Climate Control Failing

[MCSLegacy]

Hey everyone was driving the car the other day and looked over at the climate control to change to defrost. On our year cars (mine is a 98). The buttons should be back lit, well mine was not for the longest time and then all of the sudden it randomly began to work. Then it became extremely intermittent. However the indicator lights below the buttons that control where the air is coming out (feet, defrost, face/feet, etc.) and indicate which setting it is on always worked regardless of the back lights on the temp and fan speed working. However, I've noticed quite recently that even those lights may not work every once in a while, which isn't that big of a deal, however I've noticed that when the lights don't light up, the air is not directed anywhere even if the button is pressed in. It would be the same effect as if no button was pressed at all say if you accidentally pressed 2 buttons at once. If I smack it, sometimes the lights will come on and then the air will be directed to the place that I have selected. Any ideas? I noticed that there was a digital climate control available for our year vehicle, but it was not in the US. Is it possible that I may be able to swap a digital one in? Or does anyone have any theories on why my climate control is acting up?

[snoboy]

I have a 93 legacy that had similar issues, but mine would also cut out when i touched the brake and come back on when i touched the gas....wierd!!...but turns out to be a wiring or contact problem...anyways maybe yours is just loose wiring?...i hope its something simple...

[MCSLegacy]

Interesting, I never thought of that. I'll have to see if I can replicate it by gas/brake, etc. I've been behind the dash quite a few times, it's possible I may have bumped something. There's not a whole lot of room back there with the aftermarket stereo needing 2 special boxes to run Sirius.