Gauges not lighting up?

[Grenyaer]

I installed my car stereo yesterday. I took an extra long time making sure I did everything correctly just because it's farely new to me and I didnt wanna have to redo it again later. So I wire up the harness and it turns out the chassis ground wire is not in the same place on the harness I got as it is on the factory male harness in the car. Everything else matches fine. So it's an easy fix, I just move the wire where its suppose to go and everything works fine. Nothing out of the ordinary happened at all.

So to make a long story short, after doing that i drove around and everything was great until night came and suddenly my speed, fuel, temp, or tach won't light up...

All the small accesory lights work, (seatbelt, high beams, ebrake, etc.) and the gauge needles work fine, but they don't light up. I tried playing with the gauge light dimmer and it does nothing.

I've gone thru most of the fuses but the fusebox diagram doesn't say anything specifically about the gauge lights so that doesn't help.

The only thing I can think of is the actual light bulb for the fuses blew, and needs replacing...but is this just a nasty coincedence? Or did my leet stereo installing somehow blow a bulb?

If this is the case, is it just a matter of pulling them out and changing the bulbs? Or is there more to it. I just wanna be prepared before I go pulling things apart.

And lastly, has this happened to anyone else? Or something similar...I'm completly baffled at how this happened if it's not a coincedence. Been installing stereos for years and this has never happened heheh. Thanks in advance everyone.

[J_Spec_NiTeMaRe]

http://www.240sx.org/faq/articles/dash_light_out.htm

[Grenyaer]

All of these solutions refer to fixing the HUD lights, and digital gauges. Mine are non-digital, and I have no HUD. I checked every fuse I could find that might possibly be the one for it...anyone else have a suggestion before I pull the cluster out?

Thanks JSpec.

[vsiev]

i say it is the wiring cause when i was wiring my s13 conversion, i screw it up and my lights in the dash didn't work(i was making things complicated with having all lights come on and having the pop up headlight switch being my high beam) after dropping that idea(i have no high beam now) my turn lights are in sync and dash lights work. I say it is a mis wiring.

[Grenyaer]

Ok I agree because I refuse to believe that its a coincedence that the bulbs (or whatever) blew the same instant I installed my stereo. But if thats the case, that means that the car's factory stereo harness is worked in with the dash lights...I guess weirder things have happened hehe.

[vsiev]

there can be a chance of the light bulbs blowing but i doubt all the light bulbs blowing out at the same time....

[Grenyaer]

fuse blown. wtf...

I got my hands on the FSM thru your sig Vsiev and checked out the wiring diagrams and everything, and found that it was a completly random fuse that controlled the annoying blinking noise that tells you when your lights are left on or your key is in the ignition.

On another note, the factory stereo in my 1991 coupe is grounded through the power antenna, so if you are going to install an aftermarket stereo keep that in mind and dont ground it anywhere else if you can help it.

[Project240SXRotary]

Originally Posted by Grenyaer

fuse blown. wtf...

I got my hands on the FSM thru your sig Vsiev and checked out the wiring diagrams and everything, and found that it was a completly random fuse that controlled the annoying blinking noise that tells you when your lights are left on or your key is in the ignition.

On another note, the factory stereo in my 1991 coupe is grounded through the power antenna, so if you are going to install an aftermarket stereo keep that in mind and dont ground it anywhere else if you can help it.

Please tell me where the fuse is located at, I'm having the same problem after hooking up a stereo.

[Chuki_breath]

yea on my coupe the lights still work, but there really really really dim. I tried using the brightness/dimming switch for the lights but that doesnt work either lol. Either the dimmer doesnt work, or something is fucked.