cluster wont light up

[Hooorahh!]

k so ever since i bought the car the cluster would never light up, Meaning the lights on there at night dont turn on ...
the signal light works, check engine lights, all those lil lights work except for the main lights that light up the cluster now i checked the bulbs and there all fine i tried 3 clusters and thats not it im guessing its something to do with the wireing? cause its not the fuses, i checked that also so yeah ... any ideas ........

[cotbu]

Dimmer switch, Try it first!

[luisgonz]

That car needs to be crushed.LOL I told you before take it back from who you bought it from to fix that. I told I could fix if you dropped it off.:kiss:

[Nismoknightska-t]

get a new car!

its slow anyways!

[Hooorahh!]

its not the dimmer switch tried that .........
luis u live far!!!!!!!!
and jeff ur car is slow and its built so thats even more sad

[godzilla_753]

shit i have the same problem

HELPPPP

[efrain240sx]

I had the same problem, then I found this http://www.nicoclub.com/articles.php?id=158162
I got me new white box from the junkyard and my problem went away. p.s if any body needs a used but working one send me a pm I got 7 of them.

[opticfilms]

I Had The Same Problem Too and What I Did I Change The Cluster Harness And It Works.

[Sil-Abc]

god ur a premie and u cant even do a search? this problem has been covered several times and u ppl still dont get it. ITS THE TCU! the white box next to the fuse box on the driver side kick panel.

[Hooorahh!]

I had the same problem, then I found this http://www.nicoclub.com/articles.php?id=158162
I got me new white box from the junkyard and my problem went away. p.s if any body needs a used but working one send me a pm I got 7 of them.
ur i azusa ... hmmmm when can i pick one up?


I Had The Same Problem Too and What I Did I Change The Cluster Harness And It Works.

i changed the harness and still not lighting up ... im gonna try that white box


k i went outside took my lil brothers white box off .. and put it on mine and that was it ... thanx guys!

[Sil-Abc]

just a heads up, u can reuse that bad white box. just resolder it in the bad areas and itll be fine.

[highly responsive]

is it a black box on an S13?

the nico article shows a white box, everyone on here says its a white box.
but i have this:

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/164/tcuwp6.jpg

now to figure out how to open it without breaking the damn thing

and, this thread isnt YEARS old, and i actually have the same issue as the OP, so bumping this up shouldnt get me in trouble with the mods (i hope)

[SleepR 240sx]

Ok, I don't have the white box at all, however I read that you can ground the red w/ yellow stripe wire and they will work. Anyone know if this is possible without have the white box?

EDIT: Just pulled my CD player and grounded out the red/yellow wire, and voilah the gauge cluster works. Thanks guys.

[DDSR240]

Ok, I don't have the white box at all, however I read that you can ground the red w/ yellow stripe wire and they will work. Anyone know if this is possible without have the white box?

EDIT: Just pulled my CD player and grounded out the red/yellow wire, and voilah the gauge cluster works. Thanks guys.
yes that works like a charm and better than changing the white box for me because I never use my dimmer switch.

[highly responsive]

Ok, I don't have the white box at all, however I read that you can ground the red w/ yellow stripe wire and they will work. Anyone know if this is possible without have the white box?

EDIT: Just pulled my CD player and grounded out the red/yellow wire, and voilah the gauge cluster works. Thanks guys.

all you did was take that wire and make it touch metal just like any other negative wire? i think i will be trying that.

also, what does the dimmer switch actually do? i dont think i have ever had a use for it......

[SleepR 240sx]

all you did was take that wire and make it touch metal just like any other negative wire? i think i will be trying that.

also, what does the dimmer switch actually do? i dont think i have ever had a use for it......

Dimmer switch controls how bright the dash lights are, so be sure to turn the key to accessories and put the dimmer as high as it will go because once you ground the wire it supposedly no longer works, haven't tried yet.

And yes ground it like any negative wire, or wire it into a wire that is already grounded.

[highly responsive]

ok, i grounded my wire, the lights on my climate control came on.... but my cluster still goes dead when i turn on my headlights.

all my fuses are good, i even pulled out the cluster (for the 500th time) to check for any bad traces or bulbs, nothing wrong there. note that the cluster works fine when headlights are off, which is great when its daytime, but at night, it sucks.

heres a problem that happened with my cluster about a week ago:
http://zilvia.net/f/s-chassis/207565-temperature-gauge-trippin.html

before it would do that if the headlights were on or off... cluster was working fully, just trippin out with my gauges. now, the gauges still trip out, but my cluster goes dead when the headlights come on.

makes no sense. i actually found my TCU, it was buried behind the black box... stuffed WAY down... i had to remove the whole kick panel piece to access it. anyway, TCU is fried, but grounding the dimmer switch should have put me back on track, right? guess ill be going to the junkyard soon to find a new one.

[SleepR 240sx]

Are you sure all the fuses in the box are the right size? Because when I checked mine they were all messed up, once I replaced them the dash lights would turn off when the headlights were turned on. Before that they wouldn't work at all. Now that I've grounded it problem fixed.

EDIT: Dimmer switch will NOT work when the red/yellow wire has been grounded.

[wacko2]

yeah i think my clusther is the same problem like urs i might go and check that out right know..

[highly responsive]

Are you sure all the fuses in the box are the right size? Because when I checked mine they were all messed up, once I replaced them the dash lights would turn off when the headlights were turned on. Before that they wouldn't work at all. Now that I've grounded it problem fixed.

EDIT: Dimmer switch will NOT work when the red/yellow wire has been grounded.


yeah, fuses are correct. it was all working fine until about a week ago. i was thinking my cluster is fucked, but i think i need to get my ass a new tcu.

[SleepR 240sx]

If it just happened then it would probably be the cluster. Mine NEVER worked, then I saw this thread and fixed it in 5 minutes.

[highly responsive]

i think ill try the TCU first. much cheaper than getting a digi cluster.

[The ROMAN]

Would the TCU show visible signs of damage if it's fried? I pulled one out of a car recently that had non-working dash lights but I couldn't see any black marks or anything like that on the board.

[DDSR240]

all you did was take that wire and make it touch metal just like any other negative wire? i think i will be trying that.

also, what does the dimmer switch actually do? i dont think i have ever had a use for it......
hhmmmm? maybe dim somthing like ...............oh thats right the cluster lights.

[projectRDM]

is it a black box on an S13?

the nico article shows a white box, everyone on here says its a white box.
but i have this:

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/164/tcuwp6.jpg

now to figure out how to open it without breaking the damn thing

and, this thread isnt YEARS old, and i actually have the same issue as the OP, so bumping this up shouldnt get me in trouble with the mods (i hope)

No, that's the headlight timer. Like it says on the box. The TCU is white, behind the driver side kick panel. S14s don't have a TCU.

[highly responsive]

replaced TCU, didnt work. but i found the solution to my problem.

the black plug on my harness became undone, reconnected it, made sure that bitch was in there snug, and i am back in business.

hey, at least i replaced my TCU for free. and got my cruise control fixed. thanks for the help guys, i would have been rollin around in the dark at night had i not got off my ass and tried out everyones solutions :)

[loveskylines]

its the cluster i had the same problem....

[deadghost]

Does anyone have a TCU on hand and is willing to sell it to me.

[HS13KLS]

exact thing has been happening to me since i bought the car..lol and i have just lived with it..

but ill update tommorrow. and see if i fix my problem.