ok, i checked all of my bulbs tonight in the cluster and all of them are good. i'm still not getting light to the needles. what gives here? here's a pic i took with my phone tonight. even though it seems like there are blank spots where there may be bulbs out there arent any bulbs out. it must be the shadow. it was pretty dark tonight and not a ton of light in the garage. i just cant fathom why i'm not getting light to the needles.

 

The needles are actually lit from the front. The bulbs are accessible only from the back of the instrument cluster....the bulbs transfer the light to the front of the cluster by using a piece of clear acrylic plastic (much like fiber optics). You probably have a burned out bulb or oxidized contacts at the sockets. You can get to a couple of bulbs by reaching behind the cluster but you might still have to remove it. I prefer to replace all the bulbs at the same time since they're likely the same age.

 

yes, i replaced ALL of the bulbs in the cluster and i still have no needle light

 

oh, as a note, i replaced all of the 158's with 194's.

 

Next thing to try is to remove the cluster mounting screws and leave the cluster connectors plugged in. Turn the parking lights on, and wiggle the connector plugs and wires while you watch the front of the cluster. If the lights flicker and try to come on, you might have a bad solder pad or circuit trace on the board itself either where the connectors plug in or somewhere else on the board, and it's not impossible to have an actual crack in the circuit board itself. If it were on my workbench I would use an ohmmeter to check continuity of the illumination circuit. Hope this helps.

 

Just for your info, a #194 bulb is 2 candlepower, a #168 is 3 candlepower, and a #158 may be higher than that, I'm not sure exactly what it is. I replaced my 194's in my Buick with 168's and it's much much brighter.

 

Hit the dash really hard with your fist.

Mine went out a few weeks ago and after pimp slapping the dash - works fine now.

 

i dont think i'll hit the dash. perhaps because the bulbs arent bright enough, there's not enough light transfer to illuminate the needles...should i try going back to the oem 158?

 

Those are very dim bulbs... what are you using??

And as mentioned the needles are luminated by the light tunnel from the front bottom. Are you sure you didn't remove that peice of clear plastic that is on the bottom of the gauge cluster?

 

there was no clear plastic that i could see when i removed the gauge cluster. just looked like the normal circuit borad the bulbs that i am currently using are the 194's. i replaced all of my 158's with them. when i aquired the car, the gauge cluster was just laying in the dash un-attatched. i replaced the bulbs and i noticed that the needles were not getting any illumination.

 

The acrylic parts are built into the casing around the circuit board of the cluster.

 

Did you "accidently" turn the Dial on the Light switch (dimmer) Down and perhaps not realized it?... Did you Check the Illumination Fuse..(blown)?..Stuff that is Frequently Overlooked....I drove around for a couple days not realizing that the Cluster actually was "half lit" because I had a Habit of hitting the Dimmer **** on the Light Switch!..heh,heh.!

 

I did that too in my sentra!!! Pissed me off because I thought the bulbs were slowly dying, and it turned out the little retaining clip on the dimmer **** was gone, so everytime I hit a bump, the dimmer would move a little. And since I wasn't touching it, I thought the bulbs were dying... I cleaned the car one time, and wiped the **** with a rag.. and VOILA.... Let there be light.

But anyways.. could it be possible that you don't have the acrylic piece that xfers light? I have a guage cluster hanging by a string in my garage.. let me know and I'll take a pic. Of course, its an S5 one.. I don't know if its different.. but yeah.

 

maybe resolder the contacts?

 

I pulled my spare cluster out of a box of parts and on the back of the cluster there are 3 bulbs along the bottom that light up the clear plastic piece that sticks out towards the front of the cluster. This piece is what carries the light to the front to "uplight" the needles. These bulbs should light up along with the other illumination bulbs for the gauges. If you take out a bulb and shine a flashlight into the socket hole you can see what is supposed to light up.

 

Good idea mang...

 

go ahead and post a pic of the clear plastic thing that is supposed to transfer the light. i dont have anything on the back of my cluster that looks like clear plastic, just the usual circuit board with turn in "toshiba" light carriers.

 

No it is on the bottom, not the back. Its the bottom bulbs that mount to the back that light it up

 

i'll have to pull the cluster again and check for that piece. how does it secure to the botom of the cluster?

 

UPDATE:

I researched bulb brightness a bit further:

#158 bulb=2 candlepower
#161 bulb=2 candlepower
#168 bulb=3 candlepower
#194 bulb=2 candlepower

If you want brighter gauges, use the #168 bulb as I did....50% brighter than a #194 bulb. Pep Boys has the bulbs.

I have a cluster apart and I will try to get a pic of the acrylic transfer piece for you.

 

depends on series. screws in or is held in place by the assembly.

 

So its possible it could have fallen off when it was removed....

 

it could have fallen off. like i said when i got the car the cluster was just sitting in the dash, unplugged. if someone could post a pic for me as a reference, i would then know what it is that im going to have to look for. or if its missing, what i need to buy.

 

anybody have a pic of this rascal?

 

S4 or S5??? Looks like S4 from your picture