I am a new owner of a 2016 Fit LX and I really don't know much about these cars so I am still trying to learn. I've noticed the center knob has a nice bluish glow coming off the base and also the knob on the right but the left knob seems to not have a light, like its burnt out. I installed a JVC radio and pulled the bulbs and inspected them, I've also reviewed exploded views of parts diagrams. It appears that the bulb for the left know would light up the center of the knob and from a picture on ebay it shows a bluish background that expands out from the center knob but not as far as the outer knobs.

So, what I want to know is, can I increase the lighting of the bases? Preferably to blue LED bulbs but they are T5 and extremely small. And is the base of the left one supposed to light up anyway?? Thanks for any help on this!

Was also trying to find out if I could brighten the bulbs on the steering wheel controls as well. Haven't researched into that much yet.

 

You can, but not sure how much brighter you can make them with LEDS if it even needs it. It is a W2.1x4.9d base, a Type 74 bulb. For compare, standard clear incandescents it uses are 9 lumens. They also have a wider beam pattern versus the narrow 120 degrees the LEDs do. The blue lights you want are only 3.5 lumens, where as red is 7 lumens, and cool white is 19 lumens.

candela: intensity of a light source (similar to a unit of power like the watt)

lumen: the flux of photons (with an intensity given in candelas) passing through a given solid angle - e.g. a sphere around a candle (lumens = candelas x steradians)

lux: flux of photons passing through a given surface area (lumens per sq. meter)


With colored light using lumens (amount of light radiated from the source) alone isn't as accurate because it is meant to measure white light with all wavelengths. With one wavelength for a colored light the lumens will appear lower, but can certainly be brighter, but how much candela (the strength of the light source) matters more in addition to lux, the intensity of light for a given area.

Its a lot of work for little return. I'd leave it be. Its been plenty bright for me at night.

 

None of my knobs have any glow coming off of the "base" of the knobs. The little storage tray under the knobs has a single blue lamp lighting it. However the center fan knob has glowing numerals, the vent direction knob on the right has glowing symbols, and the cold-warm knob on the left has glowing blue and red markers. The amount of glow on the knobs and, if I recall correctly, the blue light for the tray, is adjustable by turning the odometer configuration shaft. Also adjusts the light for the gauge cluster. The buttons on the steering wheel have glowing symbols or numerals, but these aren't affected by the odometer shaft.

 

The steering wheel lights are not bulbs, but small (2mm x 2mm) leds on a circuit board.


The only one that you may "brighten" up a bit is on the left volume/track skip control. The lights are covered by a very thin rubber membrane (which also acts as the controller's 'spring'). By removing that part of the membrane, you'll increase brightness slightly. You'll also remove any protection from accidental spills and such.