The only thing constant is change...

It's been a while since I posted to this blog and it's about time to change that. I no longer have the Pontiac G8 or the Pontiac Bonneville GXP. They were both traded in for a new 2012 GMC Sierra Crew Cab half-ton 4x4 pickup truck. I have never had a truck before now. I needed it since I am growing tired of asking for people to help me with their trucks and the inconvenience it can cause everyone. So, since Pontiac is no longer around, and the 3 year bumper to bumper warranty on the G8 was just about up, I started to look for a new truck to fill the driveway. Well I found one and my chapter with Pontiac is at least for the time being closed. So development of my past projects will have to be put on hold indefinitely. I am still looking for a Tech 2 scan tool as well which will help me progress in my endeavors.

Be that as it may, since I now have this truck, it is still GM, so it still has GMLAN. My first project is really to convert the interior backlighting to RED, to match what I am so used to with all my past Pontiacs. The Blue Lagoon color that the truck has now is fine, but I really want it to all be red. So the rest of this post and future posts will delve more deeply into what is required for this conversion. Some is as easy as buying a replacement switch and swapping out the parts. Other parts are more complicated and require desoldering the current SMD LEDs and replacing them with red SMD LEDs. So, without further ado, lets get right into this conversion.

Passenger Side Switches:

The switches in my truck for the passenger side are just swappable with identical parts except the backlighting change. I do not have the SLT or All Terrain package so my switches are not connected to the data bus. What you will require for this change is the following parts:

10390499 - Acadia Passenger side door lock/unlock switch with red backlighting - Qty. 2
25936888 - Acadia Passenger side door window switch with red backlighting - Qty. 1 or 3

You need two of the lock.unlock switch as you will need one for the driver side as well after a little modification.

You will need three of the window switches if you want to replace the rear door switches if you have a crew cab or an extended cab truck. If you have a standard cab truck, you need only one of these.

All you need to do for the passenger side switches is take the door pull off, then pop up and remove the panel that holds the window and door lock switches from the door panel and unplug the switches from the wiring harness. Then use a flat blade screwdriver and while applying pressure on the switch gently pry the clips that are holding the switch in the panel so that they can disengage from the clip and then remove the switches from the panel. Simply line up the replacement switches in the panel and push them in fully until all the clips lock into place. There are four clips on each of the switches you need to make sure are engaged. Once that is done, plug the wiring back into the switches and then reassemble the door panel and door pull and the conversion is complete. Here are some before and after pictures:

Before Conversion:

After Conversion:

That is it for now. Here are some pictures of other converted parts what I will talk about in future posts:

Driver's Side switches including the power mirror switch which is not normally illuminated

Driver side Driver Information Switches

Accessory Switches converted to red backlighting (my truck only came equipped with the Traction Control switch, I purchased the full switch bank and plan to add as many of the features as I can to this truck)

Radio converted to red backlighting

So until next time...