can anybody please suggest what to check for or what to test.the oil light/gas/brake..... lights up when the car is started but nothing else.at night im driving with no idea of how fast or how much fuel i got due to NO LIGHT ON THE CLUSTER..please help..
WHAT CAN IT BE....
thanks....

 

Blown fuse, or possable blown bulbs behind the cluster! these would be the first places i would check

 

i'll check all the bulbs tommorow,while im removing my cluster do you know what i need to replace if my speedometer runs crazy doesnt match with car speed,

i know the fuses are all good because i checked this ...

 

I don't know how, but the connector that plugs into the back of the cluster came loose on my car. Plugged it back in, and I was good to go.

 

If you have a 5-speed, make sure you didn't connect the two bullet connectors under the shift boot together.

Those two bullet connectors are supposed to go to the PRNDL light for an automatic. On a manual they just dangle there, but people see the wires sitting there disconnected and "reconnect" them. Then they have created a dead short across the IP lighting circuit. Best case scenario the fuse blows, worse case scenario the dimmer unit blows instead. That is expensive but can be fixed by bypassing the unit altogether at the expense of not being able to dim the dash lights. (Boo hoo)

Anyway, yes, first thing is to make sure the two pullet connectors under the shift boot are not connected to each other, if you have a 5-speed.

 

Could be a bad rheostat.
Or maybe the brightness is turned all the way down.

 

I know that I connected my PRNDL connectors and just haven't fixed my dimmer yet. I checked it out and it's wired straight into the harness from what I can tell. What's the easiest way to fix the dimmer if you blow yours?

 

If the dimmer is blown, pop the unit out of the dash. There should be three wires on the back, two red with stripes ones (I think red/green and red/blue) and a black one.

Clip all three wires, strip some insulation off the ends of the two red wires, twist 'em together, cover with electrical tape. Voila, your dash lights are now at 100% all the time.

Details: The dimmer unit isn't a simple rheostat. It is actually transistor based. One of the red wires is dash light power in, the other one is dash light power out. The electronics in the dimmer unit get their power from 12V in, and they require a ground to function, so that's why there is a third wire there. It is safe to leave the black wire dangling since it is just a no-longer-useful ground.

The transistor seems to be weaker than the fuse that is supposed to be protecting it. When you go to connect the two red wires together, do it at night with the parking lights on. If you connect them and the fuse pops (you will SEE it pop as well as hear it, very cool) then you still have a short. If the dash lights come on, and stay on, you're good. Do it at night because you can't tell what the hell the dash lights are doing during the daytime.

Since you are cutting wires on the module side of the connector, the car can be repaired "properly" later on.

I have a lighted switch mounted where my dimmer used to be. Think about it.. there is a ground there, and there is 12V+ switched on the lighting circuit. Eventually the lighted switch will control driving lamps. Maybe. Still thinkin' about it.

 

when i installed my new cd player my dashlights stopped working, have u done any electrical work like that?

 

Mine does the same thing occasionally ... there must be a loose connection in the dash cause if I hit the dash just to the right of the center of the gauge cluster they all come back on. So just a suggestion ... try a light right hook to the dashboard