C4 Tech/Performance L98 Corvette and LT1 Corvette Technical Info, Internal Engine, External Engine

dash light dimmer help

Old Jan 27, 2008 | 05:32 PM
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Default dash light dimmer help

have a lil problem. my dashlights dim so much when it is dark i cant see them. i just finished replacing the light switch(thought was the culprit) and they still dim down to almost nothing when i cover the sensor on the cluster. is there a way to replace/bypass the sensor so they atleast stay full brightness? i do remeber a post way back about this but cant find it. any and all help would be greatly appreciated.
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Old Jan 27, 2008 | 06:20 PM
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Turn the headlight switch fully counterclockwise. Also, check that all four lamps that backlight the cluster are indeed working.
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Old Jan 27, 2008 | 06:27 PM
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i tried that. thought the rotary dimmer sectin of the switch was bad thats why i changed it now i am lookin at the photo sensor in the cluster to be bad
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Old Jan 27, 2008 | 06:29 PM
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full rotation either way does nothing to the brightness of my lights they are barely visible when its dark. fully turned counter clockwise turns on my interior lights
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Old Jan 27, 2008 | 11:36 PM
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Shine a light into the photosensor at night, the cluster should go to high brilliance and then determine if all 4 lamps are lit. Each quadrant should be bright, my money is on some burned out backlights.
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Old Feb 4, 2008 | 06:13 PM
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Originally Posted by jfb
Shine a light into the photosensor at night, the cluster should go to high brilliance and then determine if all 4 lamps are lit. Each quadrant should be bright, my money is on some burned out backlights.

well, tonight i went out to the garage and fired the old girl up, turned on the lights and rotated the dimmer fully counter clockwise the dash lights were nice and dim. i followed your sugestion to shine a flash light into the sensor and the dash lit up like a christmas tree. now for any of you out there. how do you go about replacing the back lights? i will assume that they are all out since no dash lights were brighter than the others before or after the flashlight was shined into the sensor
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Old Feb 5, 2008 | 10:16 PM
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update on my progress. went to batee.com and found the schematic for the dash and the fix was so simple i am pretty mad at myself for it. there is a 3a fuse in the dimmer circuit that was blown lol.wish i would have found that site alot earlier then i wouldnt have had to rip the dash all apart to replace the light/dimmer switch.
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Old May 27, 2008 | 10:27 PM
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I just had the same problem with my 89, turns out it was the fuse also. But my question is, what would cause the fuse to blow? they dont blow for no reason?
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Old May 27, 2008 | 10:32 PM
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and the "inst" fuse wasn't a 3amp it was a 5 so i put a 5 back in?
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Old Aug 15, 2008 | 05:00 PM
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whereabouts is the 3a fuse? I'm havin the same problem with my dash too. i just had it rebuilt and all the good stuff, new light switch, but any help is appreciated
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Old Aug 16, 2008 | 03:29 PM
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I had a photo cell on my dash go bad and if you have good soldering skills it can be bypassed by adding a jumper wire across the 2 terminals
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Old Sep 30, 2011 | 10:19 PM
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Originally Posted by 85corvettekws
whereabouts is the 3a fuse? I'm havin the same problem with my dash too. i just had it rebuilt and all the good stuff, new light switch, but any help is appreciated
Ditto. Any one know where it is??
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Old Apr 18, 2018 | 12:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Amethyst643
Ditto. Any one know where it is??
INST FUSE 3A

In fuse box looks like whats being discussed. Glad i found this as Im experincing the same issue, no dim no photocell responce but very bright all the time.

New everything, rebuilt about a year ago with all new parts from batee, built by batee.
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