One day, as i got in my car to go to work, i went to turn my lights on and as soon as i pulled the **** out i heard a pop. Ever since then none of the dash lights, hvac control lights or gear selector lights have worked. Although my after market gauges lighting is wired into the stock harness and works just fine, dimmer and all. What am i missing? All the fuses are fine. Is there a fusible link somewhere in the dash that im missing or maybe a separate fuse excluded from the fuse panel?

 

Anyone? I'd like to see my gauges again soon lol

 

The problem is obviously with the "dimmer" circuit. You might have a bad headlight switch, you might have a melted headlight switch plug, or you could have both.

The DIM is a shared circuit that usually uses a grey wire to feed power to various accessories. In some Third Gens there is an independent fuse for this circuit - but I believe the Camaro,Z29,IROC DIM function is controlled by the headlight switch itself. In several cars I've worked on I've found that a bad headlight switch will often burn/melt the headlight switch Plug too,......

For some reason,.... that Grey wire got too hot and fried somewhere. This could have been caused by the headlight switch itself,.... or the circuit might have gotten overloaded from anything else that is connected to it. ( grey wire @ radio, grey wire @ shifter bezel bulb socket, grey wire @ heater controller ect... ) Be sure to check all the accessories on that circuit to be sure it's not touching ground somewhere.

 

Would it be the dimmer switch if although the dimmer switch still works on my after market gauges? I'm leaning more toward a ground issue it seems but i really dont know where to start. A few minutes ago i noticed while poking around under the dash a flasher type relay fastened to the sterring column with 2 dark blue wires and a brown wire, one of the blue ones had the insulation melted almost completely off of it but the wire hadnt broken...idk. Where is the main ground for the instrument panel AFTER the fuse? Because i know im getting power to the fuse for sure..

 

Bump

 

Not sure what else your expecting to hear.... Your question has already been answered.

If you're guessing that ground is the problem,..... turn the headlights on and "jump" ground to the grey wire on the center console shift indicator light socket and see if the DIM function starts works again. If it does - then trace the ground wire. When it doesn't make a difference you'll need to do try something else.

No one but you can tell you how the aftermarket ANYTHING is installed in your car. When it comes to the FACTORY wiring in your car - The headlight switch controls the DIMMER function. Your actually gonna' have to access the headlight switch and check it. Did you look into the dimmer circuit / headlight switch yet ?? Seems like your just looking at stuff under the dash and guessing if it's related to your issue.


Pictures make things easier to understand, so here are a few that should answer ALL your questions about the DIM circuit.......

 

We what i was getting at is that my aftermarket tach, oil pressure, and temp gauges are all wired into the factory harness for the stock gauge cluster power and ground. What is making me wonder less about the actual dimmer switch is the factory dimmer switch still works for all the after market gauges but doesnt operate any of the stock stuff indicating im getting both ground and power. What i was asking is if theres maybe something im missing? It would make sense for the heater controls to light up if it was a broken solder in the cluster or somethi g similar but nothing factory works but somehow my aftermarket stuff does running off the same wiring? Thats what has me baffled.

Also the flasher relay was the problem for why my turn signals fidnt work. The little metal clip that holds it in place had busted through the plastic shell and shorted on one of the contacts inside the relay so thats one problem down lol 6000 to go.

As far as the headliggt switch goes, yes i did take it out and it checked out fine. Plug was fine too.

 

Kinda' as if someone cut the factory grey wire ( killing the factory stuff ) and spliced that grey wire to the aftermarket gauges ( and they work fine ?? )

Power and ground to your accessories gauges has nothing to do with the dimmer circuit - unless the Dimmer circuit was wired incorrectly to those aftermarket parts. If you feel confident that all the factory wiring is OK then you've got to trace the aftermarket wiring to find the problem.

The schematics speak for themselves.... you should be able to figure it out with a voltmeter in less than 5 minutes of probing.

 

I never cut any wires, theyre wired to the fuse panel. The lights didnt stop working when i put the aftermarket stuff in, theyve been hooked up for 2 years now. The factory gauges just stopped working one day. What i do know it that im getting power before and after the fuse. I'm not getting power however, at the shift plate light. I tried to jump the grey wire and nothing happened. So where ever the problem is, it deep inside the dash somewhere. The remote dimmer is also good btw. Maybe a broken wite is all can think off sense it doesnt pop the fuse.

 

These are 2 very different things. Wonder what circuit you wired the gauges to in the fuse-box ?? No Matter,....

With the headlights are on; flip over the fuse-box and check the grey wire leading away from the INS fuse ( as shown in the schematics ). This is the grey wire that feeds the backlighting to all the things you said didn't work. Apply 12 volts to this grey wire and all the backlighting should work at full illumination.

 

Theyre wired into the instrument panel lamps fuse. Actually soldered to the wire and pushed back in and re-soldered to the fuse contacts. I'll give it a try in the morning and post the results though, thanks for the replies!

 

Applied 12v to the grey wire @ the shift plate light, nothing happened but a spark and my courtesy lights went off until i pulled the wire away i was using to test with. Didnt pop any fuses though. I can put a test light in either terminal of the shift plate light and it will light up whether its grounded or being applied to 12v. I also noticed that my instrument cluster light fuse IS popped, it was just so small of a break in the fuse i couldnt see it unless i eyeballed it. The reason my aftermarket gauges work is because i have them wited to the hot side before the fuse so that clears up some of the oddness. My multimeter has went AWOL so I'm having to just prod things with a test light until I can find it. It is strange that i can find ground from either side of that light socket on either a ground or a positive lead. I traced as far back in the dash as i could without removing the gauge cluster. Radio and a/c unit came out but no issues behind there. Headlight/intrustment dimmer switch is good, wires are good. But as stated before-applying 12 volts directly to the grey wire at the shift plate light socket didnt do anything but short the circuit i was drawing off of (courtesy lights) but didnt not pop that circuits fuse.

 

I know this much based on wiring diagrams-wherever the problem is, its after the dimmer switch and fuse for the instrument light fuse. I pulled down the fuse panel and checed on top of it but everything was nice and tight, no frayed wires or anything that could cause a short so im guessing next that maybe its in the printed circuit somewhere maybe?

 

With the courtesy lights off, probing the ground side of the shift plate light socket, if i jump from the ground in the socket to the ground of the courtesy lights ground-they light up...so possibly the problem isnt with the grey wire but with the ground wire shorting to a hot point somewhere?

 

Courtesy light also come on if i jump the grey wire to the ground on the courtesy light...wtf