# No gauge cluster lights



## Haus (Jul 15, 2010)

Ok my friend just bought a 1995 Sentra GXE.

She told me that when she turns on her head lights, her gauge cluster does not turn on. I was thinking maybe a fuse or bulb but then she let me know that when she was pushing the button to put up the window, the cluster lights went on and stayed on as long as she kept the button pushed down. They would turn off as soon as she let go of the button.

What could cause this and any info on how I can fix it or what to look for. If it's simple i'll do it but if not i'll get a shop to look at it

Thank you!


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## Jopet (Aug 10, 2009)

I have no idea how the power window switch could affect the cluster lights unless there was someone had a bright idea of experimenting with the wiring.
This cluster light is connected to the dimmer which is on the dash, left side of the driver. Its close to the side mirror controls. Its the wheel like control that goes left and right. Turn this left and right a couple of times a see if the cluster lights comes on. 
Those lights are also connected to the a/c knobs lights and if you have a/t, those lights on the shifter as well. They should turn on and off, dim, at the same time.


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## Haus (Jul 15, 2010)

Yeah I don't either. I'll have to look at it and maybe get a video of it haha

Thanks


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## Haus (Jul 15, 2010)

ok i just looked at her car. Now its not working at all. No dash or console lights even when pushing up the window

I looked at the dimmer switch and took off the white connector going to the switch. on the relay its self there are 4 prongs. on the white connector it connects to. 3 of the male prongs go into the female connector and actually have metal to metal contact. the one prong on the other side, when going into the female connector has no metal to metal contact. there is no metal piece in that white connector for that one prong to connect to.

and i dont know whether the switch its self is suppose to click when it goes to a certain spot to turn on the dome lights but it does not

could that be causing the problem.

is there a fuse I can look at that works the dash/console lights

and yes it is an auto trans


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## Haus (Jul 15, 2010)

ok. she doesnt have rear lights either and from my understanding, the sentra uses the same fuse for the rear lights and instrument panel/console lights. So Ill look into that


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## Haus (Jul 15, 2010)

ugh!! the brake light fuse was blown which we replaced and she got all the lights to work. and now a week later and the lights will only go on when you hit the driver side window button. she said it happened when her boyfriend went to put down his window(passenger side front)

Something is causing that fuse to blow?? any ideas to whats going on?


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## Jopet (Aug 10, 2009)

definetly a short/ wires crossed. that is the reason for the fuse to blow out. trace the wires from the power window control to wherever they go to. Do this ASAP. The wires might me deteriorating and will get worse as the car is used. THIS COULD CAUSE A FIRE.


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## Haus (Jul 15, 2010)

Ok I thought I would update:

Well I went to change the fuse again for the tail lights/dash and when ever I went to turn on the head light switch, the fuse would blow. 

Well with the fuse blown, I was pushing the driver side back window button from the drivers door. The lights for the dash and tails would go on and off when I pushed the button and let go. 

So I decided to try something and removed the fuse for the Power Windows. Put another fuse for the tail lights in there and turned the headlight switch and I had lights with out it blowing the fuse. So I turned off the lights, put the PW fuse back in, turned the HL switch and it blew.

Now the lights would not go on and off if I pushed the window button on the back/driver side door, ONLY the the button on the actual drivers door for that back window. So I pulled the PW switch in the drivers door and inspected it. It was burnt and had a lot of corrosion, and the contacts melted into the the plastic case. So I went to the junk yard and found one that was in great shape and stuck that in there and so far the fuse for the Tails did not blow and we have lights. 

So I hope that was the problem and its fixed now for good.

Why it would do that when there was no fuse in there is beyond me and a mystery


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## Jopet (Aug 10, 2009)

GOOD JOB! Its good to know patience and persistence wins again. 

The shorted wires could have bridged the electricity that provided light to the dash. Who really knows what happened there? But more importantly you isolated the cause and fixed the problem. Back in the day when electornics nor ecu's were not present in cars, we would just rewire (of have it rewired) everthing to be sure that we get to fix the problem. Of course we did these stuff with older cars at the time.


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