okay guys, i've searched long and hard but can't find an answer to my problem, so here it goes...

the car in question is a 91 SE-R, unknown maintenance as i've only had it for about three months.
my problem is that i have no instrument cluster illumination, but every other light works(CEL, turn signals, seatbelt, etc). i've changed bulbs multiple times to no avail. i picked up a test light yesterday, and the fuse labeled st. signal didn't light up, so i changed it with a fresh fuse. still nothing with the test light. then i decided to fiddle with the dimmer switch since i heard that could be the cause of the problem. tested the connector and got nothing, but when it's all hooked up the dimmer still dims the clock in the instrument cluster. i'm assuming i have a short somewhere? please, anybody, what do i do?!

I think it's your dimmer switch. I loose cluster lights every once in a while and I move the dimmer up and down and they come back.

You basically need a wiring diagram, and find out where the voltage stops. If you had a short you would probably be blowing fuses. Start with the easiest things to take apart. Like take the dimmer out while it's connected and make sure power is coming in and out of it.

well it still dims the instrument cluster clock, so i know it works, it's getting power. i've checked the prong things in the connector, pushed the wires in the back of the connector in. nothing.

If the dimmer seems to be okay...my other guess would be the cluster itself. Do you have another cluster to troubleshoot?

negative on that one. i mean everything else works in the cluster. and about three weeks ago the lights in question did work. then i put LED's in and they didn't light up, so i took them out and put the other bulbs back in, now no matter what kind of bulb they don't light up, but the little metal things that carry current on the back of the cluster aren't ripped or anything. does anybody know what the plugs in the back of the cluster do? i'm thinking it's got to be one of them.

what the hell is wrong with my car?!

Trace the wiring from the dimmer switch to the instrument gauge cluster. I'm not sure which of the three plugs but the wire color should be the same. If there's continuity between the two points, then there's something definitely wrong with the cluster.

sounds to me that the dimmer controls all those things independently by controlling the ground... thus allowing the compnents to be fused individually on the 12V side? I dunno check the out puts of the switch like said above... with a test light and a 12V source or ground source..

i guess i'm just gonna have to pull apart my dash and start following wires.

any guess as to what the fuse labeled st. signal controls?

thanks for all the input guys.

i guess i'm just gonna have to pull apart my dash and start following wires.

any guess as to what the fuse labeled st. signal controls?

thanks for all the input guys.

Pull it out and see what shuts off lol

well nothing will because it's apparently not getting any current even with a brand new fuse. auto electronics are so much fun!







not.

the dimmer has a prong missing that's supposed to contact in the connector. i'm thinking this connector is for the bulbs. that's the reason the in dash clock works, but the lights don't. gonna pick up a dimmer and see what happens!