s13 dash and tail lights not working help!!!!!!!

[sileighty...]

heres the thing my dash tail and lisence plate lights arent working and i cant affored another ticket and but i need my car.... my front lights work and my BRAKE lights work but my rear driveing lights dont i checked all my fuses and replaced all my relays the only other thing i can think of is my grounds but i dont know where the ground for my tail lights are... if anyone can help me out with this or if you have a different opinion let me know ive searched on other forums but nothing :ugh: :bash:

[Edwin562]

have you checked out the lil white magic box to see if its burned out??
Usually when the interior lights arent working, the TCU( lil white box on the driver side kick panel) is burnt.

Fix for 240sx instrument panel / dash lights - NICO Club (http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/fix-for-240sx-instrument-paneldash-lights.html)

[Juantwo3]

are you 100% sure u checked all the fuse's , i had this same problem turned out to be a fuse

[sileighty...]

yea all the fuses are good and i just changed the relays today and were can i get another tcu?

[S-Nation S13]

my bros car did the same thing s14 ..took it to a shop and found out it was the dimmer switch

[sileighty...]

i have an extra dimmer switch iama try that out if not then ill have to drop by a pick a part and try to find a tcu ill let you know in a bit

[sr20comic]

I have the same problem. Let me know if that's it please

[jumboflan]

check fuses in the drivers side kick panel or that

[S-Nation S13]

i have an extra dimmer switch iama try that out if not then ill have to drop by a pick a part and try to find a tcu ill let you know in a bit


any luck???

[sileighty...]

no luck i just switched the dimmer and it didnt fix it anyone know where the ground for these lights is?

[sileighty...]

and @jumboflan yes like i said all fuses are good and switched the relays

[S1392sx]

Did you check the tcu? No point replacing it if it isnt even damaged. One of the circuit traces will be burnt. If thats the case, get some 16-18 ga solid copper wire and solder the new wire to replace the damaged area. Its easy as hell, i did it when i was 16 in my first 240.

[sileighty...]

thanks ill try that out

[sileighty...]

no luck iam pretty sure my tcu is still good so only thing i can think of is the ground anyone know where it is?

[sileighty...]

bump.......

[KiLLeR2001]

If your brake lights work then its not your grounds because the tail lamps use the same ground. In your driver side kick panel inside the car, there are two fuse spots. One says STOP LAMP, and the other says TAIL LAMP.

Replace the TAIL LAMP 15A fuse even if it looks ok to you and see if that fixes anything.

[Nickys13]

It sounds like a fuse!

[KA-Life86]

Its the fuse, my 93 d21 pickup did the SAME EXACT thing, replaced the 15amp fuse killer2001 and a few others mentioned...even though it LOOKED to be okay. And presto the dash lights and taillights worked again

[sileighty...]

thanks ill change it

[nopants]

If that doesn't work check the harness under your driver side fender. I had this same problem until yesterday. I took off my fender and my harness had 12 wires exposed and it was all fried and melted together. I took about 2 hours and rebuilt it all and tucked it up against the frame real tight.

[Taylor008]

If you tried all of the above, you need to open up your light switch and sand the contact points, bend them if you need to. Or just replace it. The one on your steering column.

[sileighty...]

thanks guys i tried all of these but no luck i just ran the tails to a switch

[nopants]

I was really close to doing the same thing, luckily I found the issue. Did you get the dash lights working?

[J-Spec_S13]

I had the same problem. a cable torn open grounding to the car thanks to my stupid battery lol my friend was also having the same problem turns out to be his stereo? :o weird

[scooz14]

its the headlight switch. autozone has them $60

[AndyG]

Are you sure it is not a fuse? because the dash and tailights are on the same fuse... if not fuse i would check wiring to your kick panel fusebox.

[sileighty...]

iam pretty sure its the wireing to the kick panel fuse box but idk which wire or wires go to the tails and dash iam almost sure some of the wires are switched around anyone have a diagram for the wiring for the white clip behind the fuse box

[niteridaz503]

Thought I was the only one with this issue, except when im replacing the fuse the 15a for tail lamps keeps blowin

[sileighty...]

Thought I was the only one with this issue, except when im replacing the fuse the 15a for tail lamps keeps blowin

if the fuse is getting power and blows then you prob have a short somewhere i would check that out iam sure my problem is because of misplaced pins on the plug

[89hatchman]

if the fuse is getting power and blows then you prob have a short somewhere i would check that out iam sure my problem is because of misplaced pins on the plug

did you figure out your problem? I have the same thing, tails fuse keeps blowing, no cluster lights or tail lights when the headlight switch is on. I am getting headlights and side markers though.

[sileighty...]

My problem was the white plug behind the fuse box under the kick panel that had some misplaced pins if your headlights are turning on but the tail lamp fuse keeps blowing like i said to that guy^^^ u prob have a short (melted wires touching,or exposed power wire grounding on sheet metal)

[89hatchman]

My problem was the white plug behind the fuse box under the kick panel that had some misplaced pins if your headlights are turning on but the tail lamp fuse keeps blowing like i said to that guy^^^ u prob have a short (melted wires touching,or exposed power wire grounding on sheet metal)

ya, definitely a short some where, its just finding it thats the problem...

Its just a plug behind the fuse box? you'd have to remove the box to see it?