Gauge cluster backlights

hexapus · 03-30-2009, 06:42 AM

Is there a fuse for this somewhere that I'm missing? I can't drive at night, since I can't see my speed. I couldn't find any blown fuses in the fuse box under the driver's side dash, so I was wondering if maybe I've just blown a bulb or something? I'd just like to find out if there's a fuse I'm missing before I go to the trouble of pulling out the whole gauge cluster (though, I suppose it would be a good time to drop in some indiglo gauges or something).

Thanks!

cdchris12 · 03-30-2009, 08:25 AM

Dude... Forget the indiglo gauges, and just get some LED's. I got some blue LED's and replaced all the clear lights with them. Got ultra bright greens for the turn signals, and a normal green for the low fuel light. it looks more badass than any set of indiglo gauges, and I never forget to flip off my turn signal after making too shallow a turn. I got my LED's from SpuerBrightLEDs.com Cost me about $28 or so after shipping,which was only about 6 or 7 dollars if I remember right, and that's all the way from the US to Japan.

About teh fuses... Do you get power to your radio, interior light, or headlights?

hexapus · 03-30-2009, 10:04 AM

Thanks for the recommendations! I had considered that option...and I can probably find some blue LEDs locally even cheaper. I like that idea!

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdchris12

About teh fuses... Do you get power to your radio, interior light, or headlights?

Yup...power to everything except the dash backlight...though my radio does cut out when I hit bumps (but that's a different gremlin to track down!)

dirocyn · 03-30-2009, 10:48 AM

I have a similar issue in my 86, I'm pretty sure my issue is in the switch. If I push forward on the switch, the dash lights will come on, and they'll usually stay on for about 30 seconds. I suggest you try that, just to see if you've got the same issue.

I'm going to spray out the switch with electric connector cleaner next time I have the dash apart. Meanwhile, a $15 set of Autozone LEDs plugged into the cig lighter do the job just fine.

hexapus · 03-30-2009, 11:01 AM

Hrmm...good idea also. At least that gets me back on the road. I will look into the switch, since when I test drove the car, the switch was already loose, and they flickered, then went out for good the first time I turned them on to take it out for the test drive. They haven't worked since. I was considering taping a small flashlight in there if I had to. I'm gonna take a look at that switch though.

Scarlett · 03-30-2009, 02:08 PM

Damsel in Distress:

ALONG THESE LINES, can I poke your brains? I'm trying to fix up a 1985 MR2 w/ 40,000 mis that really belongs to a friend of mine in poor health. (he THINKS I just obeyed his request to dump it, after he rolled it in a ditch 2 weeks after he had taken it out of storage where it had been for 20 years !) The goal is to surprise him with it fixed up. There is a little flag glow light on the panel that is at a right angle to the speedometer. The driver doesn't see it flat on, you have to turn to look toward the radio. In this car it won't turn off. It seems to be more of a design element or an ambient element. Any info about this little bugger ?.

muffinman · 03-30-2009, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scarlett

There is a little flag glow light on the panel that is at a right angle to the speedometer. The driver doesn't see it flat on, you have to turn to look toward the radio. In this car it won't turn off. It seems to be more of a design element or an ambient element. Any info about this little bugger ?.

Sounds like your talking about the "door" light.

Scarlett · 03-30-2009, 03:37 PM

HA! I ain't that dummmm (tho close). It's more toward the radio.

OK, the instrument panel (Gas gauge, speedometer, Battery indicator) all sit in a depression in front of the driver. There is a short "wall" that runs parallel to the console, but "up" by the instrumet panel. If the driver lifted his right arm to touch the speedometer then moved it six inches toward the passenger side, he'd hit it.

muffinman · 03-30-2009, 03:51 PM

still sounds to me like the "open door warning light"
please let me know which one , now it's killing me

Scarlett · 03-30-2009, 04:06 PM

YIKES !!! You are brilliant - plus the manual helps! That's it EXACTLY. My instrument panel is a little different, esp the air vents and ash tray. Is that diagram for a 1986 ? This is making sense because the passenger door panel is the one that got a bit of a crush. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

muffinman · 03-30-2009, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scarlett

Is that diagram for a 1986 ?

It's the 87 owners manual.

efx · 04-18-2009, 03:57 AM

Just a suggestion, on my 85 it' was really dim and I found it was just the dimmer. Of course now that I've read everyones post on the LED's I want them. Yeah the lighting sucks on the MK1s.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hexapus

Is there a fuse for this somewhere that I'm missing? I can't drive at night, since I can't see my speed. I couldn't find any blown fuses in the fuse box under the driver's side dash, so I was wondering if maybe I've just blown a bulb or something? I'd just like to find out if there's a fuse I'm missing before I go to the trouble of pulling out the whole gauge cluster (though, I suppose it would be a good time to drop in some indiglo gauges or something).

