S14 Dash Lights

SON240sx Automotive
1

I searched and still couldn’t find a solution to my problem but my dash lights are not working (cluster and hvac controls). They were working when I purchased the car, but after I installed the radio I might have shorted something and the lights ceased to work afterwards. I checked fuses, even the tail lamp fuses and everything checks out fine. Might do a triple check tonight. Did some research and read that I might have shorted the dimmer switch, so I bypassed that. I bypassed it by grounding the red & yellow wire, hopefully that is the correct procedure but still no lights :frowning: even took the cluster out to see if the bulbs burnt out and replaced them and still no luck. Read something about the TCU but apparently that only applies to S13’s.

I hate driving at night with no dash lights, although i’ve been managing essentially it’s a safety issue.

So if anyone has any suggestions as to what I should do or check next, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Oh and to be more specific, with the cluster the seat belt light, gas light and signal/high beam, etc… all work, it’s just the back lighting that doesn’t.

2

check voltage before and after the dimmer switch? gonna have to trace wires back to the source

3

Undo the illumination wires for the radio and see what happens. Also you should check for continuity for the fuses with a voltmeter. Visually checking can sometimes look okay when it really is not.

4

Yeah, i’ll check tomorrow during the day and see what happens. Thanks.

5

What the guy above said. I’ve pulled fuses that look ok visually, but continuity wise they are garbage (usually the old school fuses do this).

6

I know this sounds stupid… but did you check the dimmer switch on the left of the steering wheel? One time this happened to me, those lights were gone for a couple of nights before i remembered the dimmer existed…