///M Illuminated Shift Knob, part II

["Gregory F. March" <march@xxxxxxx>]

I took apart the shift knob tonight.  It looks like the three diodes
are held in place by a brass screw.  I undid the screw and tried to
get the diodes out to see where the circuit had failed.  It was really
in there tight.

I gave up since the car is still under warranty and I figured I would
get it replaced.  However, since I figured that diodes almost never
fail, I left it connected with power while working on it to see if
there was some short as I was wiggling things around.

When I screwed the brass screw back in, the diodes lit as I was
applying pressure.  It turns out that the tighter I made the screw,
the brighter the leds went (read: something was making better
contact).

I've got the thing wrenched down pretty hard (probably way off the
torque specs!!) and it's working (for now).  Very interesting.

Just thought you folks would be interested in hearing the experience.
Hope it helps someone...

/greg

- --
Gregory F. March    -=-    http://www.gfm.net:81/~march    -=-    AIM:GfmNet

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