No dash illumination

I was working on putting a head unit into my 84 rabbit that I got last week. I accidentally jumped a wire and it arced. I now have zero lights on my cluster and instrument. I checked the fuses for the lights. But I have no idea where to start on these cars. They were all working perfect before. Thanks in advance.

Blake

fuse - think its number 15 - will check for you tommorow

The american mk1s do not have the headlight dimmer fuse. It has a dashboard/console lights fuse which i pulled and its still good.

still suggest fuse.
theres only 20. check them all.

or switch burnt out.

i had a similar problem.. turned out to be the light switch

I've not got my head unit in at the moment, just all the loom behind in the cubby hole.

I pulled all the wiring out to look at it in terms of installing a new head unit.

When I did, my dash lights went out, I messed about with the wires, put them back in and wiggled them about and they came back on.

Now and again they wont be on, if I tap the clocks lightly on the front they come back on.

Also, it seems only my right hand Clock light is working.

Sorry to hi-jack your thread mate but I thought I might ask as i'm having similar problems.

I thought it might just be a loose plug behind the clocks but any ideas anyone?

Josh :y:

No problem, Ive pulled all of my fuses none are blown and I also pulled the plug to the headlight switch all the plugs were fine on it. Should I still pull it and replace it? Can I pull it without removing the whole dash?

Quarterman said

No problem, Ive pulled all of my fuses none are blown and I also pulled the plug to the headlight switch all the plugs were fine on it. Should I still pull it and replace it? Can I pull it without removing the whole dash?

When you say Headlight Switch mate, do you mean the actual rectangle switch on the right of the dials with the little circular light dimmer?

If so, and you've got a S2 then you do ideally need to take the clocks/dash panel out, it's the whole rectangle piece that fronts the heater controls, stereo and clocks if you get what I mean?

It's relatively easy to remove, just a few clips and a few screws that hold it in place then it just comes away.

you'll need to take your head unit out and the heater switches/controls =]


Also which plug on the headlight switch do you mean haha?

Good luck mate! let me know how you get on.


 

Thanks for the help, I had everything disconnected that runs to the switch. I had to put it back together last night because I needed the car today. I will order a switch and dig into it this weekend and let you know if it works. Thanks again

Blake

Quarterman said

Thanks for the help, I had everything disconnected that runs to the switch. I had to put it back together last night because I needed the car today. I will order a switch and dig into it this weekend and let you know if it works. Thanks again

Blake

Oh right I see!

Well it could possibly a faulty headlight switch. All you do is unplug the old rectangular switch unit behind the dash panel (when you've got it all out   ) And plug your new one in.

Hope it turns out to be this so you can get it sorted mate!

Josh  :wink:

Got the new switch in and there is still no illumination. Another thing I noticed is I don't have any running lights.

Quarterman said

Got the new switch in and there is still no illumination. Another thing I noticed is I don't have any running lights.

Its possible you may have burnt a wire out I suppose, have you pulled the dash out and checked ?

Yes, I had it apart after this first happened there was no noticeable wires that would have been smoked.

Did you take your whole dash out or just the dash panel?

I fear I might have to do this as well in order to see if any of my ignition wires have burnt out seeing as my car's still not firing up =[

How hard is it to remove the complete dash etc?

I had the entire dash removed. Its not hard its just takes some time.

I'd go for a burnt out wire somewhere along the line. A bare end may have touched the metalwork and fried something…. or depending on what you've been doing could you have inadvertantly cut through a feed for the lights?

I did this by mistake years ago, a simple error but quite frustating.

Dan

Found out what was wrong today. Started poking wires again and I guess I missed it the first time i was doing it. It was the lead wire that feeds the instrument lights fuse.

Thanks for the help.

Glad you found it mate! Now I just need to find out what's stopping my car from producing a spark, my worst suspicions are that it's a burnt out wire.

It'd also help though if I knew which wires are to the positive on the coil, i.e. where they come from through the bulkhead/dash and how to trace them back to the ignition system etc.

Sad times =[

Dibdub1 said

Glad you found it mate! Now I just need to find out what's stopping my car from producing a spark, my worst suspicions are that it's a burnt out wire.

It'd also help though if I knew which wires are to the positive on the coil, i.e. where they come from through the bulkhead/dash and how to trace them back to the ignition system etc.

Sad times =[

Whats up with it, wheres your post?