I have a 2002 SLE and the display light to the factory radio is working but it'* getting to the point where it'* getting hard to read during the day. I have done a search and have found that this is a common problewm with these head units. I found a link to a site during my search that sells replacement bulbs:

Delco Radio Replacement Bulbs

My question is, will this bulb fix my display problem? The pictured head units doesn't look like the one installed in my SLE. I originally was going to just replace my HU with an aftermarket one, when I was told that I would not be able to because my car has On Star and that there was no adapter available for the factory harness. I also was told that if I did change out the factory HU, I would have to run all new to wire for the aftermarket HU and spreakers and would lose my door chimes and other automatic features that came with the car. Is this true?

Sorry for the long winded post, but any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Dude, almost all of us here have OnStar equipped cars. You can replace your factory radio with an aftermarket head unit. You will just have to pay a bit more for a wiring harness that will either intergrate into your factory On Star or it will bypass it for about $60 less. Search for one of the many threads started about adding an aftermarket headunit or go to the thread pinned to the top of this section. Seek and ye shall find.

Ok...so yes or no? Can the display be fixed with the bulb in the link that I posted above, or is this a lost cause? I would really like to keep the factory head unit if all possible.

Those bulbs look very much like the 12 V bulbs you can buy at Radio Shack for about half the price. I suppose, just to be sure, open up your radio, cut out a good bulb and measure the resistance. Check that it'* 12 volts to the bulb using a voltmeter. Find the milliamps by dividing the voltage by the resistance you measured on the good bulb, then multiply that number by 1000. Now you can find a bulb with the correct rating in volts and milliamps from Radio Shack.

Thanks to those who responded.

Anyway, I have been doing some research and I think I found a harness that will work with my car so that I can install an after market head unit. But...I just wanted to confirm that my car does NOT have an "amplified" factory stereo system. I dont think is does because it doesn't say Bose or Monsoon anywhere. Am I correct in thinking this?

This is the harness adapter that I found:



Again, thanks for the help.

Sorry, I left out the link and for some reason it wouldn't let me edit the post. Here ut is:

METRA GMOS-05 Class 2 Data Interface Harness GM HARNESS;