Snoopy

Did some extensive searching on this site regarding this topic and checked a few potential "fixes" without removing the waterfall....the problem first.......

My A/C, Heater, Fan Control and Seat Heating back lighting is flickering occasionally. It appears to be caused by jarring such as hitting bumps, applying the brakes, etc. I am NOT experiencing any other lights flickering, or electrical problems....above or below these controls (ex. radio controls or cigar lighter and rear window wiper. Also ALL the controls are functioning as intended. The flickering influenced by the jarring activity, led me to believe a possible lose connection.

I started with the passenger side fuse/relay panel and checked the items associated with the mentioned controls....I believe, fuse #10 and 16, which checked ok (also reinstalled them to assure proper conductivity). Even though I am not experiencing any related light problems I thought about checking the Dimmer Control Switch ( this was mentioned in one of the researched threads). After rotating the Dimmer Switch from dim to bright several times the flickering stopped.....and has not yet returned (about 3 hours of attempts). So this leads me to ask a couple of questions, before I start removing the waterfall and various components, to those who have been into the electrical portion of this area........

* Although the dimming activity appears to be controlled simultaneously, does the dimmer switch have a separate led to the problem controls?

* Is there an independent harness/connectors to the problem controls?

* If each control is independent, do they led to a common lighting harness BEFORE the radio, lighter, rear wiper controls?

Anything else????

whopper

Not sure if I am reading it right, but I would suspect it is just the dimmer switch itself, and running back and forth like you did, cleaned it's internal contacts so there are no "flakey" spots as such. If it comes back, I'd give the switch a shot of electrical contact cleaner.

donbrew

Sounds like you fixed it. If it ain't broke anymore, don't try to fix it.

I think the dimmer switch feeds the BCM a signal. Not sure though.

Lucky

According to the wiring diagrams the dimmer switch only has two wires that go to the body controller as an input.

The body controller has mutable out puts to different back lights. The diagram shows 1 wire that go's to the hvac controls for back lighting.

So to answer your question there is a separate back light feed to the hvac controls that would allow just the hvac to flicker with a loose connection in that 1 feed or body controller it's self.

Snoopy

Well I pulled the waterfall and removed the A/C heater module from the dash. As you stated Lucky, the Dimmer has 2 wires (IIRC a gray and green) going to an unknown and "buried" location under the dash. A large number of wires exit from the unknown under the dash and enter the A/C heater controls.

Wish I could explore it more. But since I can't bend because of the back problem, when and if it starts flickering again....off to the dealer.

Thanks, guys....

whopper

I sympathize with the back problem - I know that well. Keep us posted on it if you can man.

Snoopy

Drove for a couple hours total today......about 50 miles total on many of the roads that I experienced the problem. It has not returned, so MAY BE fixed. If so, I would guess rotating the dimmer control several times in each direction cured it. Can't understand why, unless as Whopper stated the dimmer had a flakey spot and rotating the switch cleaned it. But I seldom use the dimmer control. I set it and it remains at that setting. In fact, I can't remember the last time I changed the setting.

But why JUST the A/C heater controls???? Are they feeding the BCM different voltage, wattage or whatever requirements than the rest of the lights in the dash.

Edit.....Sorry whopper. I initially mentioned Oldblue as providing the comment related to the flakey dimmer control. So it is now changed to the correct person..

Oldblue

It's fixed and working, so listen to Idina and Let It Go!!!!!

whopper

"Edit.....Sorry whopper. I initially mentioned Oldblue as providing the comment related to the flakey dimmer control. So it is now changed to the correct person.." - No problem Snoopy - us old guys look alike.

Here is an article that may help in the future if the problem comes back - How To Clean The Controls On Your Amplifier

I've used a product from radio shack that I bought YEARS ago, similar to Deoxit that they refer to several times. The RS stuff has worked really well on several stereo and tv applications.

Good luck with it

Whopper (Not Oldblue)

Oldblue

Whopper, got it I was just thinking it, the force brought it to you! Snoopy take care of that back!