Light Sensor Issues

wucantstop · September 17, 2004

Hey all,

I have been working on my car all summer and a couple weeks ago decided to install more accent lights to the interior of my car. Though I have often done stereo/lighting work in the car, something was wrong with me this time and I forgot to disconnect the battery before starting. Everything went well as I installed blue LEDs all throughout the car until I got in behind the radio. I took the radio out, and started connecting a couple LEDs which I had run through to all the vents (so they would glow blue from inside the air vents when turned on). All of my lights run through a master switch panel which I had previously mounted under the ignition and wired into the radio power source wire. While doing these last LEDs, I must have accidentally crossed the wires and caused a short. The climate control and radio had stopped working at all. As I expected, I found that the radio fuse in the kick-panel fuse box had blown and I replaced it. When I checked again, everything was working perfectly, including the lights I had just installed, and needless to say, I was relieved. This was in the daytime however, and when night came, I got in my car to drive around and see how the new lights looked at night, and none of my night-time illumination was working! Though the backlighting behing the climate control and clock LCDs are working, and all the green indicator lights on my buttons are working, the backlights behind the buttons themselves have stopped, so I can no longer see the button labels at night. My ashtray light also stopped working at the same time, and perhaps strangest of all, so has my headlights indicator. Though my headlights definitely turn on and function properly, the dash indicator does not tell me they are on. All the other indicator lights work fine, as far as I can see. The traction control light works, and my brake light indicator, which has been on for a long time (due to my use of LED bulbs), is still on. Even using the dimmer control gets no response from these lights. The other part of this that doesn't really make sense is that though all of these lights have stopped working, as well as my headlight indicator, the AUTO headlight function still works. My lights turn on at night or when I go into a tunnel, but there is still no light for them on the dash. Is it possible that I burnt out all of those bulbs, if they were somehow wired in series separately from the ones behind the LCDs? If not, what did I do to my car? What did I short? Please help!

SKperformance · September 18, 2004

What are you using to power the new lights?(wires)

I would guess you shorted the harness and blew another fuse or the power you are using is from the dimmer switch and has cut it out from working.

What happens when you remove power wire from the lights completly at the junctions?

wucantstop · September 18, 2004

That is part of what is so confusing. The lights, as with a bunch of lights I installed months ago, are wired directly into a power switch, which I spliced into the power wire that goes to my radio. I didn't cut any factory wires or splice into them. Instead, I ran the power off the power wire that feeds my aftermarket radio, and all the aftermarket lights I connected are all wired through the switch box.

SKperformance · September 19, 2004

I would say you wired the power to the dimmer switch from the radio and are causing problems with it.

Disconnect it and you should be ok.

VBdenny · September 19, 2004

I'm not sure if this relates but I know with my Malibu lights around my house that the more bulbs that blw the faster the others blow because of the increased voltage. Perhaps it was a cascade effect. I'd pull a couple of the easist and see if they are blown. If they are well you have work to do.