I got in my car today and my dash lights and interior lights were not working. I checked all of the fuses and they were all fine. The odometer lights up until the gage lights come on automatically or if I turn them on manually. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

do your tail lights work?

 

yeah, and now my pwr locks aint working WTF

 

no one has any ideas?

 

well if you are sure your fuses aren't blown check your grounds

 

where and how brother?

 

Well.....You had to ask


I can't remember off the top of my head where the grounds are. Maybe somebody else can. I believe there are some behind the kick panels though to start with.

When I had the gauge lights stop working on me, my tail lights were out also and it ended up being a fuse (I know you already checked them but maybe you missed one?).

 

are there two fuses? i checked the ones that are on the driver side next to the steering wheel
and i bought fuses thinking that was it and the fuses came with a fuse checker that you puss on the outside of the fuse and they were all good

when yours went did the odometer still work? mine works until the lights come on then it goes out

 

yeah my odometer still worked

 

It should be there.../\ I know its a 93-96 dash, but its the same basically.

 

awesome man, thanks alot i'll check it out, i called o'reilly and they said it might be the switch
anyone know how much of a bitch that is?

 

Before you go any further, I would check fuse #7. It powers both interior lights and power door locks... It should be a 15A fuse on the instrument panel fuse block. That's the one just inside the driver door. Fuse numbers are also referenced on the fuse panel cover.

http://shbox.com/1/pwr_dr_lock_schematic.jpg

http://shbox.com/1/bcm_1996.jpg

 

thanks for the input bro, my lights stopped working before the door locks

 

Have you checked your fuses yet? I used to work at an electrical shop and see plenty of slow-blown fuses that looked good but tested bad. Test them with a continuity tester or a test light.

 

yea i checked ever fuse even the ones that have nothing to do with it
i checked them with the fuse tester that came with the fuses i bought
no dice
all good fuses still no ******* lights

 

Hey what fuse did you changed.I don't have a car manual for my 98 camaro,so I don't know which one is for what.

 

O'Reilly's is probably right here.


99.9% of the people who have this problem have turned their dimmer switch off (part of the headlight switch assembly) and forgot about it or didn't realize it.

^ I'm sure you didn't do this, but you should try turning up your dimmer anyway...

If your dimmer is turned up, that switch assembly may just be bad. If you register on Autozone.com, you can get access to the wiring schematics for the car in their repair section. (These are copyrighted by GM.) On those schematics, you will see mappings of the wires that plug into the back of the headlight switch assembly. From there, you can confirm voltage is going in to the assembly but not out to the interior lights. (Before you drop coin on a new part - I recall this one is a little pricey.)

 

Years later and you still just helped someone. Made an account just to say ty

 

Sorry for resurrecting this one. I haven't been on here in a while but, I need y'alls help. I'm dealing with a similar issue right now. I had my dash pad replaced recently while the car was in the shop for other reasons. It was done by the same Chevy dealer body shop that has worked on my cars for over 25 years. They do great work so, that's not the issue. I picked up the car a couple weeks ago and as soon as I drove off I noticed that the radio clock display went out. Also, I could barely see the ODO. Turned out that they forgot to put the electric eye back in place in the dash pad that automates the headlights after sundown. Basically, none of the dash illumination was working, except for the steering wheel controls. As soon as the car was started and the P-Brake was released the headlights turned on and the radio display and ODO went out. I took it back to get resolved, hoping it was as easy as putting that electric eye back in place. Fast forward to picking the car back up yesterday. They told me the issue was resolved. The electric eye is back in place. Started the car, P-Brake released, radio display and ODO stay on. Later that night, after the sun went down, I started the car, released the brake, headlights came on as expected but no dash lights. Once again, the radio display and ODO went out. Steering wheel controls still illuminated. After some investigation today, discovered that whether the electric eye turns on the headlights or they are turned on manually with the switch the result is the same… no dash illumination. Also discovered that the IP Dimmer 5A fuse was blown. Tried replacing that but as soon as the headlights turn on it blows that fuse. The dimmer switch actually works, even with the blown fuse. It still will turn the dome lights on and off and you can see the steering wheel controls dim when the dimmer switch is rotated. I have a video I can post if necessary.

So, anyone have any suggestions? 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

​​​​​​Having the same issue here.