Thoughts on changing out the climate control plate?

I just thought I'd throw this idea out to the VX community.....

I was looking at the climate control gages and wondered if the size, shape and connections would match up or could be easily tweaked to fit a more easier to use existing display such as the 3 rotary knob design....one for temperature, one for the vent selections and one for fan speed...or some other control face used in another vehicle. Not to mention in the '00 and 01' years, when you select certain vents (ie: front windshield defrost, floor and front defrost) and then turn the fan on, the AC automatically engages which bugs me because maybe I don't want it to do that all the time and eat up gas, etc.

I haven't pulled out the existing climate control plate to see the connections, but thought if someone out there was in that neighborhood already and this idea was feasible or interesting enough....maybe we could explore it?

I don't know, just an idea.....

I've had mine out (a 2001 also) - all the connections back there are electrical plugs, so unless you found rotary controls that were wired, rather than cable connections, they wouldn't work. Of course, I haven't looked at the the controls in any other vehicle in so long, that they were all cables then!

I set up an A/C kill switch for my '99 and it works great. Selective use of the A/C in the defrost mode saves gas and wear and tear on the A/C system. It's not hard to do.

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=714

Mark

Stolen thread!

I have a 99 and am super interested in getting the slick push-button air control instead of my clunky lever action setup.... I know that they are significantly different and am wondering if any one has done this?

(tried to search but found nothing....)

P.S. i didnt realize that the 00,01 models had bigger wheels! now i'm all jealous! (although polished instead of chrome can take a beating and still look good....)

Kelvin,
Im pretty sure that your 99 has a different climate control setup than the 2000 and 2001. You may want just upgrade to the newer controls- that is, if they actually work taht way. There is a chance that you cannot just replace the face, that there are other controls in there that you wont be able to use. Hopefully someone who knows more about this will chime in.

i should have been more clear... my question IS about the technicical possibility of upgrading to the 00, 01 air controls...

:)

It most likely wouldn't be worth the effort.. There's six sensors let alone the switch and wiring upgrade.. That's one of the biggest reasons I traded in my '99 for my 2000.