Fuse for dashboard lighting

[paulo34567]

hello! very friendly forum you have here! :)

basically just bought one and loving it appart from its a bit huge compared wit me last one!

the clocks do not light up tho or the heater controls or anything like that. map lights/courtesy lights are fine, as is the illuminated ring around the ignition.

i assumed it was a fuse but i checked all the fuses by the battery today and they are all okay.... is there a second fuse box or summit? if so where? and which fuse might it be?!


cheers in adveance for the help guys. at the moment i have no idea how quick im going at night. ahem. honest officer...

[Kieran]

Welcome! /Welcome

Yes, there is another fusebox. It's behind the coin holder on the right of the dashboard - Open it, and then pull out the tray, and the fuse schematic is on the back of the coin holder tray.:scholar:

[paulo34567]

kieran u are a flipping legend i shall go find a torch and do that now. cheers buddy

[peter thomson]

In the VR4 there is a fuse box behind the small drivers cubby. Open the cubby and then lift it upwards and it will pull out.Fuses are behind there. i assume it is the same in your galant.
Oh and welcome to the club

[peter thomson]

Too slow!!

[Nick VR4]

Hi and Welcome

Its fuse # 4 for guages 10A

Number 18 is a spare 10A one

[psbarham]

check the dimmer as well, its mouted just to the right of the steering column, its very easy to miss.

oh and welcome to the club

[paulo34567]

okay so i have located the fuse box. now it isnt too apaprent which fuse is the correct one. i check the likelies but they are all okay. effectively i do not know which one im looking for and it is apparent that it may not be as simple as a fuse.... if anyone could confirm the correct fuse location that would be great as i could rule it out and start ripping the dash out....

[paulo34567]

ooopps didnt see those posts. okay so problem is fuse 4 which im assuming is 4th from the right bottom row? that is supposed to be 10amp and its a 15....

if it isnt 4th from the right bottom row lemme no that would be ammazing
and yeh checked the dimmer but am thinking i may go check the connections now...

[Nick VR4]

looking at manual

Middle row is

#15 Heater 30A #1 - - #2 Central locking 15A #3 Ignition Switch 10A
#4 Guages 10A #5 Horn #6 - - #7 Relay 10A

Bottom Row are #17 #18 #19 #20 are all spares

Hope this helps

[paulo34567]

okay effectively this does say that the fuse i was considering was the correct fuse. i think some muppet has gone and put a 15amp fuse in it which subsequently ahs caused failure along the line. im guessing this could be either comonent or wire/loom failure. i would guess the dinner control operates on all the lights and sub-circuits so my deduction would be that as the first component in the chain, and the common component, that this would be the faulty component....

please feel free to adjust my logic...

[Nick Mann]

Can't fault it so far! And welome, btw!

[paulo34567]

also perhaps daft comment. are the gauges electronic. if so does the gauge fuse relate to the operation of the fuse or the illumination...

and thanks for the help and welcomes! bought this car on a whim, its quite enjoyable actually! thought i was gonna hate it!

[Nick Mann]

Not sure on the GLS, but as other models are electronic, I would imagine that the GLS is too.

[paulo34567]

okay so this would imply that the fuse in position 4 may be for the operation of the gauges as opposed to gauge illumination.... dont suppose anyone can email mea wiring diagram of the relevant area if there is one kicking about?

[Nick Mann]

Okay - I have a VR4, not a GLS, but I just nipped outside and started pulling fuses. The fuse that finally gets rid of my climate control lights and mirror control lights etc is a 10A fuse under the bonnet marked as a sidelight fuse. There are two fuses on the VR4 for sidelights, and I'm not sure which it was, but they are next to each other anyway. None of the coin tray fuses had any effect on the dash lighting, including the meter fuse in position 4.

