89 Accord No dash lights. Give this your best shot

[jon89accord]

ok so i dont have dash lights for my speedomiter or my tach, gas guage ect . but all the others in the cluster work just no illumination lights or heater/air control panel lights, its not a fuse ive checked all of them and ive replaced all the illumination bulbs, my tail lights still work fine, my clock works fine and so does the radio. so what could the problem be? has anyone else ran into this? please help i would like to know how fast im going at night.. please help thank you

[Dr_Snooz]

How did this happen? Were you just driving along and poof or did they go out separately or was someone stirring around in the dash and then it happened or what?

[jon89accord]

Hey Doc..
I noticedn it after i bought the car (dealership) it was a trade in and they couldnt give me any insight as to why the lights are out.

[LX-incredible]

Check the connection/replace the dimmer switch.

[jon89accord]

Already did that and tested all connections. Still no fix

[88LXi/87CRXSi]

Since you're fuses are good and you've replaced the dimmer switch, that leaves the Dimmer control amplifer (brightness control unit). It's located on the back side of the dashboard lower panel, right below the steering column. It's a small box about 2''x2''x1/2'', with a 6 wire connector. Check the connector and wires or get another one from the boneyard.

[jon89accord]

Done and done still no fix. Lol.

[Ayeobe]

Where does the dash ground at?

[jon89accord]

I dont Know

[jon89accord]

Seriously People this is a brain buster Ive fixed or replaced everything it could be and still no fix thats why i say give it your best shot... lol thanks

[Ayeobe]

Im figureing it'd be a grounding issue. If it has conductivity, from the + through all the connections, wheres the ground at? It seems to be the only thing we havnt taken a look at, but i dont know enough about the dash circut to give a real suggestion. i was hoping someone who's taken apart the dash could answer my "wheres the ground?" question.

[jon89accord]

I know there's a ground on the plug on the lower dash panel. Could that. Be the ground or are we thinking chasis ground somewhere?

[88LXi/87CRXSi]

If you have a multi meter, you can check some things out at the wiring connector that plugs into the dimmer control amplifier. There should be six wires, but only need to check three. The black wire, check for continuity to ground. That's the ground for the dash lights so if thats good you can eliminate a ground problem. Next the red wire with a black stripe, with the light swich on, check for voltage to ground, there should be 12 Vdc. Last one is the red one, no stripes. With light switch on, attach to ground, dash lights should come on full bright. Hopefully that'll help narrow down where next to check.

[2oodoor]

Make sure the lights are on when you check the fuses, also if there are enough bulbs burnt out it will interupt the circuit.

[jon89accord]

I will check that out when I get home from work tonight. I really hope I can get this fixed. Thank you everyone for your help. Ill let you know asap. Wish me luck. Lol

[jon89accord]

Hell yes I figured it outt I guess my dimmer amp box that I got at the boneyard was bad too. I created a jumper between the red and black wire and kapow lights lol thanks everyone