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Chevy Tahoe Dash Lights

foreverbfcforeverbfc Member Posts: 2
in Chevrolet
Hi, I have a 2002 tahoe and my lights on my dashboard have been slowely burning out one by one. It's mainly my air conditioning unit; so far there are 3 lights individually that have burned out. They are individual buttons, not clusters. Does anyone know if I can replace them from the dealer?
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    macman1234macman1234 Member Posts: 1
    I also have a 2002 Chevy Tahoe with dashboard light and power window light problems. Two air con. indicator lights, 4 radio buttons, and just recently 2 of my power window button lights burned out.. Does anyone else have this issue? and is there a solution?
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    bkhamdievbkhamdiev Member Posts: 3
    I have a 99 Chevy Suburban, same problem. It is pretty pesky at night, groping for the favorite radio stations. I was given a very high price to fix the radio lights in particular, by the dealer. A friend who also owns a repair shop suggested it would be way cheaper to put in a new radio. That won't help with the other lights though. Glad to know I am not the only one.

    Warning--not long after this problem, my driver's side seat heater burned up and literally burned a hole in my seat from underneath before I shut it off. I live in a cold climate so I used it a lot, but STILL! It was literally smoking, then charred a hole the size of a cigarette tip--and I don't smoke! If it hadn't happened TO ME while I was driving, I would have sworn someone else was careless in my car. Moral of the story is, the Chevy electronics just wear out!!!
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    otoolotool Member Posts: 1
    Both my rear defost and wiper have been intermit and now they both are not working. I see they are on different circuits. Any ideas would be help full before I take it to the over priced dealer.
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    douginpghdouginpgh Member Posts: 1
    I had a 96 Tahoe and now a 2005 suburban and the dash lights have been burning out on both. The tahoe started on the radio and then moved to the gauges. The suburban is only 2 years old, but half the radio lights are out and one gauge light. Thing is, about a year into the ownership, the radio was replaced due to malfunction. So, lights are burning out after only 1 year.

    Is there any way to handle this?
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    tecej25tecej25 Member Posts: 1
    I have a tahoe 2004 with the same problem in the staring wheel and I went to radio shack get some of the tiny bulbs and replaced them. did it that way because dont know if the dealer was going to charge me for that I have a solder so the bulbs only cost me about $5.00.
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    dmoore9090dmoore9090 Member Posts: 3
    You can also got to superbrightled.com and get # 74 mini leds and replace them with a color or just a brighter white. i have a dark blue tahoe and did the blue leds and it looks great!!
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    cthegravescthegraves Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2002 Tahoe and the lights on my dashboard and radio went out. I took it to the dealership yesterday and they fixed it. However, where the icons are such as the gas pump etc., they light up, but the words do not. They told me the wording does not light up, anyone know if this true?

    Thanks!

    Scott
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    stevenqstevenq Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2001 Tahoe and the Instrument Panel Lamp Dimmer only works in the "total on" position making me believe the assembly needs to be replaced. I can purchase the "Headlamp Switch / Instrument Panel Lamp Dimmer Assembly", AC Delco Part #D1534G online. Is this difficult for me to install or do I have to go to a dealer? I don't know how to remove the dashboard. Do you know where I could find installation instructions?
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    jachristmanjachristman Member Posts: 1
    How do I get to the bulbs to replace them? I tried prying off the covers without success. Didn't want to use too much force and break them.
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    sub1500sub1500 Member Posts: 1
    Know it's been a couple of years since you posted this, but I'm having the problem where the lights and radio went out. What did the dealer do to fix it?

    Thanks...
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    lostwages100lostwages100 Member Posts: 6
    I would look for a connector at the rear door or tail gate. Check to see if it has gotten wet. Pick up a spray can of electrical cleaner at the auto parts store, pull the connector a part and spray both half's with the cleaner. Being two different circuits will not stop Chevy from running them through the same connector(s). I hope this helps!
    Bob
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    lostwages100lostwages100 Member Posts: 6
    I own a 1995 Tahoe that I got a month ago and have the same lighting problem. The tach. is half dark, the radio is black, so is the climate controls. It's my understanding from the dealer that the bulbs are soldered to the boards, so you have to take each unit a part to make the repairs. Anyway, I'm beginning to think that the more lights that burn out the higher the wattage to the rest, causing the rest to burn out until the whole dash goes black. They all work off of the same dimmer control. So you may want to replace the burned out bulbs ASAP. Also, if you are going to all that work, you should do all the lights in that unit. Just an idea?
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    tidestertidester Member Posts: 10,059
    Anyway, I'm beginning to think that the more lights that burn out the higher the wattage to the rest, causing the rest to burn out until the whole dash goes black.

    That won't happen if the lights are in parallel circuit unless your battery and alternator are seriously ill. If they were in series and one went out then all would go out -- at the same time.

    tidester, host
    SUVs and Smart Shopper
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    lostwages100lostwages100 Member Posts: 6
    edited January 2012
    As you can read above, I've had instrument lighting problems with my 95 Tahoe two door. I've taken the dash apart and replaced all of the dash board, radio, temp. controls, headlight switch, rear hatch, rear wiper washer switches and window and door lock button lights with LED's. I used all blue LED's and really like how it looks now. The instrument panel lights I ordered plug in T10 LED's, and #74's for the Temperature controls and the rest are all 3mm blue LED's. The radio lights are soldered to the display PC Board and you will need to be knowledgeable about PC Board de-soldering, soldering, before you do this! The rear hatch and wiper washer switches require taking the switches apart to get to the bulbs and then de-soldering and soldering the new ones in place. Note you must get the polarity correct or they will not light up!~ The window and lock switches, headlight switch are socket bulbs that I was able to un-loop the wires, pull the old bulb and then install a 3mm LED and reset the wires. A little tricky, but doable. Note when you put them back in the switch to check the polarity...if it doesn't work the way you put it in, take it back out and rotate it 180 Deg. and try it again! One other note, if you go ahead with the radio lights make sure you get the polarity correct. LED bulb polarity is easy... the long lead is + and the short lead is -, the PC board traces can be identified knowing that the negative (-) side is always to the large area traces. And yes, the lighting is all dim-able, but will not go as low as the standard light bulbs did. Good luck! I'm still working on my 4 WD floor shifter lighting, dome lights and step well / door lights being blue! Also, I'm pulling the console on the ceiling to see if the map light switches are back lighted! The only inside lighting I will leave white will be the map lights and mirror switch, (you can't take apart the switch to change the bulbs)!
    T10's and #74's from w.superbrightleds.com, 3mm blue LED's from w.led-switch.com
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    lostwages100lostwages100 Member Posts: 6
    Make sure you order 12 volt LED's! Also, I did not reuse the light bulb sockets for the radio lights, I just soldered them in at about the same height as the socket! One other bug to be worked out is the color of the radio display. It is not changeable....all I can think to do is put a dark blue, see through plastic sheet over it, like for a binder sheet?? I'm still thinking about it, I'm concerned about static??? I think it was on superbrightled's I saw a stick on colored tint for head lights...maybe that would be better? Please let me know if you have a better idea! Thanks!
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    lostwages100lostwages100 Member Posts: 6
    Some things I forgot to tell you, make sure you order replacement sockets to match the T10 bulbs for the instrument panel, mine takes 6 of them. When you pick out the #74 LED's try to get one that is not focused from the tip, it will cause the temp controls to have bright spots! I ordered extra #74 LED's and plan on playing with some ideas to over come this problem, will let you know! I stated above that the LED's are dim-able, and they were on the radio and switches that I installed the plain LED's in, but when I installed the instrument panel lights the dimming stopped working. I have not figured out why yet....but will let you know! According to super brights website it should be dim-able! Ask me questions if you like, I'll try to answer you asap!
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    mdog6943mdog6943 Member Posts: 1
    I'm just about to change my dash lights also. Your post has been very helpful. I'm just wondering how many lights were in the instrument cluster and also how many were in the temp controls. Also how hard was it to do the temp controls? Thanks
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    lostwages100lostwages100 Member Posts: 6
    Hi, If I recall correctly there are 6 lights for the Instrument cluster and 4 for the temp. controls. My temp control is all electric....I do not know if Chevy is using any other ones or not? The bulb sockets are located on the upper back side of the display. While you have the trim panel off for the instrument cluster you will be able to pull the TC forward after releasing the side tabs that hold the TC in place. I did mine without undoing the controller wire connectors, the sockets are half turn out and in. Make sure you get the right bulbs for the TC, they are smaller than the IC bulbs. Don't forget to lightly sand the end of the bulbs to help defuse the light, otherwise you'll get bright spots! One other thing I don't remember if I mentioned, when ordering your bulbs you only need to order the lowest brightness, the dimmer will not do much for you so going with really bright bulbs may cause night time driving problems. I haven't added a resister yet to help with the dimmer, but I will post that info when I do and how it's done! Please feel free to write me if you have any problems or more questions. Thanks, Bob
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    martsimsmartsims Member Posts: 1
    Hi All,
    I know this is an old post but just hoping I can help out with some info. I had the same problem of burned out button lights. On the HVAC control unit my rear defroster and A/C lights were out. In my unit the bulbs are soldered to the the circuit board. Went to Radio Shack and found these bulbs,
    12V Micro lamps (2-Pack) Catalog #: 272-1092. $1.99 for 2 bulbs little time remove the old bulbs and solder in the new ones and the problem is fixed. It's not an unscrew or pop out fix but it is doable and not very difficult, just take your time. I decided to change all 4 "button" bulbs as long as I had it open, took about 15 mins. Hope this helps someone out good luck.
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    jsguffeyjsguffey Member Posts: 1
    Hi All,
    I know I am late to the game here. Anybody still out there that can help? I have a 95 2-door Tahoe. Electrical problems are multiplying. I replaced the heating and air head unit a while back because the A/C button wasn't working. Not the biggest problem. That was a few years back. I just recently had the transmission overhauled. My brother, a friend and I installed it about 2 weeks ago. Drives like a dream. Inspection was out because it was not driveable for a year. This is where it all starts. I failed inspection for 3 things. 2 legit, and the the high beam indicator light in the cluster not working was the third. I was beyond irritated. I went and bought the bulbs. Pulled the dash apart, pulled out the cluster and found the bulb. I decided to replace all the bulbs. I did NOT replace any of the sockets? Thought I was in good shape. Put it all back. Turned on the lights. 3/4 of the cluster bulbs are not working. Turn signals in the cluster aren't working. Seat belt and airbag are. Two harness switches (rear wiper and rear glass latch button) aren't working. Have I messed something up? All the bulbs worked before I replaced them except the high beam? Any advice. Can I get the cluster tested? Could the cluster be bad now? I have heard check the fuses. There is only one illumination fuse that I can tell. I pulled it. Looks fine. the few bulbs that are working came back on. Relay? Hopefully someone can help?
    Thanks, Jeremiah
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