Dash cluster lights all gone out at once..

[SHOfun 93]

Well my little brother put in an aftermarket CD player incorrectly in my car, and unfortunately blew all the lights in my gauge cluster. I checked all the fuses both inside the driver's footwell and under the hood and all appear to be fine. A buddy of mine said that there might be another fuse behind the cluster to save it if something like that happens? HELP! I got a ticket tonight cuz I couldn't see how fast I was going!

<small>[ November 03, 2002, 11:10 PM: Message edited by: Jeremy Hohn ]</small>

 

[SHOfun 93]

anyone?

 

[DHMag]

Jeremy,
the only way you could lose the dash lights AND radio would be if there was a fusible link coming straight off the battery. for instance, you want to add some badass driving lights to the car so you run a power from the battery to the lights and splice into the dash lamp wire because when the dash lights are on, the parking lights are on, therefore, having the driving lamps on. as for a fuse behind the fuse panel, thats a myth. simply because if you were to blow that fuse, youd lose more than just dash lights and/or a radio. id look under the hood for added on wiring.
2nd possibility would be both dash lamp and radio GROUND came loose. in that case, look under the dash. does your cigarette lighter work ?

 

[SHOfun 93]

Dale,
The radio works fine, just lost all the dash lights. The cluster lamps are out, but my CE light, high beam indicator and all the other "small" dummy lights are all there. I also lost my illumination for the gearshift, buttons on the EATC, and rear defroster. Did something come disconnected when my brother shoved the CD player back in? I will check the cig lighter tomorrow. Where the heck is that ground located exactly, Dale?

 

[DHMag]

according to my 91 schematics, all of the said lamps/functions are on the same ground. to see if you have lost a ground, remove one of the dead items (EATC is a good one) and use a volt meter. hook your positive to a known power source. and ground to the ground on the EATC(black wire...2nd wire in from side of connector). if there is no current, then youve found your problem. trace the ground (usually around the center of the dash) and see if it splices into anything. man, this sounds confusing but its really easy. if i had the schematics for your year, i could be of better help. do you have an EVTM manual for your car ?

 

[projectSHO89]

Jeremy,

According to the 93 schematics, IP illumination power is provided by Fuse #13, a 5A fuse in the I/P fuse block. This is the only load on this fuse (includes all the dimable lights in the cockpit).

Power for the circuit is switched through the headlight switch when the switch is in PARK or HEAD. It goes from there (BRN wire) to the fuse panel. The fused output is white/light blue and goes to the panel dimming rheostat. The output of the rheostat is light blue/red and is distributed to all the points that are dimable.

There's a possibility he mis-wired this wire at the radio connection. Remove the radio, unplug it and verify whether he left it open or accidentially connected it to the wrong thing.

Steve

<small>[ November 06, 2002, 08:58 AM: Message edited by: projectSHO89 ]</small>