Gauge cluster not lighting up, can some one help me? Options

[batcavee00]

every since i got this celica i noticed that the gauges never illuminated at night. i turned the dinner switch back and forth and nothing....

last sunday i took the dash panel out where that switch sits on and i checked for power at those wires. one was a (-) and the other 2 were (+) but at no time did any of those wires have power which is weird.



is there a particular fuse for the illumination?
because i checked one by one and they are all ok. the lights on the climate control dont show nor the emergency lights.


can someone help me out please? i hate driving at night not knowing how fast im going =/

[batcavee00]

nobody knows?

[trdproven]

check if its the dimmer switch and then work your way back. of course you can check for power too using a voltmeter. but if you know someone with a similar dimmer switch that can plug n play, from another toyota, i'd try it that way too.

[mkernz22]

did you try replacing the bulbs...

[Nate5411]

I have a 94' ST and my gauges were barely lit or burnt out so when I took out the cluster to get bulb types then put it back in all of my warning lights work, door ajar, high beam, check engine, airbag, etc its just the instrument gauges that wont light up now. I checked my dimmer switch and stupid me i forgot to plug it in, but the RPM speed and temp and gas still wont light up, any ideas would greatly help too?

[d3ath2009]

if its original bulbs, replace em.. mine went out last summer bc the bulbs were 14 years old, so thats more than likely your problem

[Nate5411]

Does anyone know a cheap place to get these bulbs, a blister pack of these cost almost $5 and to replace that many bulbs is a good chunk of change, I really don't have that kind of money at this time since I'm unemployed?

[d3ath2009]

^if its just the gauges and not any of the other lights (high beam, seat belt, ebrake, etc), then u only need 3 bulbs

[199celica]

I found this out when i put led's in my cluster there is a specific way to put the bulbs in so if something isnt lit up try flipping the bulb around and if that doesnt work check the dimmer switch from + to + measure ohms with the dimmer switch out of the car it should go from .5 ohms to something like 3 ohms but its been a while.

[trdproven]

did you try replacing the bulbs...

its unlikely all 3 will burn out the same time.

I have a 94' ST and my gauges were barely lit or burnt out so when I took out the cluster to get bulb types then put it back in all of my warning lights work, door ajar, high beam, check engine, airbag, etc its just the instrument gauges that wont light up now. I checked my dimmer switch and stupid me i forgot to plug it in, but the RPM speed and temp and gas still wont light up, any ideas would greatly help too?

it is possible the dimmer switch is broken or unplugged. If your RPM/temp/gas don't work, problem lies between the guage cluster, the green film, the wire harness/pins, the actual wires, and to the sensors.

^if its just the gauges and not any of the other lights (high beam, seat belt, ebrake, etc), then u only need 3 bulbs

fuse burnt?

I found this out when i put led's in my cluster there is a specific way to put the bulbs in so if something isnt lit up try flipping the bulb around and if that doesnt work check the dimmer switch from + to + measure ohms with the dimmer switch out of the car it should go from .5 ohms to something like 3 ohms but its been a while.

on LED install some bulbs are not bipolar, which means it goes in only one way, not any way, you must flip the bulbs side to get the correct polarity.

[mgnt232]

check all ur fuses (under the steering wheel to the left), this happened to me when i first got my car. I can't go look at my car so i forget what fuse it was. But I'm pretty sure it wasn't a fuse that you would think it would be. Meaning its not name like gauge lights.
but of course i haven't looked at it in a long time now. Just check all of them. Pull them out, look at the wire in the middle. You will figure out what a good one looks like vs a bad one

[trdproven]

but if a fuse burnt for the gauge cluster, he would notice other things not working because its tied in to other things.