Radio Light bulb replacement

One of the bulbs in the AM/FM Cassette unit in my 1998 Dodge Stratus has burned out.

Can a do-it-yourselfer change it, or should I take it to a consumer electroncs repair facility?

I changed one of the bulbs in the HVAC control panel. It wasn't bad once I figured out how to take it apart.

Thanks,

KM

Reply to
kmath50
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You probably could get a really nice replacement unit with a CD player off Ebay pretty cheaply.

Ted

Reply to
Ted Mittelstaedt

It's not designed to be replaced by you, or a consumer electronics shop, either. Bulb is not a standard part, and is not available under a Dodge part number, since it's not designed to ever be replaced.

If it really bothers you, a used replacement radio is probably your best bet.

Reply to
Dan

I recently performed a multi burnt out radio bulb repair on my 2000 Durango that you might find useful. It took me several weeks of searching and ordering the incorrect parts before I found the correct ones and want to save other the trouble, so I am posting this where I can. These bulbs should fit most of the Chrysler rasios as well as fit other componants in the dash such as switches and in the instrument cluster.

My radio is in a 2000 Dodge Durango - radio model PO4704382AC: CHRYLSER AM/FM/CASS/CD WITH STEERING CONTROLS MOUNT 1 MODEL RAZ.

The replacement bulbs are available at Mouser Electronics on the following page:

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The bulbs are $0.65 for 1-9 or $0.59 for 10-50, to replace all of the bulbs in the above radio, 9 are required. Shipping is approximately $7.00

A technical description of the bulbs are available on this page:

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The bulbs are 3mm size, 14.0V, 40mA and are installed in a twist lock base which is 8mm in diameter and 9mm in height. These are also known as 3mm T-1 Neo-Wedge base bulbs. There are some companies who sell LED's that use the same base, but I have not used and therefore cannot vouch for them. Note that LED's do not have the same dispursion of light as incadecent bulbs, so they may not light the radio display properly anyway.

To replace them, remove the dash trim around the radio and remove the

2 x 10mm bolts securing the radio. The radio does not neen to be removed entirely fron the dash, but enough to have access to the 2 x phillips screws on each side of the faceplate. Remove the screws (4 total, 2 on each side) and then remove the volume knob and EQ knobs if your radio has them. Next remove the faceplate by prying under the plastic sides of the faceplate where it snaps over the metal bumps on the radio. Once the faceplate is removed, remove 2 x phillips head screws holding the display to the front of the radio and pull it off from the left side. You will notice that there is a notch on the right side that forces you ro remove the left side first and it will automatically unplg itself from the rest of the radio chassis. With the display removed, you can see the grey bulbs on the back with a regular screwdriver indent in them. Simply turn 1/4 turn to remove. The new bulbs do not come with the green filters that the OEM radio has, so you will need to pull off the blue/green filters from the burnt-out OEM bulbs and slide them on to the replacement bulbs. Reverse the procedure to reasseblre everything. Take care when reinstalling the display as there is the notch on the left side you must slide the display under first and a pin that inserts through the display on the left side that must be aligned for the display to install correctly and the display plugs to mate correctly. This is actually a fairly easy job for anyone who is mechanically inclined and is cheaper than a new or rebuilt OEM radio. If you replace the OEM radio with an aftermarket radio you lose the steering wheel controls, so this is a way to get more life from your factory radio.

Note that some of the neo-wedge base bulbs in the dash use a longer base. I found one of these in my rear defroster switch that was burnt out. The base was the same 8mm, but the height was 20mm. I suspect mouser sells these also but used the bare baseless bulbs below from Allelectronics instead. and simply unwound the bulb wires from the OEM base, removed it and replaced it with one of the bulbs below since I already had them on hand.

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One final note, Allelectronics does sell a Neo-Wedge bulb with green filters at the link below, but they are 4mm bulbs with a 10mm base and 12mm height and will not work for the radio application because they are too large.

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Please let me know if you have any other questions and hope this helps a fellow Durango or other Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth owner.

Here are a few other useful links I found during this ordeal if you want to post them:

OEM new and refurbished factory radios:

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Neo-Wedge and other LED auto bulbs, note as stated earlier I did not try these and cannot vouch for them:

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Thanks

Reply to
fdavidson

Thank you so much fdavidson for your detailed answer, your research efforts have no doubt helped me. I have a 2000 Dodge Intrepid that I try to keep i n good shape, two or three of these bulbs are already burned out and I hadn 't been able to find them anywhere... but thanks to you I just ordered them from mouser.com. My car however uses a slightly different model of lamp wh ich you can see in

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which is exactly the one that the Intrepid uses both for the radio and the AC panel. I'm now eagerly waiting to get them! Thanks again, Marco

Reply to
malopezmx

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