[Ray3768]

I did a little searching this morning and found the part here:

https://parts.chevypartspros.com/parts/gm-lamp-84013236?c=bD0xJm49U2VhcmNoIFJlc3VsdHM%3D

There's nothing indicating the stock status so I decided to contact them. Turns out they are Paramus Chevrolet, located in Paramus NJ. So I called their parts department and spoke with Joey. Joey looked up the part and found that they did not have it in stock. He did a little more digging and found that the part will not be available unit after 12/31/2025. So it looks like they will become available again in a month or so, hopefully.

-Ray

[Ray3768]

It's been about one month so yesterday I decided to try to order the cup holder light from chevypartspros.com (Paramus Chevy). The order went through so hopefully I will receive the part. Fingers crossed.

-Ray

[Ray3768]

The replacement cup holder light arrived yesterday so it looks like the Paramus Chevy parts department provided accurate information. I will keep them in mind for future purchases. Hopefully I have time this weekend to install it. Getting the center console out looks pretty easy. The main concern is being gentle with the plastics. I'll post pics to document the procedure.

-Ray

[bishopts]

Sounds like good progress

[Bumbleboy92]

Here’s a photo of mine when I swapped it into my ‘16 1LT, just the four torx bolts I believe but getting to them is a pain without taking out the whole console. Hope it helps!

Back when I bought mine it was off eBay for like $37, another dealer posting parts online but that was years back. Definitely a whole ordeal getting it now

[Ray3768]

Originally Posted by Bumbleboy92

Here’s a photo of mine when I swapped it into my ‘16 1LT, just the four torx bolts I believe but getting to them is a pain without taking out the whole console. Hope it helps!

Back when I bought mine it was off eBay for like $37, another dealer posting parts online but that was years back. Definitely a whole ordeal getting it now

Thanks for the pic. That looks fun. My intention was to remove the console. Hopefully I only have to do this once.

-Ray

[Ray3768]

I swapped out the faulty cup holder light yesterday. That was not fun. Removing the console was straight forward with the assistance of a youtube video. It takes some hand strength to compress the back seat to get the lip of the console out from underneath. If I had to do this again, I would popped the rear seat bottom out of it's clips at the beginning since I had to do this to get the console back in. I used a pry bar to release the seat bottom. Also note that a plastic trim tool is a must for this job if you don't want to booger up the plastics. I use one and managed to not damage anything.

Once the console is out and on the workbench, that's when the real fun begins. I've wondered why the console always felt so solid. That's because it is. It's built up with a thick plastic core on the inside. The multi-piece plastic skin on the outside attaches to the core with numerous clips and screws. This thing is really well built.

The cup holder light is attached with four T20 screws. I had the console situated on the work bench upside down, with the front to my left, so I was standing in front of the passenger side of the console. The screw on the bottom, from my perspective, is circled in blue in the photo. This one was hard to get to. I really needed a longer T20 screw driver. Gentle use of a metal trim tool allowed me to flex the console core enough to get at this screw.

With the cup holder light loose, I realized that there was a problem. The thing was still captured in there and couldn't be removed. I could pull it up a couple of inches but a part of the core blocked it's removal.

I figured that I needed to disassemble the console to get the light out so I proceeded down that path. I started popping the clips and removing screws that hold the passenger side skin then realized that the skin is captured by the rear section containing the wireless charger, so I removed the back part of the console. It's held in place with just two phillips head screws and two clips. Once I got the skin off, I realized that this did not help my situation. Thoughts of using a carbide cutter to notch the core started reverberating in my head. Fortunately common sense prevailed and no power tools were used. If flexing the core a little bit with a metal trim tool to get to the bottom (from my perspective) screw worked, perhaps it can be flexed some more to get the light out. Success! I was able to flex the core enough to get the light out.

I use the same technique to get the new light in. Perfect. A little more flexing allowed me to get the bottom screw back in. Alright! This is getting easier.

Now the really fun part. Let's reinstall the passenger side skin that I didn't really need to remove in the first place. Well would you look at that, the skin has ~2.5' of tab that slots behind the top skin. You can do this but then the clips don't align with the core! It became painfully obvious that I was not following the correct order of operations. This thing originally went together with the top skin being installed last.

Removing the top skin, uh no. Too may clips, screws, and electronic components. Not happening, especially since I had a dinner date and time was running out. Plastic trim tool to the rescue! The side skin is made from softer plastic and the long tab that slots under to top skin is relatively thin. I aligned the clips (there are about ten of them) with their respective holes in the core and used the plastic trim tool to flex the tab back under the top skin. This took a couple of attempts but I eventually got it. Once in place it was just a matter of snapping all of the clips back in place and reinstall the rear portion containing the wireless charger.

Before reinstalling the console I was sure to confirm all clips were in place, all screws were in place, and the wireless charger/cup holder wires were reconnected. Then I gave the console a thorough cleaning with compressed air and quick interior detailer spray.

Console re-installation was the reverse of removal. Just work slowly and be careful not to scratch anything in the interior. After I plugged in the three wiring connectors under the console I noticed that the cup holder light was illuminated, confirming that the old one had failed.

After getting it buttoned up I started the car and cycled the drive modes. The cup holder light responded with the correct colors.

I cannot imagine the dealer repairing this under warranty without causing some sort of damage. Scratched leather seats and steering wheel are likely along with tons of boogered plastic on the console. No thanks. Hopefully it will be a long time before I have to do this again. At some point I will autopsy the failed light and see if it can be repaired. I'm sorry I didn't take any pics during this repair. I was way too aggravated and under the gun to get it done before dinner. Hopefully my written narrative is sufficient and helpful. If not, hit me up with questions.

-Ray

[arpad_m]

Ray, thank you for the detailed account of your travails. I'm glad you were able to pull it off and have working cupholder LED tubes again, and your post is a super useful reference in case we (or others) need to do this in the future

[His ZL1]

I will be interested in your autopsy as to how to disassemble the light assembly. I want to cover the "chrome" trim of the light and was hoping to disassemble the unit to complete that.

Thanks for the info.