No lights on the dash. Please help

[MAXIMUS Nismo]

I recently replaced the bulbs in my climate control and hazard and rear defog switches with LEDS. I soldered resistors to the leds then tested them with a 12V source inside. They all worked fine until I put them back in the car.

The gauge cluster lights are now out and the climate control lights do not light up even though everything works. The only thing that shows up is the green led (or orange one) that makes you know where you are sending the air. (foot, face, foot/face, foot/windshield, windshield)
I took the climate control cluster out and tested the leds again and they light up fine.
Checked the Fuses and found the one listed as rear tail (10a) blown so I replaced it with a 15 and it blew too. Right now there is a 20 in there and it's not blown but still no dash lights.
If I turn the head lights on, there is no indication inside the car other than the beep you hear when the door is opened and your lights are on.

I hope I have been clear and await your replies.

[allenms240]

Any other fuses in the kick panel blown? I had the problem and I had a short on one of the side markers. Took forever to find it. It kept popping a fuse on the drivers side kick panel. It was the one for all parking lights. Cluster/brake lights etc.
That, or there is a green(or white) box in the kick panel, the TCU or something like that. That causes dash lights to go out. I'd take a look at the fuse panel, then replace the TCU box with a known working one for testing.

[biggie]

Possible you blew the TCU.

[zenkistic]

changing fuses to larger current ones should NOT be an option. Follow the ratings unless you really want to fry your electronics.

[costa_rican13]

i say the tcu too. there's a wire thats black and(pink/red) for the s13 where the radio harness is at. it could be the same for the s14 idk. anyways ground the wire to whatever screw is closest. if this doesnt fix the ligths, idk what then man.

[zenkistic]

but the whole thing shouts for a short/leak. Replace the fuse with the appropriate one, insulate the soldered and exposed joints/wires at least with electrical tape and try again. Maybe something is pushed when you put the panels back.

[MAXIMUS Nismo]

but the whole thing shouts for a short/leak. Replace the fuse with the appropriate one, insulate the soldered and exposed joints/wires at least with electrical tape and try again. Maybe something is pushed when you put the panels back.

I'll do this tomorrow and let you all know.

It was the one for all parking lights. Cluster/brake lights etc.

Yep, that's what was blown.

Any other fuses in the kick panel blown?

yep. The two (2) 15A ones on the bottom most right side were blown and also replaced with 15As.

[MAXIMUS Nismo]

ok, SO here's an update. All blown fuses have been replaced with the correct ones and I remade the LED+ resistor lights. The ends were wrapped in electrical tape to prevent any shorting out. I also tested these leds and they all work fine. I put everything back together and still no dash lights. The parking lights also do not come on when I arm or disarm the car with the remote start.

Here's a picture of what I'm getting with the car on and the headlights on also...


see what I mean?

[MAXIMUS Nismo]

I just found http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/fix-fo ... ights.html and will check it out tomorrow to see if the TCU is indeed burned out.

[allenms240]

Im gonna stick to my guns and still say TCU. Are you constantly blowing fuses? If so, you, me friend, have got a short.

[MAXIMUS Nismo]

After digging around various 240 sites, I've found some posts that say the S14s do not have a TCU. I called a a friend who works at Pepboys and they could not find a Timing Control Module/Unit (TCM/TCU) anywhere in the system.

Further posts pointed to the Dimmer switch as being the problem. So I went hunting.
Pop out the dimmer switch with a small flat screwdriver and unplug the wire. Be careful to not let the wire fall into the dash or else you may have a hard drive retrieving it.
(I found this pic online so I stole it)


I gave it the ole' sniff test and it smelt like a mini plastic and copper barbecue in there.

Take it apart and examine the circuit board.





Got my helping hands and took a closer look. Do you see what I see? ..a star , a star, high up in the sky with a tail as ....oops, sorry bout that.





I tried to solder it the best I could with my antique equipment and this is what I got



Put it back in the car and my dash lights are now restored. Also, the brake light fuse has not blown.

Hopefully, this will help someone in the future. Thank you for the discussion provided in helping me sort this out.