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dash lights out




Guest Longbow

My dashlight quit working on my '96 Corolla after I installed an indash stereo. It was a simple job with no complications (although I did forget to disconnect the battery before starting to work).

All of the fuses are intact. The bulbs work (I pulled them and tested them). The idiot lights, high bean indicator, signals and flashers all work. I just don't have any illumination for my instruments or my environmental controls, even with the dimmer turned up all the way.

Anyone have any ideas?

Guest catzoo

The same thing happened to my 1995 Corolla. I had a new head unit professionally installed, then I noticed my dash lights were out. I had all of the fuses and bulbs checked, replaced the Rheostat ($125) and still my lights are out. I spoke with a mechanic who services Toyota's and he said that off brand stereos (anything except factory installs) weren't compatible with Toyotas. I'm still without dash lights. default_sad

HAve you checked the bulb that is in the instrument cluster. On a Mazda i use to have, i had to replace it once when i had no illumination there.

Guest raycastro

Have you tried plugging the old stereo back in to see if the dash lights come back on with the stock radio? If it does come back on, we might be able to figure out a work around.

Guest catzoo

Well, $150 later I finally have dash lights again, but no stereo. I took my Toyota in for repair and they think it was something internal in the stereo. The technician said that the stereo was putting out too much voltage and was blowing the rheostat. They disconnected the stereo and replaced the rheostat again and now I have lights. I thought Pioneer was a pretty good brand, but it turned out to be an expensive mistake.

Guest noobfever

I know this does not apply to your situation specifically but if the dash lights fail then that signals that the tail lights are out.

My Festiva had its stereo stolen and for awhile it had bare wires just hanging there. Occasional one would ground and pop the tail light fuse. Well, there went the dash lights. I finally moved them away from a grounding surface. I'm still to lazy to properly address the situation but my fuse hasn't blown for some time.

Access-Denied (+1)

I've heard of others having this problem. On my 96 prizm. My dash lights work, but can't adjust the brightness of them. Wish I knew what caused this. I'm guessing it's the stero, it's not the stock one. Not sure when this started happening.

Guest KazooKid

My CD has gone and I'm considering replacing it with a non-Toyota radio/CD. The lights for the environmental controls are already out. I assumed that the bulbs burned out. How do I remove them to replace them?

Guest pimpin' prizm

Guest pimpin' prizm
default_cool I had the same problem on my 94 prizm when I changed my radio, I checked all wires on my radio harness with a test light and found a white wire/green stripe (ground wire) would make all dash lights to work when you turn on the switch for the lights when it was touched by the test light while it grounded to a bracket. So I took out my gauges from the dash and found the same wire and tapped a new ground behind the radio and the lights now work but I can't dim them. I hope this work for you guys as well.


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