Thanks!

efx · 04-18-2009, 03:59 AM

Is yours an MK1? If so can you post some pictures of your dash lights. I need to see what the LEDs look like on this car. I'm not crazy about taking that dash apart since I did that at the junk yard once and well, it was a pain in the butt on the MK1. Thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdchris12

Dude... Forget the indiglo gauges, and just get some LED's. I got some blue LED's and replaced all the clear lights with them. Got ultra bright greens for the turn signals, and a normal green for the low fuel light. it looks more badass than any set of indiglo gauges, and I never forget to flip off my turn signal after making too shallow a turn. I got my LED's from SpuerBrightLEDs.com Cost me about $28 or so after shipping,which was only about 6 or 7 dollars if I remember right, and that's all the way from the US to Japan.

About teh fuses... Do you get power to your radio, interior light, or headlights?

fatacon · 05-01-2009, 04:34 AM

hello all. new here, but i thought i'd share my experience as well. turns out my instrument panel (dash lights) have been off for well over a year now. with little in the way of car budget and spare time, i wasn't able to dig deeper into the problem until recently. at first, i thought it might have been a fuse or bulb as the TC did, but upon inspection of the fuse i found no problems. i decided to open up the dash only to find that pin #4 on the connectors on both the light control switch/rheostat and the harness had burned and partially melted the plastic. this leads me to believe that there may be a short in the wiring somewhere? while i have yet to test the wiring, i figured i would simply be able to replace both the male and female connectors rather than purchase a new light control switch/rheostat and harness. i have had trouble determining the part number of the connectors without an number printed on the connectors, although i did find a listing of female and male connectors (just having a hard time putting a number to the part). if anyone else had this problem, any answers would be greatly appreciated. hopefully it might be beneficial to the TCs plight as well. thanks in advance!

muffinman · 05-01-2009, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatacon

hello all. new here, but i thought i'd share my experience as well. turns out my instrument panel (dash lights) have been off for well over a year now. with little in the way of car budget and spare time, i wasn't able to dig deeper into the problem until recently. at first, i thought it might have been a fuse or bulb as the TC did, but upon inspection of the fuse i found no problems. i decided to open up the dash only to find that pin #4 on the connectors on both the light control switch/rheostat and the harness had burned and partially melted the plastic. this leads me to believe that there may be a short in the wiring somewhere? while i have yet to test the wiring, i figured i would simply be able to replace both the male and female connectors rather than purchase a new light control switch/rheostat and harness. i have had trouble determining the part number of the connectors without an number printed on the connectors, although i did find a listing of female and male connectors (just having a hard time putting a number to the part). if anyone else had this problem, any answers would be greatly appreciated. hopefully it might be beneficial to the TCs plight as well. thanks in advance!

I think the only way that you will be able to get that harness plug would be from a junkyard. IIRC the only way the dealer sells it is as a complete harness which is a fortune (i may be wrong). Can't you just fix that pin?

tagtmeyerMR2 · 05-09-2009, 01:49 AM

this may sound like a hillbilly solution but my headlight switch needs replaced but i could get it to work by pounding on the dash but when i hit bumps it would mess up again. so i took the dash apart and when i applied pressure to the switch everything worked. i took a cap from a 20 ounce mountain dew bottle and stuck it beetween the switch and the inner sidewall to keep constant pressure on it and it worked for me. i eventually plan on getting a new switch but money is short. my switch is pretty bad but the dimmer is stuck all the way up luckily

03-30-2009, 06:42 AM	#1 (permalink)
hexapus No Skills Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 45 Thanks: 5 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	Gauge cluster backlights Is there a fuse for this somewhere that I'm missing? I can't drive at night, since I can't see my speed. I couldn't find any blown fuses in the fuse box under the driver's side dash, so I was wondering if maybe I've just blown a bulb or something? I'd just like to find out if there's a fuse I'm missing before I go to the trouble of pulling out the whole gauge cluster (though, I suppose it would be a good time to drop in some indiglo gauges or something). Thanks!

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03-30-2009, 08:25 AM	#2 (permalink)
cdchris12 JDM Tyte Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Okinawa, Japan Posts: 2 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	Dude... Forget the indiglo gauges, and just get some LED's. I got some blue LED's and replaced all the clear lights with them. Got ultra bright greens for the turn signals, and a normal green for the low fuel light. it looks more badass than any set of indiglo gauges, and I never forget to flip off my turn signal after making too shallow a turn. I got my LED's from SpuerBrightLEDs.com Cost me about $28 or so after shipping,which was only about 6 or 7 dollars if I remember right, and that's all the way from the US to Japan. About teh fuses... Do you get power to your radio, interior light, or headlights?

