my parking lights work but the dash lights dont. when i rotate the dimmer switch the parking light 20 amp fuse blows. so that makes me think there is a short somewhere in the dash light circuit. any ideas on whats wrong and how to trouble shoot.

 

Sounds like a bad dimmer switch. Or it could be the remote dimmer which is under the drivers panel above your feet. Theres a resistor sitting on a heat sink. You can buy the resistor at radio shack. Do a search youll find a lot of posts on it.

 

Also chcek all of the int lilghts for any cuts in the wires.My camaro had the same problem,lights on the outside except for the rears when I turned them on they blew the fuse.The reason for all of this was I need the new heatsink,and when I installed my CD player I didnt put a light for the black and grey wires.After that the problems got fixed.

 

Chris,

Since you blow a fuse when turning up the lamps, I'm putting my money on the Hulk's guess. There is an electronic dimmer control behind the "convenience center" under the dash in the driver's footwell area. The power transistor that controls the voltage to the instrument lamp circuit likely has a base-emitter short. A replacement transistor is easy to find, or you can replace the entire module.



The left side of the photo shows the convenience center swung down out of the way. The right side shows the location of the dimmer control module, near the radio and heater controls. The red arrow points to the location of the module behind the metal bracket. The power transistor is a round metal can, about the size of a quarter (Canadian or U.S.). You'll have to remove the module to service or replace it.

The circuit looks like this:



The replacement transistor from Radio Shack could be their part no. RSU-12162624, Motorola standard part no. 2N5301, or from an electronics supply house, ECG181 or NTE181. They are about five bucks.

 

I like that one Vader!