Delco Bose Bulb Replacement
There are 6 (two different sizes of three each) "grain of wheat" size bulbs soldered to the Bose radio front panel printed circuit board for lighting in addition to several LEDs. The LEDs don't give trouble but the tiny incandescent bulbs are notorious for burning out and will require replacement at some point. It is not a difficult job to do but it does require disassembly of the radio to remove the front panel circuit board. Hopefully you have some electronics soldering skills because you will need a desoldering gun or a solder sucker to keep from burning the circuit board as you remove bulbs and a low wattage pencil type soldering iron to install the replacements. My car had three burned out but I replaced all six. There is a vendor on the Internet who sells the correct bulbs in a kit for around $20. You can also get replacement bulbs at Radio Shack that resemble the originals but they are slightly different and probably made in China; considering the amount of work involved I would not want to find out how long those might last. In searching the forums I located the following outline previously submitted by another member:
Radio Display Bulb Replacement
Steps for Removal Of the Delco-Bose Radio:
Before doing anything, take a good look at your unit at night and determine where the dark areas are. This will help you understand which bulbs require replacement once you get the radio apart.
If your car is equipped with an automatic transmission;
With car sitting on a level surface, apply emergency brake and select neutral with shifter.
Turn ignition switch to off.
Pry shifter button out of shift knob by inserting a thin blade screwdrivers on each side of button.
Use a pair of straight nose snap ring pliers to remove spring clip on shifter knob.
Pull shifter knob off of shift lever.
Remove shifter trim plate by first removing two screws inside console. Pull corners of carpet up to reveal screws.
Remove screw that is found inside cup holder.
Gently lift up trim plate until you can unplug shift indicator light. Rotate light socket to disengage from plate.
Unplug cigarette lighter socket by prying the two tabs and slide socket off of lighter receptacle.
Leave rear deck release wiring attached to button, and swing trim plate to the passenger seat.
Lower steering wheel by tilting to the lowest position.
Remove two phillips screws in A/C duct, and remove grill
Remove radio trim plate by first removing two screws at bottom of plate and one at top right. Be careful when removing trim plate because there is a spring clip on left side. Pull straight out to disengage clip.
Radio has 4 screws that hold it into dash. Remove all 4 screws, being careful not to drop any. They are hard to find once you drop them.
Remove radio from dash, by sliding out and at the same time prying the trim away to allow room for the radio attachment ears. If you are not careful, you will scratch the trim work.
When radio is out sufficiently, unplug the two electrical connectors. Don’t worry, they are keyed so you can’t mix them up when plugging back in.
Take radio to workbench, or table, and lay a soft cloth or cardboard down to protect both the radio and counter top. Remove the top cover of radio. There are about 13 small screws located on the top, back and sides. With top off, remove the volume, balance, and tone knobs by pulling off. These knobs are specific to each function, so don’t mix them up. If you do, no big deal, you just have to sort it out.
Next, you want to remove the faceplate. This is done by gently prying the tabs that are located on the top and sides. The face will rotate out at the top first. Continue rotating until you can disengage the tabs on the bottom side. Pull the plate out far enough to disconnect the two connectors on the ribbon cables going to the back of the faceplate. Once the cables are disconnected, the plate can be taken completely removed from the radio.
There are 4 small socket head screws on the circuit board that hold the circuit board to the face plate. Lay the face plate face down and remove the four screws. Gently lift the board away from the face plate. Be careful and don’t accidentally dump out all your face plate push buttons, cause then you won’t know which button goes where…unless you have a better memory than me. My savior was a picture of the radio in the MidAm Catalog. Need I say more? Now, where were we?
You will see 3 lights around the display, and four lights in the pushbutton area. The 3 lights around the display are identical to the ones you bought at Radio Shack. Unsolder the old ones and replace. The 4 in the pushbutton area are not an exact match in size, but they work, and are easy to solder into the board.
When all lights are replaced in the board, set it aside and look at the two light bulbs by the volume and balance controls. The top light is replaceable, and can be removed by grasping with your fingers and pulling out. Replacement bulbs are available at AutoZone or at the dealer. Don’t ask the dealer to look the part up on his computer, cause he won’t show it. Just show him the bulb. The bottom light is hard soldered and if you must replace it, use one of the bulbs you purchased at Radio Shack. Again, the bulbs won’t be an exact match, but they work just fine.
Re-assembly is pretty straightforward. Be careful, and when re-installing into the dash, slide the unit in far enough to hook the two connectors up, then try the lights prior to final assembly.
