Dash lights not working.

[kazi]

Yet again I'm posting in this section!

Anyway dash lights have never worked since I got the car. I thought it might be something to do with the headlight motors not working but it's not. I've had a look and see a lot of people talking about a dimmer for the dash but I can't find one. Fueses all look fine and the other lights around the dash like CAT temp, EML etc etc work fine.

[Ivan141]

The dimmer (or rheostat) is the most common culprit when dash backlight is not working.
It's the ring around the light switch, you can turn it to adjust the dashboard brightness, and if it
fails the lights stop working. Check if you have the movable ring, you can fix the backlight by
bypassing the dimmer with a wire (I forget which terminals to bridge, but you basically need to
provide a new ground path).

[kazi]

(05-01-2017 10:29 AM)Ivan141 Wrote:  The dimmer (or rheostat) is the most common culprit when dash backlight is not working.
It's the ring around the light switch, you can turn it to adjust the dashboard brightness, and if it
fails the lights stop working. Check if you have the movable ring, you can fix the backlight by
bypassing the dimmer with a wire (I forget which terminals to bridge, but you basically need to
provide a new ground path).

Never even knew that it was their! I'll have a look when I get the car back and see what's what with it. Sure mine is a fixed ring. Never known it to move.

Cheers

[Ivan141]

Not all 86's have it, I believe they didnt have this on the more basic editions. But it's worth checking out.

[kazi]

Mine is a GT so most likely not. Will have a look next week when I'm back home. Cheers.

[Ivan141]

European GT's had it, but these specifications are very market specific.