Got an auto trans? Watch out for this gremlin...
#1
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Got an auto trans? Watch out for this gremlin...
I thought I should continue contributing some technical aids to the forum, so I pulled together this little gem while repairing my shifter PRNDL. This is not a 'how to' for replacing the shifter as that has been covered many times elsewhere, but here you will see what can happen after years of service. In fact, I am on my 3rd 'little red plastic piece' (lrpp) in 56000 miles and 15 years of ownership. Obviously, GM missed the long term aging effects of heat from the standard bulb. A simple lab test for enviromental accelerated aging would have revealed this poor design. Anyway, be on the lookout for this condition and certainly convert your standard bulb in the shifter to an LED to prevent this. Furthermore, no one sells the lrpp as an individual item. The only way to get one is to buy the entire shifter assembly. New they are close to $200...used they can go for $50 to $100 easily. So, hopefully this information can spare you from this situation. The pictures tell the story....
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Popular Reply
01-11-2012, 10:35 PM
Yes, you have to take the console and radio bezel off, then pull the shift boot up and be very careful when removing the PRND321, it's got four little tabs that hold it on that break easily(ask me how I know), once you get the selector off, the bulb is right in the middle. Just be really careful with the orange thingy as I almost lost mine when I replaced my light with the LED. I think I used the Vette Essentials instructions to remove the console and shift boot, very good step-by-step.
#3
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#4
Le Mans Master
See the little orange doo dad that points to the gear? I broke mine a few years ago while putting on a new shift boot. They aren't available, either.
I wasn't going to buy a $200+ shifter assembly to replace a 50 cent piece of plastic. So now, I have to look forward to my shifter erupting in flames now, huh. Oh well, it doesn't matter if there's a bulb in it since I can't see which gear it's in anyway....
I wasn't going to buy a $200+ shifter assembly to replace a 50 cent piece of plastic. So now, I have to look forward to my shifter erupting in flames now, huh. Oh well, it doesn't matter if there's a bulb in it since I can't see which gear it's in anyway....
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#5
Burning Brakes
I thought I should continue contributing some technical aids to the forum, so I pulled together this little gem while repairing my shifter PRNDL. This is not a 'how to' for replacing the shifter as that has been covered many times elsewhere, but here you will see what can happen after years of service. In fact, I am on my 3rd 'little red plastic piece' (lrpp) in 56000 miles and 15 years of ownership. Obviously, GM missed the long term aging effects of heat from the standard bulb. A simple lab test for enviromental accelerated aging would have revealed this poor design. Anyway, be on the lookout for this condition and certainly convert your standard bulb in the shifter to an LED to prevent this. Furthermore, no one sells the lrpp as an individual item. The only way to get one is to buy the entire shifter assembly. New they are close to $200...used they can go for $50 to $100 easily. So, hopefully this information can spare you from this situation. The pictures tell the story....
Mine is a 2001 daily driver with just under 116K and it has no problem with that. My brothers '98 has 212K and obviously more years of service and has never had a problem with that part either. Possibly you have a problem unique to yours??? Never seen that before on a C5.
#6
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It happened to my 99 a couple of months ago. I haven't had a chance to look at it "throughly" because of college just yet. It does suck when you downshift to a lower gear and try to remember where D is at hehe.
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#8
Drifting
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#9
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St. Jude Donor '11
Thanks for pointing this out. Dennis has my radio bezel so now would be a perfect time to replace with LED. Always enjoy reading your posts. Great information. Thanks
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CorvetteBrent (09-05-2018)
#11
Team Owner
What a bummer - Can you load it up with some epoxy to repair it?
I hate the day for when mine breaks!
Thanks,Matt
I hate the day for when mine breaks!
Thanks,Matt
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#14
Burning Brakes
According to the manual it is a standard 194 bulb, so any LED replacement that fits that type of sockets should work. Are these hard to get to? What is involved with replacing the bulb? Do you have to tear the whole consul apart? HELP!
#15
Yes, you have to take the console and radio bezel off, then pull the shift boot up and be very careful when removing the PRND321, it's got four little tabs that hold it on that break easily(ask me how I know), once you get the selector off, the bulb is right in the middle. Just be really careful with the orange thingy as I almost lost mine when I replaced my light with the LED. I think I used the Vette Essentials instructions to remove the console and shift boot, very good step-by-step.
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#17
Yes, you have to take the console and radio bezel off, then pull the shift boot up and be very careful when removing the PRND321, it's got four little tabs that hold it on that break easily(ask me how I know), once you get the selector off, the bulb is right in the middle. Just be really careful with the orange thingy as I almost lost mine when I replaced my light with the LED. I think I used the Vette Essentials instructions to remove the console and shift boot, very good step-by-step.
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#18
Are you serious???!!! Get outta town! you mean I went through all that trouble and all I had to do was pop the gear indicator off with a small screwdriver??!! J/K I was doing a bunch of other stuff at the time too
#19
I have done it that way on 3 different c5's and also posted it a couple of times on the forum. Quite a few people replied that it worked great for them, takes all of 3 minutes, and no one broke anything. (learned it from a post here when I first signed up)
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