so the dash lights that I do not have are the instrument cluster and the main ac/radio clusters. They do not illuminate on side lights or full headlights

I think there may have been a hack job at some point and could have messed up the wires. I confirmed the wires that are sending out power to the clusters are spitting out 12v.

can anyone take a picture of this connection from their vehicle to see if these are in fact correctly connected ? Note - it looks like the wire has been cut in half. I have dealt with this...

 

Dug further into this issue today, still no resolution.

I wanted to focus on the switch and the output to the dash illumination.

From another post from Rufflyer:

C0041-8 is power in from CJB
C0041-9 is power out to the dash and instrument lights (all of them it seems)
C0041-4 is labeled "AUTO 52" that is an output to the CJB and I think it activates relay 274 for auto light function for the instrument lights.

Here's the diagram from the sheets:




C0041-9 is the red/brown wire that according to @Rufflyer powers the lights. I comes out of the switch then splits in to two. I do not know where the split goes but i suspect one to the display and the other to the radio/climate lights.

Now I've put a meter on the out put from this wire and have noticed that it is not consistent. When first turning on the lights it reads a full 12v. Once i touch the wire to the load (ie. the dash lights) it drops. I wonder if this is still a switch issue? I would have thought a constant 12 V when activated would work. I thought there might be a issue with the dimmer - but that doesn't seem to be the case (when reading the output from the above wire and dimming the switch it drops - i expected that as it regulates a lower voltage to the lights to dim them).

Too reiterate, my headlights and side lights work. Even my fog lights. Just now instrument display/climate/radio.

 

Maybe you can just run a jumper wire from the CJB output wire to the cluster illumination input. With that said, dash illumination may be PWM which means a digital volt meter reading is useless.

 

I had thought about that...however I am worried about giving it too many volts (?) For instance If I ran a dedicated lead to the wires from a tap on the CJB would that do? I would just have to watch the amps and keep them to a minimum - say 5?

 

So here's another update. It's not the switch. I managed to get another one and it behaves the same way. This is what i have noticed....

The red/brown lead is split out from the lighting control module - this was due to the fact the switch for the fog lights was put it. I can now see that the connection was not standard, rather this was after delivery. I am now ignoring this because it is evident it was spliced in for the power and illumination of the button (i think).

So...

With the lights switched off then turned ton to side lights and headlights I get 12v+. As soon as I touch this to the wire that continues on to other illumination switches, dials etc. the switch "shorts" and does not provide power. The switch itself darkens and has to be turned "off" then back on to provide power to the illumination lead.

1) does this indicate a short anywhere in this circuit?
2) In theory, could i jump this lead to any of the illumination leads (i.e. the radio) etc?
3) To try and trace this, I could, therefore unplug anything that this feeds and plug back in until the short is found?

Any tips would be appreciated!

 

From your description, the dash light wire is behaving like there is a short downstream from there, yes.
To confirm, you can connect a test light or multimeter + lead to a positive voltage source and the other end to your positive dash light wire after the switch. If the test light illuminates, you have a short to ground. Ditto if your multimeter now reads + voltage.

A note: always test your test equipment. In this case, after connecting to a voltage source, check your setup by touching the other end of your multimeter or test light to a ground point to make sure they do light up or show a voltage reading when connected to ground.

To locate the exact problem wire section or component, you can do the same test with each wire/component isolated. Yes, unplugging things will isolate them to test each circuit.

 

Yes, I understand this...makes sense.

I just wish there was an easier way to isolate. For instance, i would like to know where C1177-c1165 is in relation to the loom - see below. I could undo the connector, i'd be able to eliminate half of the load.

Could I also perform a continuity test in the same way? Could I test each of these connectors and reasonably assume that if they all are showing no continuity i would have to be before they split?

 

Another update.

I pretty much tried to access and test all of these components - using a continuity method and all of them passed. I had posted on another forum about this and someone suggested looking at the ground that the bundle was attached to. I cleaned it, but no change. I also was curious about where these connect on the passenger side...so i pulled up the carpet etc and found the connector. I unplugged it and...i had dash lights on the front...so i knew that the issue was from this connector back. According to the wiring diagram that meant only 5 items connected. But I still couldn't figure out which was was causing the issue.

But most of them were joined at one of the infamous splice locations...i undid the tape and the splice looked fine...so I started snipping...with the intention of resoldering...but also trying to further isolate. After the third wire i found the offending branch....but i still don't know what it runs...or illuminates simply because all the supposed load points are still illuminated...

Plan is, for now, to keep this separated and resolder the good leads and protect them.

Anyway, pat on the back for me...that took a lot of investigation

 

Awesome! Nice work. And thanks for posting the solution - really helps when others come along later with a similar issue.