frozen

So I got my 2001 tibby yesterday, and didn't notice until last night that the cluster lights don't work. All other lighting works fine (clock, radio, ALL rear and front lights, except for one of the fog lights in the front, probably just burnt?). HMA says problems could be faulty rheostat, bad ground, or faulty wiring. I checked the rheostat, and it's fine, however I took out my voltmeter, and there is no voltage present at the connector for the rheostat (in or out).

I have the whole dash apart now, any ideas on what to look for? Is there an actual wiring diagram for this car on HMA? I haven't been able to find one, just cable routing.

SOCKS_old

are your left running lights working, front and back? for SURE.. if they aren't working i prob know what it is..

frozen

Also, I checked all the fuses in both boxes. I found a blown one, Tail Lamp LH, but I replaced it and it did not fix anything.

BlackTibby00

Check the ground wire for the dimmer switch. There are 3 wires that run into the switch, 1 being the ground. I wired up my indiglo gauges to this for power and the ground connection came loose. Had no cluster lights for quite a while. And like you, checked every fuse and no fix. Finaly found that the ground was loose. crimpped it up again and voila. Try that and see how it works.

frozen

Checked that already... Measured from the ground pin to neg. batt. terminal, ground is fine (if you consdier 0.4 ohms fine).

Also, I'm 100% sure all running lights are working fine. I just checked it again, working good.

When I turn the lights on, the cig. lighter LED's come on and everything, this is so strange.

BlackTibby00

Wierd...I had the same problem, but the ground problem fixed it. Can't think of anything else off the top of my head.

Mad-Machine

I had this identical problem.. it is your rheostat for your internal lights. It is a $30 part from the dealer.

frozen

Alright, riddle me this... Why would the resistance to ground go from 0.4 ohms when off, to 36 ohms when the car is on.....

...and up to 155 ohms when i turn the lights on.....

BlackTibby00

If you decide that you want a new rheostat switch. I've got an extra one if you want to buy it?

01tibby

dude dont try and measure resistance on live wires. you can burn up your multimeter.

your illuminations are turned on through a relay that is activated by the left taillamp. if you are comfortable with shcematics, go to webtech and check out the etm section for the car. look in the diy section stickies for a universal account that you can use. if not then just try and replace the dimmer switch to see if it works.

i bet your left tail fuse is popped again.