Gauge cluster idiot lights not working

[mests13]

None of my "idiot" lights in my gauge cluster work. You know when you first start the car? Or the key is in the "on" position but not running? The lights that are supposed to illuminate don't... such as oil, check engine, alternator, etc, etc. The bulbs are all fine. I also swapped in a known working cluster and encountered all the same problems. All other functions of the cluster work great (lighting and gauges).

I've been having this problem ever since I got the car running, and I don't know if this problem existed before as I bought the car with a blown motor.

The car is a 92 convertible with an sr swap and 5 speed conversion.

Has anyone else ever had this problem? I've searched on the forums and google and have found nothing like this.

[moso]

chances are they are not wired in at the ecu to dash connection. you would need to do it yourself.

[compactfean]

If oil pressure doesn't work, that's not in that bundle of wires so would be a separate issue.^ I doubt is a power supply problem though because all you're dummy lights use the same potter source as the rest of you're gauge cluster.

[mests13]

chances are they are not wired in at the ecu to dash connection. you would need to do it yourself.

Do you mean the brown connector that branches off of the blue ECU connector? If so, that is all wired up.

If oil pressure doesn't work, that's not in that bundle of wires so would be a separate issue.^ I doubt is a power supply problem though because all you're dummy lights use the same potter source as the rest of you're gauge cluster.

So you are saying the oil pressure has nothing to do with the rest of the dummy lights?

Everything worked perfectly when it this motor and everything was in my old car... I'm thinking there might be an electrical problem in the car itself?

[compactfean]

The brown connector is excactly what moso is taking about. The oil pressure dummy shares the same power wire (the entire gauge cluster is powered off the same wire) and the wire that grounds the oil light goes from cluster, all the way to the pressure switch....... Not the brown plug. Let me take a pic of the area we are working with, and start diagnosing this.

[compactfean]

in the first pic the green wire I have pulled away from the rest is the power wire that powers all your gauges and dummy lights. If you're gauges work, than you have power to that wire. The second picture where my finger is, the green wire, powers the printed circuit board (pcb) and that is where all your dummy lights are powered. I would pull the bulbs and check to see if there is 12v where the bulb housing gets powered (that whole strip where my finger is) I would also check continuity on the bulbs

[mests13]

Thank you for taking the time to post pictures!

So since my gauges work I didn't look to the green wire at all, but I did pull the bulbs and with the key ON got the following voltage readings:

oil: 12.18
brake: 12.18
check engine: 12.17
alternator/battery :12.18

So my car and wiring is supplying power to these lights, but they still don't work. How exactly do I test the continuity on these bulbs? I have however also tried many different bulbs with no luck... so I kinda doubt its a problem with the bulbs.

[compactfean]

Change you're multi meter to ohm and put a probe on each end from the multimeter on to the prongs for the bulb. your reading should go from none, to 0.00 which means there isn't any resistance in the bulb and the bulb works. For the oil light you can turn the key on, and ground out the wire that goes to the oil pressure switch. If the light illuminates with the wire grounded than that means the oil pressure switch is bad. The check engine light bulb gets turned on from the ecu grounding out the bulb turning it on (which I think is the only wire that goes through that brown plug) battery light I THINK goes straight to the alternator in the 2 wire plug.