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no dashlights on radio and heatercontrol

bison

bison

Well-Known Member
Messages
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Location
Near Peace River-Alberta
half the dashlights dont work on the radio and heater controls on my 98,this was allready that way when i first got the truck.
Its starting to get annoying

Any pointers how to fix that?
 
Ive been told by GM mechanics this is very common and a real PITA to change the bulbs in them. From what they tell me it is burnt out bulbs. I have never taken one apart to verify just going on what 4-5 GM techs say. Now granted GM techs are not always right but I think they are with this one. BTW dad's 02 has same prob for the last couple years.
 
Only light is at the end of the tunnel

On both my 6.5TD the radio lights are mostly out. For the Radio units the bulbs are individual and can be replaced however each bulbs is costly. I was told $18. Since the radio can slide in fairly easily it appears more feasible just to replace the whole unit. I found a used one at a Car Audio Store for $100. The owner bench tested the unit for me to confirm all the lights were working.

Now I just need to find a replacement for the remote CD Delco Player that is busted.
 
RustyOO7 said:
On both my 6.5TD the radio lights are mostly out. For the Radio units the bulbs are individual and can be replaced however each bulbs is costly. I was told $18. Since the radio can slide in fairly easily it appears more feasible just to replace the whole unit. I found a used one at a Car Audio Store for $100. The owner bench tested the unit for me to confirm all the lights were working.

Now I just need to find a replacement for the remote CD Delco Player that is busted.
Click to expand...

If you are going to spend $100 on a used factory radio, you might as well spend another $20 and get a brand new aftermarket unit. The dash install kits are cheap and easy to put in. Just my .02

Now the heater control....i would like to know if there is a fix for the lights also. Otherwise a used one would be the way to go.
 
Not sure how expensive or how hard it is to replace the stock radio unit's bulbs...

but the ac/heater controls are fairly easy. When you remove the controls though, be careful so you don't break the plastic "spikes". They help hold it in because of how it is held in there. I broke one off and when I take off my dash bezel my controls sort of slide out their hole lol. There are 4 bulbs that go in the heater controls (74 type).

When I replaced mine I replaced with LED from superbrightleds.com, part number 74-xHP.
Heres a preview of mine, but its green instead of white ;)


Heres part of the back of the AC/Heater controls


And here's my dash with green LEDs lol
 
Monarkman said:
Me too, half the radios been out for years.
But after 11 years of driving it, I don't look at the buttons anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
hell,i got my 89 for 13 yrs,and i still need to study that one's radio to change the stations even in daylight.With that contraption in the 98 i'll have to stop the truck,otherwise i'm gonna be in a pile up.

So,based on the replys, the radio lights are in the same catergory as the PMD,LP and OPS it seems :rolleyes5:
 
Green Machine said:
Not sure how expensive or how hard it is to replace the stock radio unit's bulbs...

but the ac/heater controls are fairly easy. When you remove the controls though, be careful so you don't break the plastic "spikes". They help hold it in because of how it is held in there. I broke one off and when I take off my dash bezel my controls sort of slide out their hole lol. There are 4 bulbs that go in the heater controls (74 type).

When I replaced mine I replaced with LED from superbrightleds.com, part number 74-xHP.
Heres a preview of mine, but its green instead of white ;)


Heres part of the back of the AC/Heater controls


And here's my dash with green LEDs lol
Click to expand...


The radio's bulbs are soldered in, I just replaced my radio with a used radio that had all good bulbs. Didn't feel like tackling that mini-project.

I replaced all my climate control panel bulbs w/ new ones from NAPA. Believe it or not, the stealer said they don't have a listing for the bulbs.

BTW, I broke one of my tabs holding the ctrl unit in! The other tab seems to be holding it ok.
 
HighSierra86 said:
If you are going to spend $100 on a used factory radio, you might as well spend another $20 and get a brand new aftermarket unit. The dash install kits are cheap and easy to put in. Just my .02

Now the heater control....i would like to know if there is a fix for the lights also. Otherwise a used one would be the way to go.
Click to expand...

X2 and get the Rattlestops to shore up the dash so this does not happen again.
 
Green Machine said:
Not sure how expensive or how hard it is to replace the stock radio unit's bulbs...

but the ac/heater controls are fairly easy. When you remove the controls though, be careful so you don't break the plastic "spikes". They help hold it in because of how it is held in there. I broke one off and when I take off my dash bezel my controls sort of slide out their hole lol. There are 4 bulbs that go in the heater controls (74 type).

When I replaced mine I replaced with LED from superbrightleds.com, part number 74-xHP.
Click to expand...

Man, i wish i knew this a long time ago. I thought i was gonna have to get an entire new unit. Guess i know what im doing on sunday! thanks
 
IIRC (in case any of you have the same problem I had) the bulbs that light the AC and Rcirc. (the little orange slot in the bottom of the switch that tells you when it is on) is a different style bulb than the rest in the unit. I don't have the number because it was burned off of mine, but they are small, clear bulbs, hows that? :D
 
mattthebrat said:
IIRC (in case any of you have the same problem I had) the bulbs that light the AC and Rcirc. (the little orange slot in the bottom of the switch that tells you when it is on) is a different style bulb than the rest in the unit. I don't have the number because it was burned off of mine, but they are small, clear bulbs, hows that? :D
Click to expand...
Are you talking about the older interior or the 95+? The 95+ I'm not sure if the two buttons for ac and recirculation are the 74 type. I never changed those ones out lol.
 
now that yall say it, my wifes truck doesn't have radio lights and the heater controls dont either
 
Green Machine said:
If you want (and if i remember) I can check the bulb types tomorrow.
Click to expand...

If ya could, that'd be great!

Green Machine said:
LEDs will not dim. If you would like to keep the dimming feature stick with incandescent. Unless there are LEDs out there that do dim... not sure.
Click to expand...

I thought I heard of someone that made a kit to retrofit the dimmer for LEDs.

I have heard of using a dimmer-pulse module, that gradually slows the pulse width of the LEDs to make them appear dimmer, you don't notice the periods of time that the light is off, but the overall light output is less. However I don't know how much work that is to wire in.
 
i got a chance to look at the heater and radio dashlight issue tonight on the 98.

Found all 4 bulbs are burned out on the heater control,bulbs are the same as in my 95 parts truck,but only one of them was still working:rolleyes5:.The little critters where impossible to pull out of the sockets with fingers alone:mad2:
I shoved a piece of small vac hose over the bulb to get some grip,then they pulled out easy.:thumbsup:
I took the bezel of the radio but the lamps are between the circuit board wich is bolted to the bezel,i look at that tomorow
 
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