On my 83 280zxt auto trans. My gauges dont work none of them. I have the analog gauges, I did replace the speedo with a 130mph gauge but before I did that nothing still worked. I put some LED bulbs in the dash and I the only work from about the temp gauge going left to the clock. (which does not work) My blinkers dont work, and the dome light switch acts kinda funny. When the switch is closest to the driver seat, only the floor lights come on, when in the middle the light you can move around comes on and i can turn it on and off. And the floor lights come on and they all are really dim. when moved to the far right (switch) nothing works. Before I took the dashboard out all the dash lighting worked..does the problem maybe have to do with the new speedo or maybe my care came with a digital speedo at one time. I tried to pull the round main plug off of the panel (speedometer) and it was to hard to take of didn't want to brake it.
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Have you checked your fuses as a start?

 

I checked my fuses and they are all good

 

Start with checking the voltage on those wires. No volts = no power. Then start tracing them back until you do get power. Electrical problems are lots of fun.

 

image my pain... i had a mexcan horn wired into my lighting when i got my car... too bad i never got to hear that horn but at least i can see my feet when i open my doors now

 

I think i'm going to have to just take it to a shop...because i need to get it to pass smog and that could cause a problem for them. And I don't know a thing about electrical.

 

To a shop eh? Expect a healthy bill.

 

yeah well I don't know what to do...there is a z-shop here in town so I might take it there but there is a place that only does electrical...I don't know who i should take it to..remember i asked about the light & key warning light..I looked it up in my hayes book and it said it should be a different light there on the turbo model

 

Did you replace the whole gauge unit or take it all apart & swap JUST the speedo?

 

I got to thinking about this...and something wasn't mentioned yet. You said your dash lights and such worked..before you took the dash out. And then after you put it back in. They didn't work. Something I overlooked in my Firebird before. I will bet that your dash is not properly grounded. Ground wires are just as important as the regular ones. I spent 13 hours one day. Just sitting there and tracing my wires in my Firebird. Only to find out at the end..that it wasn't grounded properly. Try that...and see if that helps. Look up where your ground wires are in your schematics. Hope that helps..

 

I think he meant that the gauges didn't work even before he did the swap... I think.... The negative positive threw me off a lil... but I don't not maybe know.

 

Oh okay...I just realized that nothing worked before. My bad...but grounds are very crucial to an electrical system. That much I know. Anyway I don't want to sound like I am bragging. But I am sure if I could be there and help him. I bet I could get alot of his electrical working in his car. I have been through the wiring in my '82. And everything works like it should. I just kind of have a knack for electronic things. That is why I have decided I want to be a tech.

 

the lights worked before. now only half the lights work. from the temp gauge to the clock. i did not replace all the gauges i just put the new speedo in.

 

Yeah I hear you man.. Hmm I still think you might have bumped something somewhere. Or something is not plugged into the cluster. Because when I replaced my 85 speedo with the 130. I didn't have any problems with the electrical part. Weird that you do...yeah something is just not hooked up right. Or it is a ground wire somewhere. If I was there...I think I could help you more. Unfortunately though I am not. Good luck man..and hope you get it figured out.

 

Did you install resistors or some type of voltage regulators w/ the LEDs? Or did they come in a dash kit? LEDs don't use 12v, so if you just hook one up to a 12v lightbulb socket, you can mess things up.

 

Well these are the bulbs I installed...http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/10x-1...spagenameZWDVW

 

Hey Tyson, where's the Z Shop in town?
Actually, do they do any type of body work?

 

its on 328 Union ave and I think 4th or 3rd st. its called Japanese Vehicle Specialists J.V.S.
They have been there for years. As far as I know the only do mechanical.

 

Only mechanical?
It's cool, I should still check them out over my engine taking about a second to turn on.