drivestwin

While driving the 99 the other night, I noticed that the top two buttons on the DIC controls were dark while the others were working fine.

I assume its a bulb of some sort.....how hard to fix this?

I'm fairly handy but want to know what I'm getting into first.

Thanks,

Marc

Toque

Marc:

Here is a procedure to get you into the DIC. I'm not sure where to get the regular OEM bulbs though. This procedure replaces the bulbs with LED's

http://www.spdkilz.com/techtipleddic.html

Good luck !
Toque

dgrant3830

I tried to do the same thing long ago and ended up damaging the unit enough in the process that I just bought a new one and installed it.

toddk

I followed Toque's SpdKilz link to put in blue LEDs because I also had one burnt out (or so I thought). I also agree there isn't a known GM P/N for just the bulb - the lowest numbered subassembly of the IPC is the DIC switch #12135152.

When I got in there, the contacts just had some corrosion on them and the bulb was OK. There are 2 sizes of bulbs, and they also appear in the door control pads and behind the traction control button. You can probably swap a failed dash bulb for one of those with easier access if you don't want to buy parts first.

A couple options to resolve the issue:

1. Posting a "WTB" in the For Sale section.
2. I've had great luck from Marc at vettenuts.net finding obscure stuff like this.
3. consider going LED.


Good luck.

Todd

drivestwin

WOW.........looks like a total PIA!!!!!

I think I'll let this one go for now.

thanks for the info......that is why I ask before tearing into stuff.

Marc

chasboy

I've converted these for my other C5 and will be doing it for this one. The actual bulb work is easy. Beware of replacements, sometimes they don't fit the sockets, to the point of breaking the circuit board. I hard soldered my door switches on this car, and it worked out fine. Biggest PITA is getting the instrument cluster down, but mine is halfway there since I sent my radio bezel to Dennis at DD.

chris308

Bringing this back from the beyond <evil laugh> the link Toque posted no longer works. Does anyone else have another how to?

FX VETTE

I used this link to get the gauge cluster out - http://www.vetteessentials.com/instr...zel_howto.html then used a LED kit specific to the C5 DIC/HUD lights of off fleabay for $15. Difficulty was a 2/5 or 3/5...just time consuming.

chasboy

The worst part is access to the switches. I also got mine from eBay, and quality was quite good!

Joepro95

What ebay vendor did you buy from? I have also heard some of these kits do not fit well...I have my cluster out for another reason, ant to strike while the iron is hot.

chasboy

It's called autodayplus.
You are correct about fit. Some I have purchased, including vendors here did not fit properly. What I found was the "base" or disk area was too thick vertically, preventing the bulb from twisting into place. First and last time this happened it caused a slight crack in the board which I got lucky with, and the screw slot in the base became useless. From that time on, I did 1 of 2 things. I would either remove the led from the new base and install it on the original, or remove it and sand down the base till it fit.
The product I got from this vendor worked seamlessly.

bryanrj

Had a couple burned out in a replacement DIC switch. Cannibalized the original switch bulbs that were good. White bulb with some kind of either dipped or heat shrink blue cover. Cover probably retains some heat and may be a causal factor in premature failure. Blue does not come off intact, so cannot be placed onto an equivalent bulb. One ebay seller identifies the bulb as an 8861, but his listing is for the led replacement type.

Franka2k

New member here with the same issue, one bulb out. 2k coupe. I purchased a replacement bulb from rockauto, it is clear, the old bulbs have the blue covering. Replacement bulb fits, but it illuminates with the ignition off. Tried other positions, same result.

Any ideas what's going on? I'm at a loss on this one.

Simtech

I had the same issue with the DIC and hud switch lights not going out. My research found that they are controlled in the IPC itself so I took it apart looking for a relay and it is all very small solid state surface mount components so I just removed all of the bulbs. These lights where draining my battery enough over 3-4 days that the car would not start.

On a side note if you have just one or two not working sometimes smacking the dash will remedy this for a while.