I finally got my suspension fixed and the exhaust done and its finally inspected..However, Last night I found out that the dashboard lights don't work. Does anyone now where the fuses for that would be located. If the fuse is good, What or where do I go from there. Thanks to all who contribute to this forum, it has helped me out alot...

craze K wrote:I finally got my suspension fixed and the exhaust done and its finally inspected..However, Last night I found out that the dashboard lights don't work. Does anyone now where the fuses for that would be located. If the fuse is good, What or where do I go from there. Thanks to all who contribute to this forum, it has helped me out alot...

Did you check your bulbs? Do that first before replacing anything else.

As far as the fuse location goes, that should be identified in your Owner's Manual. Check there for details.

Finally, check your wiring. It's possible that you don't have a solid connection w/your ground wire. No ground, no power. #1 rule in electronics & computers.

You should also look at the dial dimmer switch on the dash, take it out and clean the contacts, sometimes gently banging on it helps

Gerardjg wrote:You should also look at the dial dimmer switch on the dash, take it out and clean the contacts, sometimes gently banging on it helps

Forget the gentle crap, start smackin the dimmer switch. It'll come back on.

Wurde to the smackage. If that fixes it its time for some re soldering on the back of the dimmer.

yodawill2000 wrote:Wurde to the smackage. If that fixes it its time for some re soldering on the back of the dimmer.

I just have too much other stuff to do so I just keep smacking.

Same here !!

yodawill2000 wrote:Wurde to the smackage. If that fixes it its time for some re soldering on the back of the dimmer.

Soldering is the way to go. Very easy to do. Did it on the (now ex) gf's 93 j30 last year. As far as I know its holding up great. Wish it wasn't, she's a b*tch. lol

Well smacking it did not work, so I pulled the dash apart and cleaned the contacts on the dimmer switch wire harness and I slightly bent the metal tabs on the knob so there was better contact. I also used a contact cleaner on the harness and switch. To my surprize it worked. The only thing now is that the antenna goes down when the dashlights are on. This car is gonna drive me nuts. No biggie though because the antenna is not hooked up to the radio. Previous owner installed a new radio. I guess it was just CDs he liked to listen too. Thanks to all of you. This site is great.

What's the procedure for getting the dimmer control out? I have to tap on mine too to make the dash light up.

Victor wrote:What's the procedure for getting the dimmer control out? I have to tap on mine too to make the dash light up.

I'll try to explain as best as I can. It was my first time.

Well on my car there is 2 screws to the right and left under the steering wheel. Remove them and pull from the bottom first. It was alittle tricky to pull up but if you pull on the left side up and out, you'll see there are 4 little tabs at the top of the panel that kinda snap in.( or you can lower your steering wheel for ease of removel) Be gentle so you don't break them. There will be 2 wire harnesses you will need to pull out to remove it completely. They have tabs on them that you have to squeeze to remove them. Then on your dimmer switch there are 2 (possibly 3, mine might have been missing one.) more screws that hold the switch to the panel, you have to remove them to get the dimmer out and apart. The black back box comes off easily using a small flathead screw driver.( There are little tabs on each side that need to be pride apart. You'll see the roller tabs and the circuit board from there. Pull the roller out and bend the 2 tabs out towards the circuit board to make a solid contact once its put back in. I also did this to the pins in the wire harness end. (just slightly as not to break them or bend them too much) I sprayed them with the contact cleaner an let dry, then i reassembled it and it was good. You probably won't need the cleaner but I'm anal with this stuff. I can get pics if you need them also. I also take notes when taking things apart so when I'm reassembling them I have a backup in case I forget something. Hope this helps.

FunkRider wrote:

yodawill2000 wrote:Wurde to the smackage. If that fixes it its time for some re soldering on the back of the dimmer.

Soldering is the way to go. Very easy to do. Did it on the (now ex) gf's 93 j30 last year. As far as I know its holding up great. Wish it wasn't, she's a b*tch. lol

Hey FunkRider,
When you talk about soldering the dimmer switch did you cut the harness off and directly solder wires to dimmer switch? If not could you explain the best you can how you went about soldering it?
Thanks in advance.

I've got the same problem. Multimeter shows no power at the dimmer switch. I've pulled all the fuses and verified they are good.

Is there a relay somewhere which may have gone bad?

Sorry, old post, but could somebody tell us which fuse is for the instrument cluster, and how many bulbs are in said cluster? This is on a 1994 J30.