When the instrument cluster lights go out on a 2000+, is there any hope for replacing the bulbs? We pulled the cluster to find out that the bulbs are fairly inaccessable without being able to remove the needles and separate the center, and even then they appear to be soldered to the PCB. Fortunately there's only one out, so far. Looks like they're only around $25-$35 at salvage yards, which probably isn't much more than the cost of a couple of those micro surface mount bulbs from a dealership. Any experience with this?
<img src="http://www.89proof.com/elements/shannonscav2.jpg">
I have the same problem.
Mines just the tach right now. Plus the milage is hardly visable.
I've successfully replaced my bulbs on my 2000 cavalier. It's not easy, and is fixable if you have a lot of patience and determination. As well as being VERY good at electronics, and being able to get teh right parts for the repair. Radioshack doesn't cut it in this case.
The lamps you will not find at a dealership. The cluster in GM's eyes aren't serviceable over the parts counter to the customer. If you were to have any problem with the cluster GM will exchange the the whole cluster with another rebuilt unit. Then they will take your old defective unit and send it to a remanufacture center who will then referbish it to like new specs.
The reason for this process is because when GM comes to it's electronics, they don't want to have them so accessable to just anyone. The Electronics are sort of what makes GM cars stand out so if you make parts accessable to the general public then who's to say your competition won't be able to make a quick buck on servicing?
What GM does is they give contracts out to a remanufacture center to repair these units. Same goes for the Radios, Video, DVD anything...These centre's are given all the parts from GM and Schematic diagrams to repair and referbish what ever it is they service. There is a strict policy from GM stating that these repair centers can't sell parts to the Dealers or the general public since on ther parts listing dealers can only order things as units. For example they won't show a listing for cluster bulbs in their parts list, only a cluster part number. Sometimes the remanufacture centers can service the unit for the customer but expect GM labour and GM mark up on the parts..
I would suggest, since u can get a cluster for cheap, i'd go that route since it's so cheap....
Ryan1
Ryan1 wrote:I would suggest, since u can get a cluster for cheap, i'd go that route since it's so cheap....
Bingo. Besides, while you can't take off the needles like the Pre-2K, you don't have to worry about resetting the odometer, as that is stored in the computer, not the cluster. It's as easy as unplugging one and plugging in the other.
