HELP!...Lights don't work

[letie02]

My 99 malibu's dash lights do not work, right along with taillights. I don't know what happened. We check the relays, fuses, and bulbs. Everything seems to check out ok. My odometer light, brake light, and signals work; but everything else doesn't. It is very weird. I am soooo scared that this is going to be a very expensive electrical job.

[electhrolite]

I have the same problem myself, the fuses were ok , the relays, etc. Then I thougt it was the dimmer since the only light that works on the dash was the one thataindicate the gears but the light was very dimmed. That occurs exactly when you lower your dimmer, the gears indicators on the dash never go ut completly. changing the dimmer or the dimmer control module (that was my case) is expensive. but I have the solution for you is a very simple to do, the complicated part is dismounting the gauges, the glove box, the dimmer etc. There's a 4 wire plug going into the dimmer (the one in the panel instrumentation) the brown cable is actually the source that power the all the dash lights in your car. What I did was a cut the brown wire a connect a wire from it to the fuse(attached to the metal part of the fuse) a little dificult since there are not much space for the fuse and a wire in the same hole, but it can be done the fuse is located in the right fuse box compartment between the right door and the dash (right side of the dash). Is a 10 A fuse (red). Once you connect this wire to this fuse the dash lights including the cigarette bulb, power windows light etc. will work everytime you urn on your lights, of course you wont be able touse the dimmer function buy for what do you want it anyway?. I had to remove the gauges and the glove box in order to make space for the new wire for the fuse. It works fine for me good luck. Other person in this website did the same but he patch the brown wire with the dark green going to the dimmer in the plug and works too (this is if the diimer on the dash have gone bad, but in my case it was dimmer control module that was damage.