Light leakage on HVAC controls

blwag

Member
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2019 CX-5 Signature
I noticed the other night there's some small light leakage from right under the temperature number on the HVAC controls. It's only on the driver's side and only extends an inch or two.

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I understand this is merely cosmetic, but did catch my eye. I wish I would've noticed it on the test drive.

Anyways, I was just curious if anyone else has this problem and what they've done about it.

Thanks in advance.
 

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I noticed the other night there's some small light leakage from right under the temperature number on the HVAC controls. It's only on the driver's side and only extends an inch or two.

attachment.php


I understand this is merely cosmetic, but did catch my eye. I wish I would've noticed it on the test drive.

Anyways, I was just curious if anyone else has this problem and what they've done about it.

Thanks in advance.

First world problems LOL
 
damn, that's pretty blinding. it looks like the dash lighting is at full-on daytime setting. have you tried turning down the brightness a bit?
 
damn, that's pretty blinding. it looks like the dash lighting is at full-on daytime setting. have you tried turning down the brightness a bit?

Is that lighting's brightness hooked up to the brightness control dial in the guage cluster? I can't recall, but my guess is yes.
Try turning that down and see what happens.
 
Yes, turning down the brightness on the dash definitely helps, however it*s still noticble.

As far as first world problems, you*re right. However, as jmhumr mentioned, for 35k+, I was expecting a little more. I also have some light leakage on the infotainment screen, but I think I can live with that.

My intention was to see if anyone else had the same issue. Regardless, I*m also not thrilled at the idea of having the dealer replace it.
 
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Looks like a manufacturing defect. Mazda will replace it. Probably best to have it done under the 12k/12 month adjustments part of the warranty.
 
Thank you for the responses. Yes. It is still visible after turning down the brightness.

I turned off other lights and tried to capture the angle from my point of view.

Max Gauge brightness:
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Brightness at night setting:
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I will check other cars the next time I*m at the dealership, but thought I*d check to see if anyone else here experienced it as well.

As a side note, does anyone know how much of the dash they'd have to pull out to replace it?
 

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It seems like the LCD panel for the HVAC display was not installed straight so the bottom left side is not fully covering up the backlight. I wouldn*t be surprised if the dealer balks at replacing it.
 
It would be helpful to see a photo of the entire area in good daylight so we could see the alignment of the external parts.
 
damn, that's pretty blinding. it looks like the dash lighting is at full-on daytime setting. have you tried turning down the brightness a bit?
Yes, pretty sure it's just the camera making it look blinding.
 
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Funny, at the top of my page is an ad for this book. (spin)

to OP's defense, he did mention it was cosmetic and just wanted help from the forum to check if it was the norm or if he was just unlucky... I'd be pissed to if you just spent $30+ on a car and have to see that everyday... It does indeed look like the temperature gauge panel is not flush with the bezel and there is a gap and you can see the backlight.. Which can be annoying if you have to see it everyday... I don't think Mazda meant it to be like that... It should be pure black with just the temp number..no thin white line under the driver temp reading
 
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⋯ As a side note, does anyone know how much of the dash they'd have to pull out to replace it?
Although its different, the Automatic Climate Control of my gen-1 CX-5 have had an issue on LCD fan speed display as the bars was disappeared for the first two. The whole control panel needed to be replaced and the dealer cost was $700~$800 not including the labor. The whole center console needed to be taken apart and I didnt want to see it. But I felt the certified Mazda mechanic should do a good job as he should know how to do it properly without damaging any plastic tabs. Even if he did, I didnt want to know.

And I agree with paris1, its a manufacture cosmetic defect and youd better bring it up to your Mazda dealer ASAP if you want to get it replaced.
 
I stopped by the dealership this morning and had the service manager take a look. He said, "Oh yeah, that's definitely not right. I would want that fixed too if it were my car." He agreed that it was probably just a misalignment on the display, however the repair would be to replace the whole assembly.

It probably helps that being a new car with only 400 miles, it will be easy to bill it out to Mazda and make the dealership money on the repair. It probably didn't hurt that the main reason I was stopping by was to bring back an entire roll of tint that a tech left in my back when I had a clear bra installed earlier in the week. Parts have been ordered and he'll schedule an appointment once they arrive.

Thanks for everyone's feedback.
 
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