Heater Fascia Removal / Stuck position Selector.

[JulesMartin]

The only difference I could see was that one was green in colour. Seems a bit obvious but I did the same thing, had them both in my hand and couldn't make up my mind. The only reason i went for the clear ones was to match the rest of the dashboard. they are small bulbs and get very hot so maybe check your holders for signs of overheating which may explain why they blow. the other reason maybe that one of the wires has become trapped at some time and is chaffed through and shorts out when moving the controls. No evidence of this but the wiring is very tight in there.

[JulesMartin]

Just come across AutoBulbsDirect who seem to list LED versions of the bulbs. I've ordered up a set and will let you know if they fit/work etc. space is so tight in the holders I doubt they will but worth a go at only £1 each

[JulesMartin]

Bulbs arrived very quickly from Autobulb. the bulbs are called 286 LBD T5 dashboard bulbs. They offer several colours but I chose white as they were going to go behind the heater control panel which is already various colours. The replacement is fine the bulbs are no bigger than the originals although are slightly longer maybe 3-4 mm. this is not a problem in the control panel. the light is, as you'd expect brighter than the original bulbs. As the bulbs use only forward facing LED's the light is quite focused with no illumination to the side and in this application this is a disadvantage as the lights are designed to illuminate a) the strip of the temperature b) the various directions for the heat and c) the fan speed. Whilst these are a good replacement for the original bulb and are much brighter, in this application they do not illuminate as big an area as the originals.