Dashboard Lighting Trouble

[Pake]

I have a 1993 and the dashboard lights won't work. Here is what I have done so far to troubleshoot it:

1. Tested the feed, has juice.
2. Tested each light bulb, all work. Made sure prongs touch circuit board.
3. With light switch in "on" position touched my tester to the copper of the circuit board by the lights. Got juice to all the bigger bulbs (think there were 5 or 6).

Still nothing, even though bulbs are good and juice getting to circuit board. The only thing I haven't done (and not sure if it is even part of the problem) is to bypass the dimmer switch that controls the brightness of the dash.

Aside from that, I am at a loss as to why it doesn't work!


Any ideas?

[Bitter]

do you have ground?

[Pake]

Well, I do get other lights (IE: door open, directionals..etc.) Besides, like I said above, I get juice on the circuit board itself. How would that work if I had a bad ground?

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Definitely try bypassing the dimmer switch. If the dimmer rheostat malfunctions then it will cause your instrument cluster's illumination bulbs to go out completely.

[Bitter]

Originally Posted by Pake

Well, I do get other lights (IE: door open, directionals..etc.) Besides, like I said above, I get juice on the circuit board itself. How would that work if I had a bad ground?

because you need both to light a bulb, you've got power and the bulbs work....what else could be missing? Do you know what controls ground to the cluster lights? Do other lights also not work like for the HVAC panel?

[Pake]

I understand you need a ground for the lights to work. There is maybe something I can try, tapping into the ground wire in the harness that controls the dash lights and running it to the frame. Maybe, that particular harness has a bad ground, because all the other instrument lights work, just not the one's to illuminate the dash.


I have come to the conclusion that this is a wiring trouble. I can apply battery to the leads on the circuit board and the lights go on. I have noticed that originally, when I tested the juice from the harnesses, it no longer shows up where it should (see the schematic in my photos), it shows up where the headlight/high beam is. My son thinks he did something possibly to the wiring when monkeying around with an amp. He said that the power cord to his PS2 fried out, even though the fuse never blew. I might have to expose all the wiring to see. UGH!