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95' C3500 Radio illumination repair

dbrannon79

dbrannon79

I'm getting there!
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Seguin, TX
Hey guys, not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I am wanting to pull my OEM radio from the dash on my 1995 Chevy C3500 and repair the lights inside for the illumination to work with the headlights. all the bulbs inside are brunt out! Ive got the process on how to go about fixing it but my issue is that I don't have the theftlock code to unlock it once I finish the repair. I would just replace the unit with an aftermarket radio, but I'd really like to keep the OEM in place. at the moment it works fine just won't light up with the headlights. is there any way to get the code from the radio while it isn't locked or somehow prevent it from locking up on me when I attempt the repairs?

Thanks
 
Rockabillyrat said:
I don't remember if the older radios are the same. But we do this on the 00s radios

https://www.gmpartsonline.net/blog/how-to-unlock-your-chevy-or-gmc-radio-without-paying-a-dime

Also you can remove the theft lock chip in the circuit board and it permanently disables theft lock. There are a few you tube videos in that.
Click to expand...
I will have to do some googling on removing the chip. I did try that phone number the other day and it's been disconnected :( I haven't tried calling the local Chevy house here to see what they would charge. if it's just a small fee it might be worth it.
 
I was just doing some reading online about removing the chip and apparently there are some ill side effect to this. doing this would cause the radio to not keep the preset stations or audio settings in memory! I believe it was referring to the class 2 radios from 2000 and up though. depending on when I get to it, if the harness has enough slack in the dash I may attempt the bulb repair without disconnecting the radio from the truck! since the bulbs are soldered onto the front board so this could be a fun interesting project! I may have to take photos to post!
 
There are many shops out there that can repair your radio or sell you a rebuilt one. The ultimate cool is to go LED. I have repaired my 1993 many times, but, with so many night hours the lamps would burn out again. Thus LED suggestion. FWIW Replace every single lamp if you are doing this because any that remain have a very short life left.
 
well there wont be a repair on this one! after pulling the radio this weekend I discovered the front circuit board was cracked and modified to work again. someone had been in it before. so I decided to bite the bullet and replace the head unit with a fancy touch screen radio with a backup camera! with this long bed crew cab beast I figured the camera would come in handy :D I had to modify the bezel for the double din radio to fit, but since it was already cracked I'll add that to the list of parts to replace in the future. Ill keep the old radio around, who knows one day I may get the wild hair to repair it and put it all back to OEM. when I pulled it I found a hand written four digit number on the top of the radio which might be the unlock code.
 
That's always a tough call to replace the OEM "Big Easy Button" look with a aftermarket unit's small buttons.
 
I can't remember the vendor on eBay, I'll have to look it up, but a multi-generation business back into the 1940's that repairs and reconditions (and modifies) Big Three and Japanese OEM radios. They not only sell the bulbs, but light repair kits that include the bulbs mounted to a new board, they also sell the complete knobs kit for our GMT-400's, but they also sell refurbished/reconditioned AM/FM/Cassette Head units, the outboard CD player and the outboard Cassette player. Here's the kickass part. They also sell modified Head units. I got a new AM/FM/Cassette/Outboard CD Head unit for my '98 Burb from them that came with a stereo ⅛" input jack on a 12" pigtail so you can dash mount it that works in the CD position so you can plug in your MP3 player or Smartphone to listen to Pandora or an XM/Sirius unit. PLUS it has two pairs of RCA pre-amp outputs on 12" leads that are Fader/Balance controlled for hooking up outboard amplifiers! This way, you can have an ass-kicking sound system, but Joe Smashandgrab walking by looks in and sees only an OEM Head unit and keeps on walking!

The input jack proved its worth when I took the Burb with a load of friends to NYC back in 2014. Not only for listening to Pandora, but as we neared Ft. Lee, NJ on I-80, I entered the address of our hotel in Queens into Google Navigate, set my phone in the dashboard cupholder so I could see it and hear directions over the Burb's sound system while driving (a signal from the Aux jack will "walk" over the signal from the tuner or cassette section if set to those instead of the CD. If nothing is plugged into the Aux jack, the volume from the other sources is normal, if something is plugged into the Aux jack but no signal input, the other sources are muted, but audible, when selected) which was quite handy when I-80 abruptly ended into Ft. Lee surface streets and then over to the on-ramp for the GW Bridge into NYC, the immediate exit off the GW, down the Harlem Expressway, the Eastside of Manhattan, then over to Queens and past the airport, Mets Stadium, the World's Fair, and onto Hillside Avenue and into Jamaica, Queens and being able to hear the Google directions over five people yammering "Look at that, look at THAT!" while driving/navigating.

The vendor is:
1 Factory Radio LLC
7481 Whitepine Rd
Richmond, VA 23237
 
Last edited:
1 Factory Radio seemed like a reputable place when I had spoken with them in the past.

There is a place in Wichita that I believe to be crooks, called The Radio Shop. It cost me +$100 to have them look at the radio to tell me they didn't know if the CD player worked or not and to tell me it was going to cost me $400 to fix it when the same stereo sells on Ebay as refurbished units for $200-250. Then it cost me $38 to have them ship it back to me. They refused to let some of the fee offset the shipping cost. It was more about the principle at this point, even though I didn't save any money, in the long run.

I shipped it to M&R Electronics in Saginaw, Michigan and they put a new CD unit in it, fixed the lights and broken knobs and added an auxiliary cord for me, coming out the back so I can install where I want it and it was $265 with shipping back to me. It came with a year warranty, also.
 
I used an ebay guy for a newer one you can try him to see what he can do. Ricaraudio2011 he is a class act in my book. Richard @ 763-228-0051in MN
 
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