Change the color of your 00-02 Tahoe/Yukon AC control backlights with LEDs

[vatahoelt]

I think it would be great if someone would offer up a service to change all of the dash lights and all of the other switches in the truck...like the widow and door lock switches. It would be nice to have all of my switches light up again.

did you read the post right above yours?

 

[FishinCricket]

Awesome write up!!

 

[Barman84]

I'm doing this as well!!! Thanks all in red though.

 

[theinfamoushog]

I'm doing this as well!!! Thanks all in red though.

Let's see some pics of the red.

---------- Post added at 10:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:17 AM ----------

Hey scottyboy is there a thread or a parts list for all lights?

 

[ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)]

okay i just attempted this i just tried to do the 4 top lights i got 4 5mm leds from radio shack and 330ohm resistors and soldered them in just like he said and the first time i plugged the ac control in only the 2 right lights lit up so i figure okay i put one of the other bulbs in backwards wich one was on the second set that did not work i put the bulb with the resistor in backwards so i un soldered and turned it around then when i plugged in back in to test nothing works i can only turn the fan on and its on the defrost vent cant switch anything any ideas
now im gonna assume i fried the board somewhere along the line and i need a whole new a/c control
now my question when i get a new a/c unit can u tell me the specifics of the led lights and resistors used becuase when i went to radioshack threre was different wattages brightnesses there is like 3.7 volt blue led and a 5 volt and there is different wattage rated 330ohm resistors
also if anyone knows were i can get htat a/c control for an 02 tahoe cheap please holler

 

[dmull]

I will be doing this on my 2001 which has the temperature control dials. Does anyone one know if the bulbs are wired in series from the factory?

 

[Juanalejandro23]

Hey bro if you can message me I'm interested to see if you can do mine just like that I'll send you some $$ if you can please get back to me thanks

 

[RachelJWalker]

Is there a direction flow for the resister or does it matter

 

[Mondo]

Ok I put a pair of 5mm bulbs to 3 button cells to see how bright they are and then I soldered the resistors exactly as you did I got 200 Ohn resistors and the one with resistors was much dimmer. What is the purpose behind the resistors.

 

[Larryjb]

I can't seem to pull off the rotary knobs from the HVAC control unit. The radio knobs came off fairly easily. Am I missing something here? When you "carefully pried off" the control knobs, did you use a tool, or just your hands?

I'm just sticking with replacement incandescent bulbs, but I can't get that unit open.

 

[Larryjb]

I got the knobs off OK. It took gently prying with a screwdriver while lifting up on the knob itself.

I have a new question now. The only bulbs that are burned out are the tiny indicator lamps for the recirc button and defog button. These use the smaller 3.2mm (0.125") bulb instead of the 4.2mm (0.156").

Does anyone know of a source of these lamps?

Thanks.

Larry

 

[Larryjb]

I found a local supplier of the smaller bulb. The package said the bulbs were rated at 100 mA. They tested the bulb and actually got 43 mA, so they were mislabeled. The cold resistance of the old bulb was about 50 ohms, and the cold resistance of the new bulb is about 30 ohm. (Don't go by cold resistance when choosing a bulb, I only did that as a comparison). The original bulb was probably closer to 20 mA, but this one is close enough. I now have all my defog/recirc/AC buttons lit at night.

I think this is the bulb http://leeselectronic.com/en/product/5322.html

If you're in the Lower Mainland, these guys are great. They have just about any electrical component you need.

Larry

 

[ScottyBoy]

I found a local supplier of the smaller bulb. The package said the bulbs were rated at 100 mA. They tested the bulb and actually got 43 mA, so they were mislabeled. The cold resistance of the old bulb was about 50 ohms, and the cold resistance of the new bulb is about 30 ohm. (Don't go by cold resistance when choosing a bulb, I only did that as a comparison). The original bulb was probably closer to 20 mA, but this one is close enough. I now have all my defog/recirc/AC buttons lit at night.

I think this is the bulb http://leeselectronic.com/en/product/5322.html

If you're in the Lower Mainland, these guys are great. They have just about any electrical component you need.

Larry

Glad you found some good stock replacement bulbs. I wish we had a good electronic parts supplier store here like that. All we had were Radio Shack stores, and most of those closed down. There are only two left and they only sell cell phones now.
I'm glad that this thread helped you to get your bulbs replaced. Even though I did the write up showing how to replace the bulbs with LEDs, I see its helped others too who just wanna replace the bulbs with the same type of factory style bulb.

 

[jarydM]

Glad you found some good stock replacement bulbs. I wish we had a good electronic parts supplier store here like that. All we had were Radio Shack stores, and most of those closed down. There are only two left and they only sell cell phones now.
I'm glad that this thread helped you to get your bulbs replaced. Even though I did the write up showing how to replace the bulbs with LEDs, I see its helped others too who just wanna replace the bulbs with the same type of factory style bulb.

is there a specific type of bulb to use for this in the steering wheel control button, I don't know that I have the room for a resistor too, are there LED's that would be "plug and play" with a bit of solder work?

 

[ScottyBoy]

is there a specific type of bulb to use for this in the steering wheel control button, I don't know that I have the room for a resistor too, are there LED's that would be "plug and play" with a bit of solder work?

I have done steering wheel buttons in both 3mm and with 5mm LEDs. The 3mm actually fit better, but for some reason they don't last as long as the 5mm do. I've had people tell me that they burned out in as fast as 3 months after I did them. I now squeeze a 5mm in there and it's VERY tight. I have to put the resistor right up tightly against it. Sometimes I even end up cutting of filing the "lip" off the bottom edge of the LED so that the resistor will fit that much tighter against it, even that 1mm or whatever it is helps as far as fitting it in there.

 

[jarydM]

I have done steering wheel buttons in both 3mm and with 5mm LEDs. The 3mm actually fit better, but for some reason they don't last as long as the 5mm do. I've had people tell me that they burned out in as fast as 3 months after I did them. I now squeeze a 5mm in there and it's VERY tight. I have to put the resistor right up tightly against it. Sometimes I even end up cutting of filing the "lip" off the bottom edge of the LED so that the resistor will fit that much tighter against it, even that 1mm or whatever it is helps as far as fitting it in there.

all of mine are out, so I'm willing to risk breaking one, or messing it up to learn how to do this. Where do you order from? I don't really know even where to start as to what parts to look for.

work computer is being sluggish in letting me read through this thread too, so if it's in here somewhere, I guess I'll find it.

also, thanks for the help @ScottyBoy

 

[trox88]

For those of you who want LEDs in your AC panel and interior switches but arent comfortable soldering, I can probably do them for you. Just PM me.

Seeing as this is from 2010, is the offer still good?

 

[ladorn45]

Has anyone tried to remove the blue film on the AC control. I want to shine white but keeps coming out blue from the film

 

[ScottyBoy]

Seeing as this is from 2010, is the offer still good?

I obviously missed this post almost a year ago, but yes the offer still stands. Anyone interested just send me a PM. I have done countless LED conversions and instrument cluster repairs for many members on here and several other forums. There's quite a few on here who I am sure would vouch for my good work.

 

[ScottyBoy]

Has anyone tried to remove the blue film on the AC control. I want to shine white but keeps coming out blue from the film

No, I have not successfully been able to remove the blue from the AC panel, or any other switches that have it. I HAVE however learned how to remove the bluish film from the instrument cluster overlay.