03-30-2009, 10:48 AM	#4 (permalink)
dirocyn Cage Fighter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Murfreesboro, TN Posts: 1,177 Thanks: 14 Thanked 110 Times in 108 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	I have a similar issue in my 86, I'm pretty sure my issue is in the switch. If I push forward on the switch, the dash lights will come on, and they'll usually stay on for about 30 seconds. I suggest you try that, just to see if you've got the same issue. I'm going to spray out the switch with electric connector cleaner next time I have the dash apart. Meanwhile, a $15 set of Autozone LEDs plugged into the cig lighter do the job just fine.

03-30-2009, 11:01 AM	#5 (permalink)
hexapus No Skills Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 45 Thanks: 5 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	Hrmm...good idea also. At least that gets me back on the road. I will look into the switch, since when I test drove the car, the switch was already loose, and they flickered, then went out for good the first time I turned them on to take it out for the test drive. They haven't worked since. I was considering taping a small flashlight in there if I had to. I'm gonna take a look at that switch though.

03-30-2009, 02:08 PM	#6 (permalink)
Scarlett No Skills Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: South Louisiana Posts: 48 Thanks: 23 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	Damsel in Distress: ALONG THESE LINES, can I poke your brains? I'm trying to fix up a 1985 MR2 w/ 40,000 mis that really belongs to a friend of mine in poor health. (he THINKS I just obeyed his request to dump it, after he rolled it in a ditch 2 weeks after he had taken it out of storage where it had been for 20 years !) The goal is to surprise him with it fixed up. There is a little flag glow light on the panel that is at a right angle to the speedometer. The driver doesn't see it flat on, you have to turn to look toward the radio. In this car it won't turn off. It seems to be more of a design element or an ambient element. Any info about this little bugger ?.

03-30-2009, 03:37 PM	#8 (permalink)
Scarlett No Skills Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: South Louisiana Posts: 48 Thanks: 23 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	HA! I ain't that dummmm (tho close). It's more toward the radio. OK, the instrument panel (Gas gauge, speedometer, Battery indicator) all sit in a depression in front of the driver. There is a short "wall" that runs parallel to the console, but "up" by the instrumet panel. If the driver lifted his right arm to touch the speedometer then moved it six inches toward the passenger side, he'd hit it.

03-30-2009, 03:51 PM	#9 (permalink)
muffinman U-P-G-R-A-Y-E-D-D Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sunny South Florida Posts: 5,878 Thanks: 53 Thanked 282 Times in 271 Posts Blog Entries: 1 My Google Map iTrader Rating: (2/100% )	still sounds to me like the "open door warning light" please let me know which one , now it's killing me

03-30-2009, 04:06 PM	#10 (permalink)
Scarlett No Skills Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: South Louisiana Posts: 48 Thanks: 23 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	YIKES !!! You are brilliant - plus the manual helps! That's it EXACTLY. My instrument panel is a little different, esp the air vents and ash tray. Is that diagram for a 1986 ? This is making sense because the passenger door panel is the one that got a bit of a crush. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

05-01-2009, 04:34 AM	#14 (permalink)
fatacon No Skills Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	hello all. new here, but i thought i'd share my experience as well. turns out my instrument panel (dash lights) have been off for well over a year now. with little in the way of car budget and spare time, i wasn't able to dig deeper into the problem until recently. at first, i thought it might have been a fuse or bulb as the TC did, but upon inspection of the fuse i found no problems. i decided to open up the dash only to find that pin #4 on the connectors on both the light control switch/rheostat and the harness had burned and partially melted the plastic. this leads me to believe that there may be a short in the wiring somewhere? while i have yet to test the wiring, i figured i would simply be able to replace both the male and female connectors rather than purchase a new light control switch/rheostat and harness. i have had trouble determining the part number of the connectors without an number printed on the connectors, although i did find a listing of female and male connectors (just having a hard time putting a number to the part). if anyone else had this problem, any answers would be greatly appreciated. hopefully it might be beneficial to the TCs plight as well. thanks in advance!

05-09-2009, 01:49 AM	#16 (permalink)
tagtmeyerMR2 No Skills Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ft. wayne, IN Posts: 28 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	this may sound like a hillbilly solution but my headlight switch needs replaced but i could get it to work by pounding on the dash but when i hit bumps it would mess up again. so i took the dash apart and when i applied pressure to the switch everything worked. i took a cap from a 20 ounce mountain dew bottle and stuck it beetween the switch and the inner sidewall to keep constant pressure on it and it worked for me. i eventually plan on getting a new switch but money is short. my switch is pretty bad but the dimmer is stuck all the way up luckily