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03 Forester Light Bulb for Climate Control


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Friend of mine has an 03 Forester. The 2 lights that light up the climate control have burnt out. Subaru wants $78 a piece for these little tiny bulbs. Has anyone found something else to work or made something else work?

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Friend of mine has an 03 Forester. The 2 lights that light up the climate control have burnt out. Subaru wants $78 a piece for these little tiny bulbs. Has anyone found something else to work or made something else work?

 

Xcr:

 

I know that many of the dash lights can be replaced with Radio Shack versions. Once you get it out take it to the "shack" and see if they have a suitable replacement. I doubt if they will have a cross-reference chart with those bulbs on it -- just make sure that the specs are equivalent.

 

Steve

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Where can I find out the specs for the bulbs? I took apart the bulb assembly to remove the bulb and didn't see any writing on the bulb. The white plastic base is marked with an S and a single digit number. One base has a '1' and the other is marked with a '5'. I'm assuming the numbers are for the mold.

 

The bulbs are actually $48.50 each and there are three of them. One for each of the climate control knobs. This is the automatic climate control unit of a 2003 Forester XS.

 

On the plus side, Subaru offered to refund me 50% of the part cost when I complained to them. It's a nice gesture, but $25 for what should be a 50 cent bulb is still ridiculous

 

Xcr:

 

I know that many of the dash lights can be replaced with Radio Shack versions. Once you get it out take it to the "shack" and see if they have a suitable replacement. I doubt if they will have a cross-reference chart with those bulbs on it -- just make sure that the specs are equivalent.

 

Steve

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 years later...
  • 1 year later...
Good news, sorta. I went the easy route and ordered the bulbs from Subaru. Turns out you get all 3 bulbs for $48.50.

 

This was part number 72350SA000.

 

If you go the Radio shack route, tred every lightly. I tried this myself and the lookalike (but not the same) replacement I was given fried a relay- hidden in the dash, which turned out to be a real Pita of job to replace and additional $90.00 just for the relay.

 

John

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OK i burn but those stupid little lights. Anyone have a LED trick to replace them?

 

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Finstrument.html

 

These are "twist in" type LED bulbs, so perhaps they can be removed from their bases and put in the Subaru bases.

 

Theoretically it would be a matter of finding one that's got the right length of lead and the right diameter to fit in the base.

 

Of course... there might be a current issue as john40 pointed out. LED's use waaay less juice than incandescents. Not really an issue until you start putting things like relays in the mix.

 

Sooo... wanna be a guinea pig? :)

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http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Finstrument.html

 

These are "twist in" type LED bulbs, so perhaps they can be removed from their bases and put in the Subaru bases.

 

Theoretically it would be a matter of finding one that's got the right length of lead and the right diameter to fit in the base.

 

Of course... there might be a current issue as john40 pointed out. LED's use waaay less juice than incandescents. Not really an issue until you start putting things like relays in the mix.

 

Sooo... wanna be a guinea pig? :)

 

I have let the magic smoke out of one 100.00 illumination controller. I wouldnt mind if someone could cough up a controller.

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