The lights on my dash don't work (TC, hill descent, ABS) and I can get replacement instrument panel for $50, just wandering what was involved besides removing the dash and steering wheel, as in , do I have to solder wires and the like, or are the gauges just plug and play. Thanks very much.

 

They plug in, no solder required. If you peek in the RAVE at circuit diagrams, you can find instruments. Locate the connector number, starts witha C and is fine print any lawyer would be proud of. In the electrical library there is a connector list, and it has a color picture of it, so you can see what they look like. But those light are the three Amigos, so the previous owner most likely painted over or disabled them, may want to repair and save that $50 for the reader you will need to fix it.

 

Uhh... you don't have to remove the steering wheel. The entire job takes literally five minutes from start to finish. Remove to screws holding instrument panel bezel on, slide it off, unscrew instrument panel, pull it out, install new one.

Edit- but you will have a flashing odometer the moment you plug in the new panel. You will have to go to the dealer to get that issue resolved.

 

What he said, lower the steering wheel, you will see the3 2 phillips screws.
If you dont want to go to the dealer to have the OD matched up to the BCU you could always replace the broken LED's on your panel.

 

If the bulbs are not working and you just bought it, the seller screwed you by, removing or covering them up so you wouldn't realize you have the 3 amigos.

 

I've owned the truck over 7 years now (bought it off lease with about 50k on it), and I remember them working before, because I used to play around with the hill descent, and I remember seeing the ABS light come on a few times. I had the car parked for a number of years without driving it, and now a bunch of the lights don't work. Now that I know I don't have to remove anything to get to it, I'm going to check the connections and clean out the dust, maybe the connections are just dirty. If not, I'll take it down to my computer guy to swap the LED's if they are broken, as I assume they will have to be soldered in and I don't have the steady hand to do it. Is there anything that would cause the lights to go out (its not just the three amigos, its all the dash lights, including SES, M & S lights, but not the guage clusters or OD). Perhaps water seeped under the dash?

 

egalerover22,

You might want to see what they did to disable them, if the just painted over them it should be a pretty easy fix with some thinner and a long Q-tip.
I saw one they used nail polish (we think) at least nail polish remover took it off.
I talk with another owner and they just had black tape stuffed in the holes.
If your lucky they did not break the bulbs.

 

no different problem in your case

 

Might want to check all ABS related fuses also.

 

Just to update, apparently mice had gotten in under the dash and wreaked havoc on the wiring. It was filthy in there, turds everywhere, and the wire connections had all been broken and pulled out. After spending an entire day cleaning and sorting out the wires, I have all the lights working, and even got my gas gauge and rear foggers working again. There's only one light that doesn't work, the SLS warning light, but seeing as I have had the SLS replaced with coils, I assume its not supposed to.