The other night I was reinstalling my console after cutting it for the MegaShifter and listening to the radio while doing it. Later when I went to drive my car the instrument lights were out. The radio display comes on when you first start the car, but goes out after a few minutes, yet the radio still plays. My whole dash is blacked out! What the hell did I do? Please help, it isn't a good idea for me to drive without a speedo.

 

If you remove the panel under the steering wheel(the whole piece above your feet) and look to the left of the steering column, youll see what is called the remote dimmer. Its a heatsink with a transistor in it. You can go to Radio Shack and buy a new transistor. Im not sure if its the pnp or the npn. Dont ask me what that means, I dont know, but youll find two that look like the one you need. This dimmer controls the radio lights, and could be the problem. Email me if theres anything else I can help you with.

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If I'm already going 120, how fast will the cop have to go to catch me.

 

I think it may be more than that. It's not just the radio that's out, but the entire gauge cluster. Everything on my dash is dark.
I though maybe it could have something to do with the wiring, maybe I lost my ground or something? I don't know.

 

My Formula has the same exact problem, and I can't figure it out either. My radio lights work when my headlights are off, but when I turn them on they they go black. I am driving with a completely dark dashboard. I'll let you know if I figure anything out.

 

BlkForm that is exactly the same thing going on with my car! The radio is fine till the headlights are on, then, nothing. I keep thinking it may have something to go with a bad ground, but I haven't done anything yet. Haven't had time to open the dash up. Anyone have any ideas on who might know about this? I was thinking of calling the local dealer and seeing if they had heard of this.

 

You should check out my topic "Dash lights out, I need help". Deadbird was helpinng me figure out the problem. The only problem is that I need to find time to take apart my dash. There was also a guy 88IROC350TPI, who had the same problem. This seems to be somewhat common.

 

Hey,

I had the same problem too. But I had an aftermarket cd player that I wired up differently so that worked but the entire dash went out. It was just a fuse though.

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/messgboard/...ML/002277.html

heres the link to it.

 

I have the same problem too.. My megashifter shorted out the shift light... My guess is the remote dimmer got fried...
Fuses are all fine... I can't see why the switch would go out because of this....

Anyone know what the part number on the remote dimmer is and how much it runs?

 

I checked today and the dimmer switch is 19.95 from the dealer. How tough is it to put one in? How much of the dash has to come apart? Am I gonna be in deep enough that I should do my colored bulbs at the same time?

 

You shouldn't have to get that far into it but, you'll be on your way & it'll be a good excuse to change them anyways. The plastic trim that goes over the gauges should be all that has to come off to gain access to the switch & dimmer.

 

Do you need change anything other than the bulbs? I thought I'd heard before that the needles had to be changed. How many bulbs are there? How do the guages get that red/orange look that they have now?

 

I can't remember offhand how many bulbs there are but it's quite a few (at least 10) The orange look is provided by little 'bulb condoms' (yea,, I know,, heh )

Blue painted bulbs eventually start looking nasty because the paint wears down over time. Autometer makes blue/green bulb thingeys that turn out to look like the green on most aftermarket car stereos



As you can see my camera take horrible dark pics but you kind of get the idea,, I personally cannot stand that fugly orange color.

 

I was thinking of doing blue or purple colored bulbs. You're saying the "bulb condoms" are better than painted bulbs? How long you think the painted bulbs would last?

 

It's been 'forever' since I've used coloed bulbs but, if memory serves me (which is random at best ), the one in my dome light lasted what seems not better than 2 months before turning a sickly pale blueish color.

The bulb condoms are about the same price as painted bulbs but will last just about indefinatly (you should be able to get them from a car audio installer as well as autometer) or, the best solution would be colored glass (which will eventually find it's way into my dash)

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...930&prmenbr=76

Available at JEGs, they are pricey, but cheaper the those xenon (or whatever) bulbs MacEwen(white gauges) sells

Oh yea,, dash bulbs are 191's


[This message has been edited by deadbird (edited September 06, 2001).]