'84 - '85 dimmer switch question
 

A review of the archives and threads in this Forum almost had the answer, but the answer is never given. How is the barrel-type dimmer switch housing removed from the '84 dash? What kind of clips are involved and will I crack the dash trying from the front to remove it?:confused:

pull on it slightly, use a jewelers screwdriver if available.
the part you have to push in is on the bottom.

So while gently pulling it out, use the screwdriver to push up un the clip from the bottom.

Its pretty easy just remove that lower left panel with that switch in it, and there's like 2 clips to push in. I just did one at a time. It comes out pretty easy.

Also I've heard about the 79-83 dashes cracking, but I've never heard or seen a 84-85 one crack. I guess they dont crack as easy as the older style.

Thank you, Gentleman! The clip location was the stuff I was wondering about...looks like Mother's Day will be delayed a little tomorrow whilst I go about restoring my dome lamps...

if you break the switch, i got one in the white 84

get on AIM damnit

So, I'm very confused about removing this panel. I need to pull it out too for easier access to the wires around and above the fuse box, but i didn't know how much work this would entail...

There are tabs I need to know about?

The barrel is housed in a little bracket-box that is pressed into the dash panel face...there's going to be clips, but because they didn't think anyone would pull it, they're a very tight fit...where those tabs are is important to know, so you know where to wedge a screwdriver to get that tab past the dash plastic opening. Until now, I wasn't sure how they were held in place, it's so damn tight. I was afraid they were screwed in from the backside prior to installation on the factory line...

No AIM tonight, thank you....;)

:cool:

I'm actually fitting a custom switch into the square hole next to the dimmer switch (usually for power windows, which i lack), and I was wondering how to pull that whole panel off that the dimmer resides in, I thought someone had mentioned this further up in the thread.

In any case, I don't want to hijack this thread, so I'll figure it out myself. And also, if you want to put a switch into the hole next to the dimmer (to the left), Radio Shack has a very nice 25amp rocker switch that fits and looks good, all you need is a few minutes with a dremel =P

BAH!!!! :eek: :eek:



Help me with this god damn carb ima chunk it through the damn windshield


:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

I have an 84 GSL. My Dimmer switch went out (my dumb ass connected some extra wires I seen under the shift boot).

I thought I had to take the dash apart to get to the dimmer switch.

Nope. One flathead screwdriver, barely any pressure on the bottom edge, and it pops right out. Nothing to break

Instead of replacing the switch....I just took a bobbypin........cut it, so I only had a short section that looked like a " U ". Stuck that inside the wired section, to bypass the dimmer part of the switch.

Then, just popped the switch back into the dash again.

No wires to splice, no switches to buy. The dash lights come on with the regular lights and headlights just as they used to......I just cant DIM them.

But, who, ever, has needed to dim their lights?

the tires folks who like to do that at night cause they burn their eyes, so they then proceed to wreck?


Hell if I know, I enjoy being able to see the damn dash at night!

It put up a little fight, but a nice panel tool I had got it out with no scratches to the surrounding plastic once I knew to start at the bottom. No dash dis-assembly was required. I pulled the black plastic casing from the metal dimmer housing and this is the joy I discover...sorry for the focus...

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...postid=1770178


I pulled the barrel and discovered all three wires going into it had broken off. Luckily, the wires were physically in the housing unmolested, so I have a good idea on where each little wire goes into the barrel when I attempt to tin and then resolder those wires back into the barrel leads...you can barely make out the tiny silver contacts at the bottom of the circle...

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...postid=1770218

This oughtta be fun, but I've done micro-soldering before...:D

Man I work in electronics, and I had the same good intentions that you did to repair the dimmer switch in my '85 when it wnet bad, but you are better off in the ling run to just clip the wires off marr them together and put the swtch back in the hole to make it look pritty. Becides it sucks ass when you are driving home from the lake at like 2:30AM and your dash lights take a big dump and all go out :(

Any way just my advice bc I tried to do the same thing with little success, but I have no patence

Good luck

The story gets better...

I got the whole thing put back together and working smoothly. I installed it and then poof...worked then died...I had forgotten what peejay had pointed out earlier...

I pulled the shifter boot console surround and, sure enough, some mutt had plugged the two clips together down there that are meant for an auto tranny shift light...

