Replacing lights in center column .

I have a 97 SC2.
The dislpay lights on my center column are going out one by one over
the past few years.
First the Trac, Defrost, and Foglamp buttons, then half the radio
preselect buttons, now the temp/fan display on the bottom with the
sliders.
Also the lights for the ashtray cup holder are gone as well as the ring
light around the lighter.

Is there anyway to easily replace these lights or do I need to the
Saturn dealer?

 

Replacing dash lights require first removing the top of the dash to access
them. The gauge cluster lights may mean that you will also have to carefully
remove the dash guages also. Some of the other lights you might be able to
get to w/o taking the dask top and front bezels apart. You can tackle this
yourself and Haynes does show a vague facimile of where fasteners, bolts and
clips are. The main key if you will do it yourself is to go gently as to not
lose any clips or crack the dash parts, many ppl I know have done this and
the result is either a rattly or cracked dash.

I just had my 2002 SC2 dash taken apart, it took about an hour for a skilled
tech to take it apart and reassemble it. Your time, your dime, you decide.


marx404

 

I did the one of the top ones (I think fog lamp button) on a 97SL2. If you
can or have taken the radio out and are familiar with getting the bezel off,
it's pretty straight forward. You can unplug the big plug and then the
button pod clicks out of the bezel - then the bulbs unscrew (like a 1/4 turn
if I remember - it's been a while). Do all 3 bulbs (otherwise you'll
replace one and the next one will go the next day), and take the old in for
an example - they (dealer parts dept) seemed to have a hard time figuring
out which bulb from their parts book.

Don't know about the radio button - I ran an aftermarket unit.

The HVAC controls pops out as a unit and has little 1/4 turn bulbs too -
different size I think than the top ones.

Don't know about the rest. Oh, and they're a couple of bucks a piece IIRC.

 

Thanks for your reply. Can you give me some tips on getting the bezel
off. Also, I assume I can get to the HVAC controls by popping out the
same bezel.
Is this correct?
Is this as complicated as the first reply makes it sound?

 

....not complicated, nothing takes any force so if it isn't coming apart
rethink it instead of breaking it - I sent a reply from my email addy. Also
search google groups - lots of info as taking the pod and radio apart is a
popular inquiry...