2004 Chevy Avalanche Steering Wheel Light Out

by Teresa Grier
(Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada)

I have a light out on the steering wheel of my 2004 Chevy Avalanche. The dealership says they have to take out the airbag, is this true? My husband is very capable, can we buy the part and install ourselves and save us a few bucks?

Steve Says,

Thanks for your question Teresa. The lights you are having a problem with seem to be a fairly common problem on the Chevy Avalanche and some other GM vehicles.

Be sure that your husband knows how to handle and store airbags safely. The chances are very small that it would ever go off but you want to be sure that everything is done as safely as possible.

First of all, there is really no good way to just replace the bulbs. The best way to fix this problem is to replace the switches. You can buy these parts off of Ebay or a place called www.autowoods.com. You might have to call them as I don't know if they have them listed on their website.

After you have the parts your husband should be able to perform this repair as it is not too difficult. It is easiest to remove the airbag to replace these switches but I have heard or people using a pick with a 90 degree bend to get under and disconnect the electrical connectors. I do not recommend doing this as it seems very difficult.

To remove the airbag you will first want to disarm it. To do this simply remove the SIR (airbag) fuse and wait 15 minutes to let the stored electricity in the system "bleed down". An alternative to this is to remove the battery cable. I do not recommend removing the negative battery cable as it will cause your cars computer to lose all of it's memory settings.

After the fuse has been removed and you have waited at least 15 minutes then find the two holes on the back of the steering wheel. Insert some type of tool into these holes (like a nail or drill bit) and this should release the airbag. Then remove the wires behind the airbag and remove the airbag.

After the airbag is removed you should be able to get to the switches and replace them.

I hope this has helped. Good luck to your husband!