gauges..help!

Today I tried to install my EL gauges. Before anyone goes crazy..I did a search for my problem. Here's the long and short of it. They didn't work...after trying to rewire it differnet ways, I decided to put back on my stock gauges. Everything is fine except for 1 thing...the gauges, ac controls, and shifter do not illuminate. It is obviously a dimmer switch or related problem. I switched my dimmer switch with a known working one and it did not work...all connections are properly done....checked fuses....so...WTF!!! I have an 02 Galant, any advice will be helpful. :cry:

let me give you guys an update on the boys

ok first thing i did was get vik to hook the aftermarket guages directly to the battery. the guages lit up. since the boys didn't have a meter on them, this will act as their test meter. if they are getting power, the guages will light up. if the guages aren't the guages won't.

they first connected the guages to the white connector for the dimmer switch. the guages didn't light up. no power. hooked the guages up to the green (+) to the black and silver (unregulated ground) unregulated meaning that the dimemr switch has no affect on it. the black and yellow is the regulated ground meaning that thats where the dimmer switch has given its resistance.

ok. now the guys cut the wires before and they put things back together with a butt connector to keep things neat. thinking that there is a possibility of a bad connection, i told them to cut the cutt connector off for the green and black/silver wire and hook up the guages to that. still no power.

this brings me to their main problem. the wires going to the dimmer switch aren't getting power. thats a possible reason why it isn't lighting up. the bulbs might also be blown but i doubt it. and yea, we can't test that until they can get power to that dimemr switch.

right now they're checking fuses, making sure everything is ok. everything else works according to them. all their other lights, the car starts everythign is good so far except for that. but yea they'll post when they see how the fuses and stuff are.

Before I give my update on my issue, I want to thank Rodt0331 and Pinoyesv6 for helping me out in my seemingly small crisis. There were other stress factors involved like a fustrated but patient wife, two exhausted kids and an hour drive home on a Sunday night at 10:00pm...nice combo huh?

Anyways, we proceeded to pull out all the fuses, and did not find any apparent blown fuses. We did however run into more issues. First thing Rod noticied was that my right tail light was out. And after that, he noticed that my front right parking light was out! So we figured I blew the bulbs...Rod scrambled to get the bulbs from his recently pulled out tails (he got the TYC tails and it looks hot incidently). That's when we found out the bulbs were not blown and I checked the fuse and somehow that blew. Then, the check engine light turned on and the car ran like total crap! then Rod figured out a relay was put in incorrectly after pulling it out to inspect it. After 15 minutes the check engine light turned off and now I am back to my original problem. We managed to check I'd say 90% of of the fuses and none were blown. What next? Dealer? :roll: :?

i didnt know 02 had El gauges... i thought they were only for 99-01.... 02s dont let the 99-01 go on right?? if he has a 02 he need to get the bezel of a 99-01?????

hey vic. i say try to stay away from the dealer. uhm now that u mention the lights, i'd go around and do a check of the whole car. make sure nothing else is broke. go over the whole car again in the sunlight make sure everything is ok. i know it started getting dark when we were talking (i was working on my gauges too). maybe even take out what u messed with before and put everything back togehter. maybe u plugged something in wrong or maybe u accidentally cut a wire.

but yea the reason i say stay away from the dealer isnt' because of ur warranty, its because finding the problem might take the dealer a while and since thats coming out of ur pocket and not under warranty its gonna cost alot. i know the dealer tried charging me 500 dollars because they blamed my gauges and the fuse for the blower kept blowing. i mean eventually you might have to take it there. but it could just be somethign simple. just go back and check all the work you did and see if you have any problems.

and yea, i'll send u a link to a working service manual in the morning. im uploading my copy since i ca't find one that works

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galantv600)</div><div class='quotemain'>i didnt know 02 had El gauges... i thought they were only for 99-01.... Â*02s dont let the 99-01 go on right?? Â*if he has a 02 he need to get the bezel of a 99-01?????</div>

You are right about the bezel. 2002 and up need to have a bezel accompany it in order to cover the gauges. In my case, I just ordered one off of Ebay. The application is the same from 99-03 however as far as the gauges go.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pinoyesv6)</div><div class='quotemain'>hey vic. i say try to stay away from the dealer. uhm now that u mention the lights, i'd go around and do a check of the whole car. make sure nothing else is broke. go over the whole car again in the sunlight make sure everything is ok. i know it started getting dark when we were talking (i was working on my gauges too). maybe even take out what u messed with before and put everything back togehter. maybe u plugged something in wrong or maybe u accidentally cut a wire. Â*

but yea the reason i say stay away from the dealer isnt' because of ur warranty, its because finding the problem might take the dealer a while and since thats coming out of ur pocket and not under warranty its gonna cost alot. i know the dealer tried charging me 500 dollars because they blamed my gauges and the fuse for the blower kept blowing. i mean eventually you might have to take it there. but it could just be somethign simple. just go back and check all the work you did and see if you have any problems.

and yea, i'll send u a link to a working service manual in the morning. im uploading my copy since i ca't find one that works</div>

I have a feeling that when I was pulling in and out fuses to check them, I probably popped the one for the park lights. I'm not too sure but I think i had the lights on when I was checking so that could've caused it to pop. And as far as the check engine light goes, it's gone now so I'm good to go again. I have checked everything else and no other problems arose.

Now when I was trying to figure out what is wrong, I did pull out and reinstall the gauges several times...I looked over the gauges carefully and looked for any blown circuits, or anything strange. But then again now since we know that the switch is not getting any power...I have to try and solve that problem first. I will go through and recheck fuses this afternoon...hopefully I can come up with something. I'll look forward to seeing that service manual. Thanks.

here's the link to the index of the manual. it should take u to all parts of the manual

http://pinoyesv6.galants.com/FAQ/8gManual/index.pdf

tell us what you find, maybe we can think of how things went wrong and how to fix it

Thanks! I didn't get to mess with it today cause it is my wife's b-day. I've looked at some diagrams and I will start inspecting closer tomorrow. I am suspecting a relay may have gone bad, is that possible? If so, is there a way to tell it's bad just by looking at it like a fuse?

Well, I checked all the fuses and they look fine...nothing popped or burnt. Should I get a meter to check them again? Also can you check relays with a meter? If so, how is it done?

i was at my friend's house earlier and we were all bored and i got to thinking. maybe we can find the problem my trying to isolate it more...

that black wire with the silver stripe, thats the ground. so if we took a meter and hooked it up to a positive that we know works. then when we hooked the other probe to that wire then you'd get 12v. if you didn't then that means that something happened to the ground. so if u don't get any power there its cuz the circuit isnt' complete and that black wire is the problem.

do similarly with the green, make sure you are gettnig 12v. if not then its something between that green wire and the positive end of the battery.

check the fuse box. check to see if you are getting power there. if you are then its somewhere between the green wire and the fuse box. if not then its somewhere between the fuse box and the battery.

Okay, I'll have to buy a meter today cause I don't know anyone who owns one that I can borrow. I understand what you are saying about isolating it more, but where things get a little fuzzy is when you say check at the fuse box. Which fuse terminal should I check? The gauge fuse terminal or all of them? Shoot...maybe I'll take a trip down to where you live Alan and buy you a steak dinner if you help me with this :wink: