Replace bulbs/lamps in Chevy Silverado Pickup radio?

Here's how you fix this.

First off, it's a major pain in the rear. It took me about 3 hours, which doesn't sound that bad, but there are a lot of careful skills needed, and plenty of places where you can break something if you aren't used to doing jobs like this.

You need Torx screwdrivers, a SMALL fine-point low-watt soldering iron, and a set of small 12-volt lamps. You also need a needle-nose pliers, some small screwdrivers, and a set of small nut drivers (1/8" and around that size). If you don't know how to solder to printed circuit boards, you can't do this repair.

The lamps can be virtually anything that's small enough to fit in there. Once you get into the radio, you'll see the bulbs, and you can head on over the Radio Shack to buy something similar. All that matters is that they are 12-volt, and they are small. DO NOT buy bulbs that are physically larger than what you find inside. You won't be able to fit the display back together with larger bulbs in there.


1. You have to remove the radio. The whole dash trim around the steering wheel, dash gauges, steering column, radio, and A/C controls is held in only by some clips along the top and bottom edges of it. Set the parking brake, put the gear shift in "L" (low), pull out center cup holder. How, with a large flat blade screwdriver AND PATIENCE, you can ease the screwdriver under the TOP edge of the dash trim, with the handle pointing away from you and the blade pointing TOWARD you. Use a gentle pry/rock to release the clips. Then, you can just use your fingers to work your way around the sides and along the bottom, pulling out gently to release the trim.

2. Pull the trim as far forward as you can. You'll need to pull the top edge far enough forward to get it to some out from underneath the dash so you can then pull the whole thing forward enough to get the radio out. The top edge has the deep (about 5") black plastic liner that surrounds the gauge area and the far-left a/c vent. It's a tight squeeze, but you can get this top edge far enough forward to come out from underneath the dash.

3. Now, to get the radio out, on each side of the radio there is a black plastic pair of fingers. You have to squeeze the fingers very hard together, on both sides of the radio at the same time, and pull forward. The radio will just release and slide out.

4. As you slide the radio out, you'll need to tip the front of it upward to get past the back of the dash trim, which is still kind of sitting there in your way. Completely removing the dash trim is a lot more work, because there are headlight controls, the passenger air bag disable control, and a few other things attached to it. So it really doesn't seem worth it to completely get that trim out of there, nor is it necessary.

5. Keep pulling the radio out and UP, until you can see the wiring attached to the back. There are 3 cables: the antenna coax, and two large block connectors. To remove the block connectors, along one edge, you'll see plastic clip part of the connector. You need to squeeze the back part of it (the part that's away from the radio), so that the other end (near the radio) pull back off a tooth. While you do this, rock the connector back and forth and it will pull out. Do this with both block connectors. Then, pull the antenna coax wire out. This one can be VERY tight, so don't just jerk on the wire. If it won't some out, use a pair of needlenose pliers to grasp the metal connector end of the wire, and gently twist back and forth as you pull.

6. At last! The radio is out. You need to remove the top or bottom cover plates on the radio. One of them has a bunch of Torx (6-pointed star) screws holding it on. The other just snaps on around the edges and can be pried loose with a screwdriver. If you don't have Torx screwdrivers BUY THEM. You cannot do this job without them. I can't remember whether it's the top or bottom plate that you need to get off, so just remove them both.

7. Now, you'll see two ribbon cables going from the front display, through a slot in the radio frame, and plugged into the circuit board. Again, GENTLY, pull these loose from the board.

8. All the way around the front plastic display, you'll see a bunch of plastic retainer teeth that fit into holes in the metal frame and keep the display on. THIS IS THE ONLY THING HOLDING THE DISPLAY ON. There are no screws. However, as you use a small screwdriver to release each of these teeth, you'll find that the display doesn't want to let go very easily. All I can say is, keep at it and be patient. By release a tooth, and prying carefully between the display trim and the frame, and then going on to the next tooth, prying, etc, you will eventually work the display forward and it will pull off. As you pull it completely off, pull the two ribbon cables through the hole in the frame.

9. Turn the display face down. The circuit board you see is held on by about 8-9 very small (about 1/8") ALUMINUM torx hex-head bolts. You have to remove all of these and some of them are very tight. I actually managed to get them out with needlenose pliers and a lot of care, but this isn't a good idea because it's easy to round-off the heads on the soft aluminum bolts.

10. Once you get all the Torx bolts out, the circuit board will pull straight up. Lay the board on it's back. You'll see a whole bunch of small light bulbs soldered in place around the board. YOU ARE GOING TO REPLACE THEM ALL, trust me. If you don't, you'll be sorry. If some of them have blown, and you replace only those, in 3 months, you'll be doing this again to replace the others.

11. Like I said when I started, this repair assumes you know how to do fine soldering on a printed circuit board. If you don't know how to do this, you really shouldn't do this repair.

12. Unsolder the bulbs, and simply solder new ones in their place.
Radio Shack 272-1092 or 272-1154 (preferred) will work fine.
If you are really determined, you could solder white LEDs in there, with series resistors, but you'll have to figure out which way is "+" on the board, which wasn't immediately obvious. If you don't know anything about LEDs, or you don't understand what "series resistors" are, or how you'd choose the resistor value, forget it.

Now, you have to put it all back together. Slip the circuit board back in to the front display from behind. Put the torx bolts back in. Clip the whole front display assembly back onto the metal radio frame, then put the ribbon cables back on the circuit board inside the radio. Now put the top and bottom cover plates onto the radio.

Back in the truck, ease the radio down from the top toward its "hole". As soon as you are close enough, plug the two block connectors and the antenna cable back in. Continue easing it down and back into the hole. As the two black plastic finger retainers on each side go back into the dash, they'll lock in place with a snap.

Ease the big dash trim back in place. Get the top edge with the deep plastic liner under the dash FIRST. There's just a lot of care needed here. You have to get the a/c vent rubber gaskets back in as you push. As you get close, get the bottom edge of the trim snapped in first, then work your way around the sides and up along the top.

Max Magliaro
October 2006