just bought an 05 tahoe!! Steering wheel lights out PLEASE HELP!!

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bfranklin74

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Hello, I just bought an 05 tahoe. I was driving home lastnight and i noticed ALL of my steering wheel lights are out on the controls. How can I fix this? Does the steering wheel HAVE to come off? All of the buttons work they just dont light up. ANY HELP would be greatly appreciated!!!thanks in advance
 

Clemsonbloz

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Hello, I just bought an 05 tahoe. I was driving home lastnight and i noticed ALL of my steering wheel lights are out on the controls. How can I fix this? Does the steering wheel HAVE to come off? All of the buttons work they just dont light up. ANY HELP would be greatly appreciated!!!thanks in advance



those stupid things burn out... to replace you have to remove the steerring wheel, and replace the switches I believe..

A couple of mine are out, but after a while you memorize what buttons are what..
 

ScottyBoy

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Yeah they put tiny bulbs in there from the factory and they burn out after a while. I had a bulb burn out in my AC control panel so I replaced all the bulbs with LED's.

Look here.
 

jomulk56

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You can use a hook tool to pry them out and replace them. I've replaced 1 so far and the others are all almost burned out now. It takes about 3 minutes to switch one out with the hook tool.
 

TnTahoe

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any pics of this hook tool and pulling them out
 

MikeTheApeman

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You don't have to take the wheel off, and you don't need a hook tool. It'd help, I'm sure, but I replaced one of mine in a Target parking lot with nothing more than a small pocket knife and a piece of napkin. I was waiting for Target to open, had the switch, figured why not go for it.
If you go to Rite Aid / Walgreens / any pharmacy place and look for dental tools, you should be able to find something that looks like what the dentist uses to scrap plaque off when you get a cleaning. You could probably use that. Otherwise, if you want to go my route, just take a slim blade...maybe a nail file would be good too. Use something like a folded napkin or a matchbook cover to cover the blade and protect the leather when you pry the switch out. It's about an inch deep, I think there's a lip on the inside edge to grab. Once you get it part way out, you can grab it and wiggle it the rest of the way. There's not a lot of slack in the wire, but there's enough to be able to swap out switches.
Seriously - if a monkey like me could do it in 10 minutes with improvised tools, I think anyone can do it.
 

blueflamed03

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the tools, I have a set, great tools for many jobs
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