I eBay'd and picked up another one from Cally, unplugged the two wires downstairs and installed the "new" dimmer which brings me to my next question for all the 1stgen electrical gurus out there...this is almost funny, but it's not...:mad:

With the all lights off, the dash gauge lights are barely visibly on, while the center console lights are clearly off. Turn on the running lights and the really funny thing happens. The lights in the dash gauge work opposite of the lights surrounding the climate control knob and display and the stereo...IOW, you turn up the dimmer and the center console gets brighter but the gauges (Speedo, gas, temp, ets...) get darker and then go completely dead....this is in the red '84...I pulled this from a search into older threads before DF or MosesX605 graphs me...;)

bump...don't everyone step forward at once...or are there no 1stgen rex gurus in the house?:confused:

That's screwed up. Sounds like you might have a ground problem, with the lights on automatically. Definatlely something else is powering them, albeit slightly.

Try pulling fuses out one by one to Isolate the area.

Ha ha! The sounds of crickets chirping on this thread is quite amazing...before I start a serious ground or circuit search, I'm going to do the TII alternator swap on this one as well. I was just hoping someone out there might have already been through this particular problem and had a quick answer. There is none in the archives or in this tech section, strangely enough. I always get the crazy ones...:(

I'm with Directfreak on this one. It's either a bad ground or your switch is toast.
Pull the switch and test it. (just to rule it out)

OK....I got the S5 alternator in as seen elsewheres, but the problem remains....and how would you go about testing this thing anyway?:(

Take it to Autozone or Checker or whatever the auto parts stores are near you. They test them for free, and Checker/Shucks/Kragen stores all have digital testers now, which look like insane ATM machines.

I'd have to agree with some of the others, you have a bad ground somewhere. Follow your ground wire off your battery, and see what it connects to and the condition of it.

probably a relay or something under the dash hooked up backwards....

something is up with the wiring of the gauge cluster... might want to pull it and see whats rigged....

I pulled this thread from the dead because it nicely summarizes all the problems and how to solve them regarding the barrel dimmer switch of the late FB's.

I got this car back from a prospective buyer some time ago and just put it on the road about two months ago and find that the second problem described in this thread never got solved. A little testing this afternoon with spare barrel switches just brought up yet another interesting detail I didn't notice before. Hopefully by telling y'all what I found, someone out there will recognize the problem and bark out the solution.

If not, I guess this thread will be a nice tight thread on all that can go wrong regarding the barrel dimmer switch and the dash/center console lights and what I had to do to solve the problem...:rlaugh:

To wit--------> I got a new spare barrel dimmer switch today from a forum member and wanted to test it to see if it made the trip successfully. First, I used my nylon pry tool to raise the bottom of the switch actually in the car (a 'known good switch', BTW...), got my finger in there and then used the tool to pry at the top and the barrel dimmer switch popped out of the dash panel. I pulled the switch out to get the connector out of the dash panel and then swapped units.

Now why I didn't do this before, I don't know. WITHOUT putting the keys in, I turned on the parking lights. The switch was rolled to low, so I rolled it to high....and the dash lights and the center console lights worked in unison getting brighter like they were supposed to! Same car! Thinking the other 'known good' switch might have been bad after all, I swapped it out and it did the same thing. BOTH barrel dimmer switches were now known to be good units.

Now I'm wondering what the hell is going on. I had yet to take this car out at night since getting it back, so I've never seen the dash lights actually working during a night drive. It gets dark outside and now the fun part...

I put the keys in, start the car and turn on the parking lights. SAME PROBLEM...:mad:...the lights in the dash gauge work opposite of the lights in the center console still!!...IOW, you turn up the dimmer and the center console gets brighter but the gauges (Speedo, gas, temp, ets...) get darker and then go completely dead....you turn down the dimmer and the speedo, gas and temp gauges in the dash get brighter (but not by much...) and the center console lights go dead like they're supposed to...:rlaugh:...OMIGAWD!!!

Another big clue. With the key out, there is no light whatsoever in the dash like one would expect. Put the key in, same thing. Turn the key to ACC and there still isn't any light in the dash or console...like one would expect. Turn the key to the IGN position, however, and now I could see that the dash and center console lights are just barely on...without the parking lights actually being activated by the lever on the steering column.

Armed with alladat, does anyone have a clue as to what might be going on?? :p: Like usual, I'm looking for the quick answer and I'll take anything and run with it on this crazy problem...thanks for all who submit the tidbits of the day!

:cool:

LongDuck, you wanna take a shot at this one...?:p:

:cool:

It sounds like an issue in the cluster cicuit board. Some sort of partial short or bad ground. If you have another cluster available, I would plug it in and see if that cures the problem. If it does, you can use the new cluster, or possibly repair the old one. If it doesn't, the problem is in the connectors/wiring/etc.

Kent