Welcome to the Corvette Forums at the Corvette Action Center!

Problem with Light in Bose Radio

NewGuy

Active member
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
33
Location
Diamond Bar, CA, USA
Corvette
1996 LT4 Collectors Edition
Have a 1996 LT4 with the Bose radio. It appears there should be a light that comes on with the dash lights, when you turn on your dirving lights, that makes the display readable at night. The display has the normal orange backgrould and black numbers and you can read it fine during the day. Just cannot read the dial at night (station or time).

Questions: is there a bulb that is somewhere behind the radio faceplate that comes on with the driving lights (assuming the dimmer is not fully off)?

If so, is it replaceable by an owner? Fairly mechanically inclined but do not want to rip the dash apart and take out the radio head if I am wasting my time.

By the way, every other dash light works fine, including the individual radio button lights.

Thanks
 
I am having the same problem but didn't see a response to your question. Did you ever find out or does anyone know how to fix the light on the radio? It's really annoying.
 
the driver's side of mine is dark, and the pass. is lit.
I just live with it.
Anyone find a fix?

Rain
 
I also have a '96 Coupe that 'had' this problem. The fix is relatively straight forward, but does take some time and some soldering skills. There are actually 6 #7219 bulbs that light the face of the Bose radio head. In mine, the three that light the display were burned out. They are available from http://www.corvetteradios.com for about $13.00 including shipping. The radio head has to come out, meaning the shifter cover and front bezels need to come off. Lots of screws, but not that hard. To replace the bulbs, you will need a small tipped low-wattage iron, and a solder-sucker since the bulbs are soldered to one of the radio circuit boards. There are quite a few screws that hold the radio head together that also need to come out. This can be done in under 2 hours - and does require some patience, but it's worth the effort.

Thanks,

Larry
 
The Bulbs are also available at Radio Shack. My station display back light is also not illuminated, and I need to take the radio apart and solder in new bulbs....just been procrastonating.
 
I'm puzzled by some of this. If the radio head is back lit during the day it should be back lit at night because the incandescent lamps are working during the day. However the radio head is dimmed at night in the same fashion as the HVAC control display. Therefore, if the radio head is out at night I would expect the HVAC display to be out as well.

Is the HVAC out also?
 
Corvette Radio Repair

I sent my radio directly to http://www.corvetteradios.com/contact.html.

$65.00, repaired and inspected the head unit, very quick turnaround. Highly recommend sending it in before trying yourself unless you are very confident about taking the head unit apart, discovering the problem and then trying to get it back together. Yes, I attempted to repair mine but the problem was not a bulb, it was a broken circut that Corvettradios found and fixed, along with replacing all bulbs. For $65.00 plus shipping I would not attempt to do it myself again.

They used to be in Oregon but their web site shows in Lousiana now.
 
We can see the numbers in the LED screen, but there is no backlight at all, day or night. At night, it's worse, because the display is not lit up at all, like on the HVAC controls. At night, I cannot see the station read out on my Bose, but all the buttons are lit up fine. There are a couple of small bulbs that are soldered on a circuit card behind the face plate of the bose, and the ones directly behind the station read out LED are burned out, as I am sure is the same problem all the others here in this thread are complaining about too.
Does that explain it better?
 
I just repaired this over the weekend. :upthumbs

My orange backlight screen was also out in the radio. So i'd like to share my experience. 96 LT4.

Once out of the car, I took my entire radio apart. Lots of little screws. I am comfortable with computers, circuit boards, etc. And if you are apt at soldering circuitry I would say give this a try. It was very easy to do. I first practiced on some old 56K modems i had laying around just to prove to myself i knew what i was doing.

A local electronics shop wanted $5 per bulb to replace, but i wanted the satisfaction of doing it myself. And i didnt really like those guys after talking with them.

There are three little bulbs that light up the screen. All of them were burnt out. I found these at Radio Shack for $1.69 each (1 per pack). They are PN 272-1154 12V 50mA.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...p=&sr=1&kw=bulb&origkw=bulb&parentPage=search

I just soldered/removed the burnt out lights off and replaced with new ones.

There are a few(3?) other little bulbs on the circuit board that light up the Tuner up and down, the AM/FM, Set, the numbers buttons, etc. These bulbs were are a little bigger, but 1 of those burnt out too, so I used the same ones as the screen since they were the same brightness. Works fine.

During this, (it was working before i started) i some how either shorted or burnt out the lights for the volume, bass/treble, and fader. These are not soldered in. They are two easy GE 73 bulbs. They just pull out of the sockets and can be found at Pep Boys, etc. for $2.99 (comes in a pack of 2)

So this cost me about $10 to repair myself. I already had a soldering iron and solder.

I found this link VERY helpful:
http://www.corvetteforum.com/techtips/viewsubtopic.php?SubTopicID=249&TopicID=2

This was frustrating at times. I will admit that. And did take me most of the day to carefully remove and disassemble the radio and a few trips to a few radio shacks to get find the right bulbs to use. I wanted to be VERY careful too. Unfortunately, i failed to take pics. But honestly, i NEVER want to see the inside of that radio ever again!

But this week i can proudly say I fixed my Corvette radio for $10. :)

Good Luck to all who do this. Its not was difficult as you think.
John
 

Corvette Forums

Not a member of the Corvette Action Center?  Join now!  It's free!

Help support the Corvette Action Center!

Supporting Vendors

Dealers:

MacMulkin Chevrolet - The Second Largest Corvette Dealer in the Country!

Advertise with the Corvette Action Center!

Double Your Chances!

Our Partners

Back
Top Bottom