little door ajar lights on the dash don't come on when either door is open. When starting the car, it chimes like its supposed to... lol. Any ideas on that? My car is a goof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tundrabrat Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 (edited) So, on my '85 Brat there are some things going on that are not critical but annoying none the less.First, my heater controls (dails/function selection/ect) don't light up when I have the headlights on. All the other dash lights (speedo/tach area) light up. I poked around under the radio console and under the drivers side of the dash and all plugs/wires are attatched like they are supposed to. All of my fuses are good. I don't have a radio currently, so I don't know if that would be affected right now either. Does anyone have any idea why this is happening? This is one of the coolest "quirky" things about this car... The dials aren't back lit! Simply reach up to your dome light, spin the light so the spot light is facing forward and "tada!" your controls are perfectly lit up! I think this is one of the coolest/wierdest little things about the car. When I figured this out I had to bring my wife out to the car to check it out! Edited December 20, 2011 by tundrabrat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6 Star Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 Haha! Is that really whats going on or are you experiencing similar problems? My dad had a '82 gl wagon, I remember the heater controls being lit up. You can't tell me Subaru started half-assing display options for the '85 Brat. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tundrabrat Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Haha!Is that really whats going on or are you experiencing similar problems? My dad had a '82 gl wagon, I remember the heater controls being lit up. You can't tell me Subaru started half-assing display options for the '85 Brat. lol Tis true... Goofy as it may seem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tundrabrat Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Haha!Is that really whats going on or are you experiencing similar problems? My dad had a '82 gl wagon, I remember the heater controls being lit up. You can't tell me Subaru started half-assing display options for the '85 Brat. lol Tis true... Goofy as it may seem. ...and my Chime works:headbang: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6 Star Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 Hmmm... well if thats the case I have a parts brat. zzz I'll get this thing back-lit one way or another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Going strickly off a few years of memory here. Do have some spares here I could get pics of. But there's atleast two bulbs that light the heater control area. Bulbs shine thru some plexiglas to cover the area and the cigarette lighter socket. Small wiring harness from them to the main harness. Could be bulbs are blown, or harness came unplugged. None of the 5 BRAT's I've owned sounded the door-open, or key-in-the-ignition, or seatbelt chimes everytime. Some days they worked, most they didn't. The '85 seems to want to work the best, the '86 was the least functional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okie bill Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Try pushing in or pulling out slightly on your ignition key. Mine is really picky as far as the chimes go. Haven't gotten as far as the lights yet. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyfun Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 There are a few bulbs in the radio and behind the HVAC controls, but they're tiny incandescent bulbs and I'm sure they burned out long ago. Haven't done the HVAC control lights, but I did pry open my stereo and replace the bulbs with a couple of white LEDs. The voltage to the bulbs wasn't 12v, but 8v for some reason. I put the two LEDs in series, but didn't use a resistor. They were nice and bright for a few months but finally blew as they're only rated for 3.2v each. Gonna order me some resistors and do it all up right someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6 Star Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 Thanks for the tips guys, I will look into the bulbs behind the heater controls. Tom, your '85 Brat and '87 have the hvac controls backlit? Just checking because it conflicts with what TundraBrat said. I'm guessing he just has the same problem I do. :-p Bill, the ignition chime works flawlessly for me. I was just wondering why my door chimes and door dummy lights didn't work. On top of that, the dome light doesn't come on when doors are open either. I can switch it on manually though. Cyfun, are these bulbs hard to track down? Or do most auto part stores stock them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyfun Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I got a big 500-pack of 5mm white LEDs off of eBay a few months ago for $20 for an LED tail light conversion project. You can get them in smaller quantities for a bit less, but I figured I might as well stock up for $20. And I just did some maths, and for two 3.2v white LEDs to run with an 8v current, you only need a 100ohm resistor, which I happen to have like 200 of. Woot! As for the heater control lights, those are likely 12v, which is fine because I purchased 100ohm resistors so I could wire 4 white LEDs in series to a 12v source, which is actually around 14.2v when the car is running. Tell ya what, I'll test it out and if it works, I'd be happy to send you guys some if you pay postage. I should stipulate, though, that it will require some minor soldering no matter what, as the original bulbs are soldered on for some damn reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Yes, I'm positive they are back-lit. Can get pics, but it will be the weekend before I have time/oportunity to do so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tundrabrat Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Yes, I'm positive they are back-lit. Crap... now I have something else to fix during the restoration:banghead: I was totally good with this just being a quirky little oversight by Subaru... and I thought I was helping out:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman2 Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Mine were half lighted until the other bulb went out a few months ago. I even took it apart to get a bulb out but to this day I have not gone and found a replacement yet! Seems like there is a bulb at the astray and two behind the heaters controls if memory serves me correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6 Star Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 I got