Getting anxious for this season, so I took the in-dash changer out for a look. Mine isn't broken, but the changer inside the unit does come out. Youtube has some Silverado guys doing videos on how to fix theirs. Usually a disk jam is caused by dielectric grease worn dry. This will give an idea how to remove it.
I wanted to look at the LEDs on the display. This is a Monsoon head unit. I found a thread for "04+" and their display is connected differently. However, the faces/lighting on the other radios should be similar. Link to 04 thread, which contains a link to an old Corvette thread on the same subject. ~ http://www.grandprixforums.net/threa...adio-Light-Fix
I started by opening the case. There were four 3/16" screws holding the face on. There's one screw on the top that allows the cover to be removed (arrow). The two Silver screws on the back upper portion (right below the arrow) hold the changer to the back of the chassis.
Note: The tab holes look all bent up. I was careful, and the cover went back on without binding.
Changer Removal
Here's a view inside the case. The top of the pic is the back of the unit, and the two screws going through the bracket holding the changer in can be seen.
I took those screws out, and the back of the changer lifted easily. I didn't mess with the cables too much because the left connector wasn't cooperating. The ribbon cable (right) appears to go into the changer itself, not underneath it to the other board.
Alright, now there's two more screws on the front behind the front panel that need to come out to remove the CD changer. I didn't need to open the case to remove the face at all. Lol
The pics from the 2004+ link shows cables powering the front. Mine didn't have these. I'll get to taking the face off, but the two marked screws (in the pic below) come out and the whole changer should lift out. Mind those cables.
Front Panel
I mentioned the four screws on the sides of the front bezel. Take those out, do none of the steps above. There are four plastic clips on the top and bottom. Lift the bottom ones carefully. Hold it steady and wobble the bottom out just a bit. Now hold the gap open and lift the tabs on the top. Pull that open a bit more than the bottom, hold it open and gently slide the pins for the display straight out from the bottom of the face.
Ok, the back of the front panel looks like this. There's some sticky to hold that gray thing on. It lifts right off.
Then, there are four very small screws holding the board onto the bezel. I searched for a "jeweler's socket set" because it's smaller than 4mm. There's some online. I used a pliers.
You can remove the knobs here or when the radio is still one piece, but they need to be taken off. I pulled them up with my fingers. Once that's separated, I found the buttons. The backing is clear. That makes a lighting swap much easier.
Every other pic of a GM radio like this I found had little white covers over the 3mm bulbs. Mine are orange. I found a bunch from ebay and other places on google. They come in a variety of colors. The bulbs are indeed 3mm. Be mindful when searching for lights. The stock bulbs here are incandescent. 12v LEDs should work, but a write up I came across had 1/4 Watt resistors wired on each bulb. I don't know if that's necessary with newer LEDs. However, I am thinking of using oldschool incandescent bulbs with covers for simplicity.
The actual display can be seen on the above pics. It's the black rectangle. There's tabs going through the back of the board. I straightened those with a pliers and pushed them back through. The black metal frame came off with a little persistence, then the glass lifted out of the white frame in the below pics. Here's what's under that glass.
That's it!
This is as far as I've taken it. I measured the LEDs and found that the space between the pads is approximately 2mm. This would match 0805 SMD LEDs. I was hoping that I could get away with 1206 LEDs, but the suggested pad is 3mm apart. I don't think they would fit. All that being said, these are pretty small. You'll need a fine tip iron and small diameter, quality electronics solder to work with them. I'd even find a bench magnifier helpful.
I'd like to change the DIC before coming back to this, but the buttons are red. Still kinda waffling on that, mulling it over n such. Thanks.
EDIT: I won't be taking this any further. The idea was to match a whole center console LED swap. The DIC buttons are red plastic and can't reasonably be changed.