[paulo34567]

thanks nick and everyone. i am a bit stumped as i have multimetered all the fuses now. i think 2moro i will manually inspect them to be certain andthen start pumping a few volts from the light socket end to see where the weak link is. bit of a nuiscance but never mind! hopefully will solve it eventually! wicked forums btw just gonna browse thru a few posts see what i can learn! :)

[paulo34567]

okay fuses are all okay. does anyone have a wiring diagram? it appears that sidelight and interior lighting are on the same fuse.... this would be unlikely given the difference in power consumption so i was thinking is it likely that there are some relays somewhere and that that is the faulty compoent. advice welcome. if someone has the relevant diagram that would be amazing ta

[Nick Mann]

I'm not aware of a wiring diagram for that kind of detail. Sorry!

[Kieran]

okay fuses are all okay. does anyone have a wiring diagram? it appears that sidelight and interior lighting are on the same fuse.... this would be unlikely given the difference in power consumption so i was thinking is it likely that there are some relays somewhere and that that is the faulty compoent. advice welcome. if someone has the relevant diagram that would be amazing ta

By chance I've got a wiring diagram to upload to the Club Member's Library. :book:

HOWEVER - It may not be what you need. It's the 1999 UK 1st facelift supplement. It has many diagrams, but only where changes have been made.

It does have the console illumination circuit listed though on page 3-227. As I say it may not be correct for your model year, but if you want it to have a try, PM me your email address and I'll send you a copy. It may be of *SOME* help at least?!

[paulo34567]

Right. Spent some time yday having an investigate. I have determined that I have 12v going into the dimmer leads and continuity in the leads from the dimmer to the pins feeding into the clock unit. The theory is therefore that the dimmer switch is broken. I think the reason for this is that a 15A fuse was in place of the specified 10A. The resistance in the dimmer switch does vary but its in the magnitude of mega ohms which seems ridiculously high. Thus I think that this confirms that it is the faulty component. I could by pass the switch but the copper connections to the instrument dont look particularly hefty so i think i would risk melding connections.

On a 12V 10A circuit the power would be 120W so enought to frazzle a really rubbish connection like the little copper pins. Also consider that by ohms law the resisntance would be in the magnitude of ohms. i.e. 1.2ohms. So.....

My question is would anyone mind finding or does anyone know the resistance range of the dimmer? Numbers are cool but to be honest if I simply knew the magnitude (i.e. kilo ohms or just ohms).

[orionn2o]

You'll have to excuse my lack of knowledge of the GLS, BUT the way to test the Rheostat on the VR4 is to place a 40W bulb between pins 2 & 3 and then cycle the wheel. The bulb brightness should change smoothly if it is working correctly.

It should also be lit well.

[DickBarton]

My fuel gauge and engine temperature gauge don't light up...I'm suspecting it is a dodgy wire as I got 2 miles with them both lit then another half mile with them flickering and now they are dead - they have been dead since I got them and I figured the bulbs were gone, but now that I've seen them on I reckon it's a dodgy wire...anyone got any guides or know-how on getting the wires checked? I'm hoping it's not a remove dashboard job...thanks.

Sorry for slight hijack but it's slightly similar!

[paulo34567]

has anyone got a dimmer unit for sale?

[psbarham]

has anyone got a dimmer unit for sale?

ask Mo , he will have one

http://www.clubvr4.com/index.php?page=Galant_spares

bottom of the page

[Nick VR4]

has anyone got a dimmer unit for sale?

Give Mo (Zeddy user name a shout)

[paulo34567]

has anyone got a wiring diagram?

looking for the circuit including the dimmer for the interior lights for a 1999 2.0 GLS galant.

if anyones got it i would reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeealy appreciate it....

email on paulnaine@hotmail.com or whichever is easiest.... ta

[paulo34567]

new dimmer switch installed and all working very nicely! result! :)
now for my next trick... hmmm. climate control maybe...

[Kieran]

Great to hear you got it sorted.

As for climate control....

I looked into this when I had my GLS - It has 'nightmare' written all over it!!

See here:

http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=55342&postcount=15