Ok guys been chasing my dash light problem all day and I think I may have figured out what it is but am unsure as to what it's function is exactly.

I checked all the contacts on the dash, fuses, and the light switch and dimmer controls are operating correctly I believe. If I am correct the way this thing is wired up is there is a wire running from the fuse box to the headlamp switch which in turn runs to the dimmer switch then through the fuse panel again to the instrument cluster lights. The wire running to the fuse panel from the dimmer is green/white while the input for the cluster lights is a solid green. After chasing the wires The green connects into something under the dash behind the center console that has a heat sink attached to it and there are also two more wires attached a green/white and a brown wire. Continuity tests show that this is the link that is broken however I don't know what this thing is . On the Top of the plastic piece it says 'Delco Remy 263'' In the pic attached, on the under side it has a small electrical component with a Motorola Symbol and 1986902 / -1IMEX / 6B 22 Printed on it. The Green/white wire terminal has a solid connection to the brown terminal. The Green Wire terminal is connected to the green/white terminal by this device. There are simply some pins that poke up through the top with no method of securing.

Anyone have any ideas???

Here is a pic of it:

<img src="http://www.eliminator-us.org/img/DSC00060.JPG">

 

That's the contraption that actually does the dimming on the Firebirds; the dimmer on the Camaro's is totally within the headlight switch unit.
This remote device was used due to the large number of bulbs it controls (14+) to reduce the load and chance of failure on the thumbwheel switch. I'm not sure if any other GM's with a similar thumbwheel switch used them or not - they may be specific to the Firebirds.
This is correct.
Then the dark greenwire from the remote goes back to the fuse panel, to the instrument lamps fuse.
The brown wire should show +12 V when the park lights are on.
The diagram in my Chiltons is unclear about what switches power on to the dark green w/white stripe wire - it just shows it's switched from the brown wire.
I'm gonna scan in the page so you can see.

 

Thanks Petes for the diagram it helps out a great deal! All I have for my car is a Haynes for a Camaro (ugh I know a real manual is on the way)

I guess I was right in assuming either the part itself is not functioning or the contact is not solid enough. I'm leaning toward a bad contact as the lights have functioned occasionally. I'm just wondering if it would be bad to solder the dimmer unit to the exposed contacts instead of them just sticking up and 'hoping' for a solid connection.

Just need to figure this out as this dimmer unit is a PITA to get to and get out. Have to remove half of the dash to get to the thing. Sometimes I just love GM engineering!

 

that is the dimmer for the dash lights. mine was bad when I got my car . the previous owners had jumpered the green and browns wires together and bypassed it. but you had no control on how bright the dash lights were. went to the dealer and bought a new one( betwwen 20 and 30 bucks) that cured the problem.

 

OK...you may have helped solve my delima.

Before I put the radio in my '89 the dash lights were working fine.....when I was through, they don't work at all.

Your pic appears to be on a workbench....where, in relation to the radio mount, should I look for this?

 

It's located next to the steering column, between one of the brackets around the steering column, and the convenience center.
If you remove the hush panel and look up, you should see it.

 

Thanx.....I'll look for it this weekend!