96' Aspire Dashlights

[BradFord96]

Just bought 96 model and everthing works but the dashlights, checked fuses(good). To get at lights, does dash need to come off or can I get under dash somehow to replace bulbs. Any info would be helpful Thanx

[getnhi]

Could be the dimmer.

[BradFord96]

you could be right!!! i'll check that.

[Lupu]

Hi BradFord96, well its very simple this car electrics REALLY SUCK!!! ive been having electric problems since when i bought it (2nd hand) but at lest thet are easy to fix ;-), my model is a 99 Kia Avella your equivalent of Ford Aspire, My problem was the actual instrumentation light switch! All i had to do is clean it seems who ever designed the switch never heard of wetting current!!
All i need to do to remove the wheel dash is to unscrew 2 screws and pull the top part as i hold the bottom part and vuola the steering +(the bloody hell multi-switch) is visible, if ur not so good at electronics I'd suggest removing the steering wheel, and removing the switch! then you need to identify the actual light switch! on my model its a white block about the size of a palm on just behind the indicator lever (the one which holds the rotating light switch too) i just removed it from the master switch (removed 3 screws), and (very carefully) dismantled it and cleaned it with a piece of 2000 fine sandpaper held by tweezers! note you must clean the contact touch area, DON'T GET ANY OIL/DIRT ON THE CONTACTS!!! just clean them, then reassemble and your good to go ;-)

It worked fine for me and it still is! if you need any more assistance juts e-mail me. id be pleased to help;-)

[getnhi]

I've never heard of "wetting current" either.

[Lupu]

Hehe well "wetting current" is something only the Engineers at Kia/Ford should be concerned with, but let me explain, Ex; in low power switch (mostly relay LP side contacts in our case) a minimum current must be allowed to pass so to create a minium ammout of heat and spark during contact open and close, this heat+spark clears the contacts of dirt and thus creates "automatic contact cleaing" but if the current to pass through the contacts is so small that this dosn't happen you get dirt and resistance and ultimitly no switch on (as in our case) mind you wetting current is a small threshold! passing too much current removes not only the dirt but also the contact itself distroying the switch!!! I know all this junk cause I'm an Electrical Engineering final years student ;-)
Need you any more help ask ;-)

[getnhi]

Yea, you could come in handy. I was think of building an O2 signal tester, but I'm no engineer, I'm a hobbyist with an AAS degree, if I could find it on the web I can build it but I can't find anything. The idea I had was to use op-amps as comparators, 10 of them total.
So at .1 volt the first LED comes on, .2 volts 2 LEDs... then at 1 volt all 10 LEDs. Power and ground would come from the car battery.
Any ideas?