How do I change the lights in the headunit?

[F1GT]

a couple of lights went out on my Monsoon. Is it bulb or LED? And how would I go about changing it? Pry the face off and just swap it? Is it fragile?

thx

[NightEye]

One of mine went out too (equalizer) - I'd like to know how to change it as well.

[evilshant]

I had the same problem with my monsoon on my 2000 Camaro. Took it apart and changed all the bulbs inside. You have to de-solder all the old ones out and solder in new ones. I went ahead and changed all of them (I think there's 10) since I didnt want to deal with taking the stereo apart again in the near future. For the replacement bulbs I used Radio Shack part #272-1154 ($1.39 each). I've had the new ones in for about three months now and they work like a charm.

I also found the following page useful:

http://www.xse.com/leres/ss/leds.html

The author of this page however, used LED's to replace the bulbs on hid Monsoon Stereo.

Hope this helps

-evilshant

[F1GT]

Kewl, thanks for the help. Also, did you remove the face by prying on it? just wanna make sure and not break any tabs if that's how it is...

thx

[evilshant]

Easiest way to take the faceplate off of the head unit, is to remove both the top and bottom covers by taking out all the screws. Once you have the bottom cover off, look for two wiring harnesses that connect the faceplate circuit board to the main motherboard. Just gently pull on the harnesses and they will come apart.

Next, you'll have to pull off the volume and tuning knobs off of the faceplate. After you remove the volume knob, remove the knob that adjusts the speed proportional volume and you'll see a small metal nut underneath it. Unbolt the nut with a set of needle nose pliers.

If you look around where the faceplate attaches to the main body, you'll notice small plastic tabs that secure the faceplate to the body. You'll have to gently pull up all the small plastic tabs around the faceplate with a small flathead screwdriver and slowly pull on the faceplate. It takes a little bit of patience but it’s not that bad.

Once you separate the faceplate from the main body, you'll have to separate the circuit board behind the faceplate. There should be 8 or 9 small bolts that secure the circuit board to the faceplate. They are pretty tiny and the only way I was able to remove them was with a small pair of needle nosed pliers and a lot of patience.

Once you get the circuit board off its just a matter of de-soldering off the old bulbs and soldering in the new ones.

Hope this helps. If you need any more details let me know. Just take your time and it shouldn’t be too difficult. Good luck.

[Pete3568]

After enduring a year of having no lights on my Monsoon Head Unit, I finally screwed up the courage to go to Radio Shack, order the bulbs evilshant recommended, purchase a soldering iron, and change the bulbs.

Unbelieveably, they all light up again and I didn't destroy the radio!

All that to say, if your lights have gone out (and I've seen three different HUs where they have), go for it and solder in new bulbs- its virtually foolproof and takes only 30 or 40 minutes.

Thanks for the advice...

[PewterBird]

What about the light behind the Display. You know the one that shows the clock. Is that just as easy?

[Pete3568]

Based on an experience with my father's Buick Regal GS (which, btw, is amazingly quick with the turbocharger- I wish the Chevy 3.8 was capable of handling the Buick unit as a bolt on), I would have to guess that it will not be easy.

The temperature control unit on my dad's car had a digital display similar to the ones in the Head Unit. The module was working just fine, but the display conked out on it. At the time, I was living in PA and had a friend who did this kind of work- he indicated it would be cheaper to replace the unit than repairing it- since the part wasn't available as an individual component.

If you are looking for a new HU, there are one's on eBay almost constantly. Before fixing mine, I had decided to purchase a HU with the tape and a 12 CD changer. Unfortunately, after I won the auction at a really reasonable price, the seller claimed the item was "damaged" and he didn't want to ship it (never was able to specify what the damage was).

Good luck.