ok heres the problem....bought it in march and its ran great until a few months ago on my way back from work around 4:00 a.m. when I turned on the car the lights didnt come on...all the gauges still work minus the light! any help will be appreciated! ive been driving like this for months and its killing me! also around 6 months ago I installed a aftermarket radio I dont know if that would have something to do with it considering it went out months after i installed the radio! please help!

 

Stupid question but did you check the INST LPS fuse? It's for Instrument Lamps specifically. It also has a wire going to the radio so if it shorted out just recently, it would explain if the fuse was blown.

Hope this helps.
Lou

 

i have checked and replaced every single fuse!

 

Could be the dimmer switch. Mine went bad on my old 83, although I lost all gauge lights, as well as parking/tail lights as well.

 

well i thought that but the dome light still works when i flip it up....i already replaced the switch for the fog and headlights...could it still be the dimmer?

 

Yeah, I'd still suspect the dimmer. When flipped up to turn on interior lights, that's actually a separate circuit from the gauge light dimmer. Power for the gauge lights runs directly through the dimmer switch, which usually burns/cracks/breaks after a long time. The circuit board in mine actually cracked in half.

 

I told you it was a stupid question but I had to ask, to cover all possibilities. I couldn't only assume that you automaticaly checked the fuse, sorry.

Ward is right, it could be easily the dimmer on the light switch. The switch has a lot of separate circtuits, for the lights, for the gauges (through the dimmer) and for the dome lights.

How's the light switch on the 90+ 'birds? Same as the pre-90 switch? That would be awesome because it's MUCH easier to access than Camaros (I hate GM for that).

Do you have a voltmeter or test light? Can you use them proficiently?

Lou

 

yes i have the items mentioned and as far as being the same as the pre 90's i honestly dont know...but it is farely simple to access...

 

If you can get to the switch easily and have a test light, check for power on the orange wire going to the switch. It should have power at all times, it comes from the TAIL fuse.
When you turn the park lamps on, the brown wire (park lamps) should light up and the dark green (instr. lamps) as well. If the green wire doesn't have any voltage with the park lamps on and while turning the dimmer, the dimmer circuit in the headlight switch is probably shot.

You can refer to this diagram (it's for Camaro's specifically but also fits Firebirds).

Hope this helps.
Lou