s14 instrument panel / hvac not lighting up HELP

[3ps14]

My s14's instrument panel / hvac doesn't light up when i turn on my headlights.

I read up the DIY on the Timing Control Unit in the 240sx Tech section, but that seemed to only apply to s13s, someone also said it could be the dimmer switch short circuited?

Any suggestions?

This is what it looks like.

[fiznowler]

I have a 94 civic hatch along with an s14. My hatch did this exact same thing. Mine was the dimmer switch on that car. I don't know if honda and nissan would be exactly the same but prob similar. I tested it by jumpering 2 of the wires behind the switch with my lights turned on. There were 3 wires on my honda a red, black and red/black stripe. You should be able 2 jumper 2 of the wires and your lights work if the switch is the problem. If they work after that you need to either replace your switch or bypass it by hard-wiring the 2 wires you jumpered. if you hard-wire your lights will be on the brightest setting always and can't be adjusted. Like i said this is what i did on my civic less than a week ago to fix it. May be worth a shot on the 240 as well.

[numbnuts240]

my hvac controls don't light up. i just turn on the map light for a second if i really want to change something. i'm too lazy to fix it.

[3ps14]

I have a 94 civic hatch along with an s14. My hatch did this exact same thing. Mine was the dimmer switch on that car. I don't know if honda and nissan would be exactly the same but prob similar. I tested it by jumpering 2 of the wires behind the switch with my lights turned on. There were 3 wires on my honda a red, black and red/black stripe. You should be able 2 jumper 2 of the wires and your lights work if the switch is the problem. If they work after that you need to either replace your switch or bypass it by hard-wiring the 2 wires you jumpered. if you hard-wire your lights will be on the brightest setting always and can't be adjusted. Like i said this is what i did on my civic less than a week ago to fix it. May be worth a shot on the 240 as well.

Cool i'll give that a shot, thanks

[3ps14]

I have a 94 civic hatch along with an s14. My hatch did this exact same thing. Mine was the dimmer switch on that car. I don't know if honda and nissan would be exactly the same but prob similar. I tested it by jumpering 2 of the wires behind the switch with my lights turned on. There were 3 wires on my honda a red, black and red/black stripe. You should be able 2 jumper 2 of the wires and your lights work if the switch is the problem. If they work after that you need to either replace your switch or bypass it by hard-wiring the 2 wires you jumpered. if you hard-wire your lights will be on the brightest setting always and can't be adjusted. Like i said this is what i did on my civic less than a week ago to fix it. May be worth a shot on the 240 as well.

I tried jumping the 2 wires in the dimmer switch, I had a red w/ blue stripe, and red w/ orange stripe, and black, tried all possible combos, and no luck with the lights.

[motoman399]

take the dimmer switch apart and see if there is burnt board in there. it probably didnt work because of a bad fuse also. do your running lights work?

[fiznowler]

If it didn't light up after jumpering the wires it has to be something else. I would do like the other guy said and check fuses. If that doesn't get it may do some more searching sometimes cluster lights won't work if even one of the connecters on the back of it come loose. If it isn't a fuse it is most likely a connection somewhere on the cluster or on another one of the switches tied to the circuit. The FSM might have some info on it. Do some searching before pulling the cluster out. I bet it is just a bad relay/ fuse if the switch is still good.

[fiznowler]

Read that link. Looks like might be your problem and that would explain why you weren't able to ground out the wire and make it work. The article doesn't specify if it is for s13 or s14 or both but it is worth a shot!

zerothread/158162

[3ps14]

Read that link. Looks like might be your problem and that would explain why you weren't able to ground out the wire and make it work. The article doesn't specify if it is for s13 or s14 or both but it is worth a shot!

zerothread/158162

oh yeah, i saw this DIY, might give it another go, I couldn't find the same TCU box as in the picture, but I think it might be above the fuse box. *very hard to work in that space*

Let me check my fuses again, and then will see what i can do with this DIY.

Thanks

[3ps14]

Im guessing that's it the white box up there?

[motoman399]

no that is not a box. it is just two weird plugs. one comes into the cab from the front harness and one goes to the back of the car. do as i said and take the switch apart. i had the same problem as you and it blew a fuse also. it was the tail light fuse.

1) check fuse2) take apart dimmer switch check to see if circuit bored is burnt on one spot3) start checking wires with ohm meter and test light

[3ps14]

no that is not a box. it is just two weird plugs. one comes into the cab from the front harness and one goes to the back of the car. do as i said and take the switch apart. i had the same problem as you and it blew a fuse also. it was the tail light fuse.

1) check fuse2) take apart dimmer switch check to see if circuit bored is burnt on one spot3) start checking wires with ohm meter and test light

Alright i'll try it out when I get back from work, thanks dude.

[3ps14]

turned out the to be the tail lamp fuse popped, didn't think of checking every single one, thanks motoman399

fixed it ... and then some...

[Hoffman5982]

you should probably get some gas

[motoman399]

your welcome. now you should take apart your dimmer switch and see if its burnt. mine was burnt and it would keep popping the tail light fuse. the guy i bought it from had a 30 amp in it and i think it calls for a 15 lol. he was too dumb to figure it out. so check that out. its super easy to get apart.

[3ps14]

you should probably get some gas

should i take a post a picture of it on full ? haha before and after?

[motoman399]

does your dimmer switch work? i just remembered that mine quit working and that is why i took it apart in the first place.

[3ps14]

does your dimmer switch work? i just remembered that mine quit working and that is why i took it apart in the first place.

Yeah it works fine. Dims the lights and everything

[MAXIMUS Nismo]

turned out the to be the tail lamp fuse popped, didn't think of checking every single one, thanks motoman399

fixed it ... and then some...

I'm having the same issue with my S14. I've checked the tail lamp fuse and it too was popped so I replaced it with another 10A and that popped too. I put a 30A in there and it didn't pop, but then changed it back to 10A. This one did not pop but still no lights on the dash or parking lights.
I've been reading up on the TCU/TCM but I'm glad I found this thread.
I'll go check the dimmer switch to see if it's ok.

BTW, what bulbs did you use to brighten your gauge cluster?