How to: 2000+ radio light fix tutorial (45pics)

[gold_xero]

thanks for the info. I like the life on the bulb. I may use that for the button lights. I still wanna try the LED strips for at least the LCD display.

[Bl4z3]

00Beast sent me here.... Awesome Post Harofreak

Stupid Question.... Positive / Negative.... How to tell? Does it matter? It must.... Right?

Is it marked on bulbs and the board what sides positive and negative?

Or Does it not matter.... If the LED's behind the radio display are wired in sequence +/- must matter then...

Also found a Video on Youtube for bulb replacements on a General GM radio I'm going to try and Cross reference with your pics.

If I didnt drive the car Several times a day Id just pull the Radio and send it to you.

But I really don't trust the Post office these days.

To tell the truth it really doesn't look that bad of a Job, I've just never soldered before.... Time to Learn!

Thanks Again!

[harofreak00]

LED bulbs do have to match the polarity, but incandescent bulbs do not.

Good luck with the soldering!

[Bl4z3]

LED bulbs do have to match the polarity, but incandescent bulbs do not.

Good luck with the soldering!

Thanks for the Luck ... but is it indicated on the Board or the bulb the positive and Negative? I didn't See that in the pics ... That was my question mainly.

If I misread it in the post somewhere I apologize. Im working a new overnights Position at work and have been averaging about 2hrs of sleep a night. I very well could have missed that.

Thanks again Man.

[93 SSE 4 ME]

Andrew, as stated multiple times in this thread, thank you. Being old and ham-fisted, I only replaced the display bulbs with 272-1092s. I had a heck of a time seeing and spent and hour clearing the holes after pulling the old bulbs which lead me to stop after the three display lamps. This leads to my questions? I realize that the radio is programmed to the vehicle, which necessitates a trip to the dealer if swapped. But would that be required if only the display panel (circuit board with the lamps)was swapped, rather than the entire radio?

Thanks again,

Mark

[harofreak00]

No, you can swap the display panel circuit board no problem.

[krbutler1947]

Being new to the froum I want to thank all for their contributions to this topic. Today I tackled the lamp replacement project following instructions enclosed in this topic. Got radio back in this afternoon and everything works great. Also jumped in and replaced headlight assemblies.

[mefloump]

I got a used, but supposedly tested radio off eBay and got it installed in the car last night. I understand that it needs to be programmed but does that mean the display wont turn on until I get it programmed? All the lights for the button light up and the door chime and OnStar work but the display doesn't show anything or illuminate with the rest of the radio. I'm just trying to determine if I need to replace the bulbs before I bring the car in to have the radio programmed.

Thanks in advance.

[rfoster]

I would assume the display lights are burnt out. Replace them, and see what happens. After replacing, then get it programmed.

EDIT: If it was locked and needed to be reprogrammed, it would say "locked" like the picture Andrew posted. He bought that radio off of eBay as well.

[mefloump]

Thanks for the quick response. I will do that tonight and see if I can get it to work.

[mefloump]

Replacing the bulbs fixed the problem of the display not lighting up. Unfortunately when I reinstalled the radio in the car and turned it on, the display is malfunctioning and showing everything. I brought the car in to have the radio programmed thinking that was the issue but was told that the radio is bad. Off to try and get the guy on eBay to give me a refund.

Thanks for the fantastic write-up and the help.

edit: Here are pics of the radio display. Thoughts anyone?

[rfoster]

That sucks! Sorry to hear that. Give Andrew a nudge and see if he has a good radio in stock.

[mefloump]

That sucks! Sorry to hear that. Give Andrew a nudge and see if he has a good radio in stock.

I did and he does.

I will buy one from him as soon as I get the refund from eBay sorted out.

[04BonnieSE]

Quick question as I'm going to be doing this soon to my radio. Is there anyway to change the colors it outputs? Not really a fan of the red.

[harofreak00]

Not that I know of.

[bluewingjb]

I found the bulbs at this site for just 29 cents each. You can get 10 shipped to your door for under $10, thats better than having to go to Radio Shack and these bulbs are the same specs as the RS 272-1092 bulbs..

http://www.replacementlightbulbs.com/lamp7219.html

Wes

[SSEi95]

I used this same procedure to fix the DIC in my GMC C3. I plan on doing other component as well in the truck since about half my dash components went dark (radio, A/C, door switches, etc...). A single bulb in the SSEi radio is out now too so that will happen once it gets warmer out. Good write up and very helpful. thanks.

[Bmiller269]

We'll have a question. I have done the change of the seven lights with the 272-1092 lights and everything checks fine on the bench. When I finish putting everything back together and install back in car everything lights up as should but the display screen is total dark. So I'm looking for ideas of what is wrong. Do these three lights need to be brighter?

Thanks news to the board so looking for help

[harofreak00]

If everything works fine on the bench there should be no reason it wouldn't work in the car. Even if you were locked out, it would display "LOCKED"

[Bmiller269]

I guess it mean all the lights worked when I tested but I see nothing from the LCD display. Like it is not hooked up. How does it get it's signal of what to display? I think that is the issue cause I know that the lights are working....