Driver's Power Window Switch Illumination

**Tom Evans** · 10-11-2007, 04:40 PM

I've got one from left field for the forum. The night time illumination on the driver's power window switch is out on my newly acquired 2002 Suburban. For a while, I could bump the door panel and part of the lights would come on. Now none of them come on. I checked and am getting 12 volts to the proper pins.

The question is: has anyone taken one of the switches apart and replaced the bulbs or LEDs? I routinely take switches apart on my Mercedes Diesels and refurbish the switch contacts rather than buy new switches.

**84fiero123** · 10-11-2007, 09:36 PM

Not that I recall but if you do take them apart we would love to see a thread on it with pictures if possible.

I lost the lights on my heater switch in the dash board myself but haven’t had the time to take it apart. So this would be of interest to a lot I bet.

**unplugged** · 10-12-2007, 08:19 AM

Yeah I've had one of the control knobs on the radio of my Silverado go dark too.

On my burb, the lights on the lower half of my climate controls went dark. I took it apart to the point that it exposed the circuit boards, but couldn't figure out how to get to the switches to change the lights.

btw, wasn't it BMW that used fiber optics for most of the dash lighting, so there was only one bulb?

**84fiero123** · 10-12-2007, 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by unplugged

Yeah I've had one of the control knobs on the radio of my Silverado go dark too.

btw, wasn't it BMW that used fiber optics for most of the dash lighting, so there was only one bulb?

BMW may have but I know some of the older Mercedes did, I did some dash work on a friends 198? And noticed a lot of fiber optics.

**asand211** · 12-10-2010, 09:46 PM

I cannot figure out how to get the switch apart from the driver's door to access the lights. I replaced the lights on my heater/AC controls last night. I got the bulbs off of Ebay for $10 and I used a desoldering wick to remove the old bulbs. I simply soldered new ones in and they were good to go. I had to order a micro tool set to get a 1/8" nut driver to disassemble the radio to replace a couple of bulbs in there so it's sitting on my table in pieces. The wife just loves that.

**stephan** · 12-10-2010, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by asand211

I had to order a micro tool set to get a 1/8" nut driver to disassemble the radio to replace a couple of bulbs in there so it's sitting on my table in pieces. The wife just loves that.

LOL... Soooo what's she going to say when you have the dirty greasy cylinder heads on the table doing a valve job?

**murdog94** · 12-11-2010, 04:50 PM

IT is easier just to replace the switches, as to the HVAC controls Springthing did a HOW-TO in the write up section about this for the heater controls.. and the radio i pretty wont do, ill just get a refurbished one..