arghx

iTrader: (3)

Alright guys... my dash lights went out a couple weeks ago, but the parking lots worked fine. I replaced all the fuses (even though none were blown) searched, and read the FAQ, then decided to replace the switch with a rebuilt one from Icemark. That didn't fix it, so I knew I would have to get a new harness. I just put the new harness in and my dash lights still don't work, but my parking lots have always worked from day one.

Now what? I've verified that the white/green wire has voltage. I checked continuity between the one big plug on the new harness and the plug that it goes into on the main dash harness. Basically I did a resistance check by backprobing the red/green wire on its pin in the new harness I just bought, and then put the other lead on the pin it connects to on the plug that was already in the car. There was resistance. I see that the wires then join into the huge jungle of wires that make up the main dash harness.

I busted out a wiring diagram in the Haynes manual, but honestly this stuff looks like hieroglyphs to me. I can't figure out where to check next. Is there some relay or other failure point to check? A fusible link? Obviously the nightmare scenario is having to replace the whole dash harness.

micah

Which lights, specifically, are not lighting? All of them? just the gauge cluster?

Have you tried swapping out some bulbs for new ones? Just an idea.

HAILERS

Two jpgs attached.

Personally I'd go to the plug called CO-3 in one of the jpg (I forgot to color it, but it's shown as C0-3. Then put a meter on the Red/Green wire with the light switch turned on and see if you have voltage or not.

OR at the back of the meter cluster there are two round plugs. One has the red/green wire and you could check it there, the voltage with switch to on.

Notice how the Tail lights are really seperated from the red/green wire. The red/green goes thru a reostat in the switch.

That C0-3 is above the steering wheel or somewhere near there. I don't do under dash work enough to know. The wire pinouts should look like what the picture shows. That plug/harness branches out to the other two plugs C0-1 and CO-2 on the back of the meter cluster. That's about as far as I care to go with this. A FSM with wiring diagrams helps a lot on a fifteen plus year old car.

arghx

iTrader: (3)

C-03... is that that other big blue plug down by the fuse box, next to where I plugged in the new harness I just bought? Or is C-03 at the back of the gauge cluster? I am looking through the FSM wiring diagram section now.

I'm also trying to understand what this will gain me. How would checking for voltage in these places help at all? I mean, I wouldn't expect them to show any voltage. If there's no voltage on the red/green wire coming out of my rebuilt headlight switch, how could there be voltage further down the circuit? Wouldn't I want a continuity test? Sorry I'm still new to electrical troubleshooting.

I will pull out the gauge cluster though.

EDIT: Thanks for posting that last pic. I see now where the connector is.

HAILERS

I kinda, sorta didn't read and comprehend your first post. Just plunged full speed ahead.

So forget the stuff I wrote. IF the red/green has no voltage coming out of the switch then the rheostat would be bad, I suppose, since the tail lights work.

I re-read your post. I don't see where/how you checked voltage on the red/green wire as it ocmes out of the switch. So maybe you should disconnect the C0-3 and check for voltage on the green/red wire as it comes from the light switch. NOT from the ME meter harness.

Icemark

are you sure the red/green at the switch has no voltage, but both the red/black and the white/green do?

If so, let me know and I will send you another switch, and you can send back the other.

arghx

iTrader: (3)

Now that I think about it, I have a still-functioning switch on my Turbo II. I will swap that in, and if everything works again, I will send back the rebuilt switch.

arghx

iTrader: (3)

I just swapped in my working headlight switch and it didn't fix anything. This switch is from my Turbo II which has no lighting problems whatsoever.

It looks like I've got an electrical gremlin from hell.

I'm pretty frustrated right now. What if I pull the gauge cluster and run a separate wire from the red/green at the back of the switch directly to the back of the gauge cluster? Then I could run wires to the logicon and cigarette lighter, essentially bypassing the factory harness.

Icemark

Check the large blue plug that is at the end of the light switch harness. You may have a loose connection or wire there or at the back of the light switch. You are not using a light switch harness that has a burnt or damaged pin? Right?

But remember, that the red/green needs to have voltage on it at the back of the light switch, when the lights are on, even for you to bypass the stock wiring?

arghx

iTrader: (3)

Ok, now I think I have a short.

I just burnt up my last good switch. I plugged in the known good switch from my Turbo II again. The first time I did it, I had just switched the thing on and then off pretty quickly.

So I plug in the working switch and backprobe the red/green wire. I turn on the parking lights and see that the voltage is about 11.5 . Then very quickly it drops-- 11, 10.5, 10, I look over and I see smoke coming from the thing. I disconnected it, but it was too late. All this took place over about 5-10 seconds. I just plugged that switch into my T2 and the dash lights are dead. So now I have 3 burnt out switches. The 15 amp fuse is not blown. I suspect that as all that extra amperage hit the rheostat, it increased resistance as it over heated (causing the decreasing voltage that I saw on my DMM) and then burnt the thing out.

I suspect the short is on the lighting for my headunit or cigarette lighter. To be honest, I had a friend do a halfass job back there installing the deck, and I probably did a halfass job myself installing the gauges. Plus the deck isn't mounted correctly at this point, so it's not held in by a cage. As I accelerate it's probably pulling on the wires a little bit and then somehow exposed something and shorted it out. I'm going to pull it apart later and see what's up. I really didn't know what I was doing when I put all that together and I'm probably paying the price now.

Icemark

I was just gonna ask if you had done radio work recently?

The parking lights still work, right???

arghx

iTrader: (3)

Parking lights have never been a problem at all.

I just picked up some parts car switches. Tomorrow another friend of mine who has installed radios professionally (definately knows what he's doing) is going to help me redo the wiring and mounting of all the crap there.

Question: could this short have burned out my new harness?

Icemark

See the radio, uses the red/Black for the lumination feed, so it should have blown the parking light circuit if you have hooked up the radio wrong.

But you may have shorted the cig lighter wires since those are near there as well

arghx

iTrader: (3)

It was an exposed wire tapped into the cigarette lighter illumination (red/green wire). I fixed the crappy wiring back there, installed that heavy duty headlight relay, and now all is well.

Syncro

iTrader: (1)

Good to hear you fixed your problem...

Just in the nick of time, too. My dash lights went out less than 24 hours ago and I face the same issue

Just glad you faced it first

Syncro

iTrader: (1)

Swapping the harness and the switch fixed *my* problem.