a big 500-pack of 5mm white LEDs off of eBay a few months ago for $20 for an LED tail light conversion project. You can get them in smaller quantities for a bit less, but I figured I might as well stock up for $20. And I just did some maths, and for two 3.2v white LEDs to run with an 8v current, you only need a 100ohm resistor, which I happen to have like 200 of. Woot! As for the heater control lights, those are likely 12v, which is fine because I purchased 100ohm resistors so I could wire 4 white LEDs in series to a 12v source, which is actually around 14.2v when the car is running. Tell ya what, I'll test it out and if it works, I'd be happy to send you guys some if you pay postage. I should stipulate, though, that it will require some minor soldering no matter what, as the original bulbs are soldered on for some damn reason. Sounds like a good solution. Yes, I'm positive they are back-lit. Can get pics, but it will be the weekend before I have time/oportunity to do so Hey maybe we could all post up interior shots. Crap... now I have something else to fix during the restoration:banghead: I was totally good with this just being a quirky little oversight by Subaru... and I thought I was helping out:( I could believe that Subaru would do something like that, being that the ea81 was now the "obsolete" model with the ea82 vehicles out. Mine were half lighted until the other bulb went out a few months ago. I even took it apart to get a bulb out but to this day I have not gone and found a replacement yet! Seems like there is a bulb at the astray and two behind the heaters controls if memory serves me correctly. I'm ready to tackle this, or see whats going on at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Yes, I'm positive they are back-lit. Can get pics, but it will be the weekend before I have time/oportunity to do so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKghandi Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 the dome light is probably the door switch. thats what was wrong with mine.. a lil wd-40 and all better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6 Star Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 Purdy Lights Nice Thats what I'm aiming for. I'd like to get an OEM radio and modify it so it has AUX input. But since the radio console in my Brat is all cut up for an aftermarket radio (previous owner special), and the spare I have is gray not navy, I might just go aftermarket. the dome light is probably the door switch. thats what was wrong with mine.. a lil wd-40 and all better Cool. I'll give that a test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyfun Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 You can modify the factory radio to have an Aux input. It's just a matter of splicing into the dongle going from the tape player to the receiver. The three inner wires are for audio, and the outer two are for a switch to toggle the signal on and off. There's a thread here somewhere on it. What I ended up doing since my tape deck died anyway was to cut off the dongle at the tape deck, solder on an old 1/8" headphone cable and a toggle switch. Then I plug it in to my cellphone or MP3 player. Quality is actually quite good cause it's designed to amplify the weak signal coming from the tape player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BratWarrior Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I just replaced those heater bulbs in my BRAT. I got them at O'Reiley Auto Parts for $3 or less for a two-pack. You should be able to get them at any auto store. It only takes 5-10 minutes to pull it all apart and put it back together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6 Star Posted December 22, 2011 Author Share Posted December 22, 2011 You can modify the factory radio to have an Aux input. It's just a matter of splicing into the dongle going from the tape player to the receiver. The three inner wires are for audio, and the outer two are for a switch to toggle the signal on and off. There's a thread here somewhere on it. What I ended up doing since my tape deck died anyway was to cut off the dongle at the tape deck, solder on an old 1/8" headphone cable and a toggle switch. Then I plug it in to my cellphone or MP3 player. Quality is actually quite good cause it's designed to amplify the weak signal coming from the tape player. Does that still work if the stock radio I have for the EA81 isn't the radio that had the optional tape player? I just replaced those heater bulbs in my BRAT. I got them at O'Reiley Auto Parts for $3 or less for a two-pack. You should be able to get them at any auto store. It only takes 5-10 minutes to pull it all apart and put it back together. Sweet, I think I'll try this out tomorrow when I get home. (going snowboarding tomorrow) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6 Star Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 Finally got around to doing the hvac backlights today. Gotta say it was super easy... anyone who needs to replace theirs, its no sweat. Now I gotta do all the little backlights in the cluster. :/ I'll leave that for another day. lol I just remembered another weird thing going on. See how the 4wd light is on? Its in fwd. The light never shuts off... When I put it in 4wd hi, the light stays on, and in 4wd low the "low" light comes on. Im just really perplexed as to why the 4wd light is always on. Still haven't gotten the door chime to work, I'll figure that out sometime soon as well. :-p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyfun Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Is that on your wagon or your brat? Looks different from my 86 GLW. I'm thinkin of replacing my lights with red LEDs, esp the backlights on the instrument cluster. Red is so nice and easy on the eyes, and kinda futuristic lookin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6 Star Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 Its in my Brat. The '86gl wagon is on the backburner for now... Its my parts shed atm. Happy New Year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aba4430 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 .....I just remembered another weird thing going on. See how the 4wd light is on? Its in fwd. The light never shuts off... When I put it in 4wd hi, the light stays on, and in 4wd low the "low" light comes on. Im just really perplexed as to why the 4wd light is always on. Still haven't gotten the door chime to work, I'll figure that out sometime soon as well. :-p Check your 4WD selector switch under the select lever trim. Either the switch is bad or (not sure of this) it is positioned incorrectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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