gager2002 Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 The other day I had a blinker go out. No big deal. Replaced the bulb. Last night I was driving and the typical sun visor problem was just getting on my nerves. So I pull the visor off. Don't need it anyway. ugh! When I did the dash lights went out. Ok, Im thinking i blew a fuse as the wires came out. So I went home, and found no fuses blown. Well, I had to go this morning and get a Texas state inspection. Low and behold driving tails are out as well as the front parking lights. The filaments are blown. On the rear both driving filaments are blown, but the brake filament works just fine. Now I have to replace 4 bulbs. Afraid to put them in and this happen all over again. Any ideas guys? Need to get inspected, deer season opens Nov. Thanks for any advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Your sun visor has wiring in it? Weird. Was it the passenger side one with a lighted mirror? I can't think of much that would pop all 4 bulbs at once except a power surge and that'd fry quite a few more things than just the running light filaments. Martin, any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gager2002 Posted October 3, 2008 Author Share Posted October 3, 2008 Your sun visor has wiring in it? Weird. Was it the passenger side one with a lighted mirror? I can't think of much that would pop all 4 bulbs at once except a power surge and that'd fry quite a few more things than just the running light filaments. Martin, any ideas? Yes my visor (drivers side) had, lol, wiring for the vanity mirror. After researching the web tonight others with the problem said the posibillities were a bad dimmer switch and possibly the headlight switch was shorting out. I plan on switching all new bulbs tomorrow. Will keep you all informed. Anyone else have any ideas? All welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfoust Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Had the same problem just this week... Dash lights went out all of a sudden. Didn't know it at the time it happened but I noticed it took out at least the corner markers on the front as well, and I may have been driving around with no tail lights or running lights for all I know! After some digging it looks like my problem was a short in the dimmer wire on the aftermarket radio I installed earlier this year... Not sure how it made it this long without a problem, but it did! I re-wired the radio (the proper way this time) and replaced the fuses, and all is back to normal. I did have a blown fuse, but it wasn't in the panel in the interior... It was in the fuse box in the engine compartment. This was on a '97, so I don't know if your '93 has the same thing or not. I think it was a 15A fuse that was blown, don't remember exactly what it was designated as, but it wasn't dash lighting or something similar like I was expecting to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gager2002 Posted October 3, 2008 Author Share Posted October 3, 2008 Had the same problem just this week... Dash lights went out all of a sudden. Didn't know it at the time it happened but I noticed it took out at least the corner markers on the front as well, and I may have been driving around with no tail lights or running lights for all I know! After some digging it looks like my problem was a short in the dimmer wire on the aftermarket radio I installed earlier this year... Not sure how it made it this long without a problem, but it did! I re-wired the radio (the proper way this time) and replaced the fuses, and all is back to normal. I did have a blown fuse, but it wasn't in the panel in the interior... It was in the fuse box in the engine compartment. This was on a '97, so I don't know if your '93 has the same thing or not. I think it was a 15A fuse that was blown, don't remember exactly what it was designated as, but it wasn't dash lighting or something similar like I was expecting to find. Thanks. I did notice the radio display is not working, the other lights on the buttons are. Strange! I will also look into the radio wiring. I just bought this last week, so I am finding out everything for the first time. Fuses - on my '93, can anyone tell me where all the fuses are located? Drivers side under the steering wheel, and passenger side under the hood. Where else? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfoust Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 I'm thinking those two locations should be it for your fuses, unless the 93 has another set somewhere that the '97 doesn't! Do you have a factory radio or aftermarket? What I think the problem ended up being with mine is that my aftermarket radio didn't have an illumination line so I just cut the end off that wire so there wasn't a lot of exposed wire and left it... I figure it must have wiggled around and the very tip must have touched something and that shorted out the lights. That line is all tied into the dash lights and God knows what else. When I initially put it in I was in a rush so U just twisted the wires together w/ some electrical tape.. That was supposed to be temporary, but 8 months later I just now got around to soldering all the connections and using heat shrink to seal it all up, so with the shoddy job I did in the beginning, there's no telling what the problem really was. Might just try disconnecting the radio and seeing if that fixes the problem if it's aftermarket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gager2002 Posted October 3, 2008 Author Share Posted October 3, 2008 I'm thinking those two locations should be it for your fuses, unless the 93 has another set somewhere that the '97 doesn't! Do you have a factory radio or aftermarket? What I think the problem ended up being with mine is that my aftermarket radio didn't have an illumination line so I just cut the end off that wire so there wasn't a lot of exposed wire and left it... I figure it must have wiggled around and the very tip must have touched something and that shorted out the lights. That line is all tied into the dash lights and God knows what else. When I initially put it in I was in a rush so U just twisted the wires together w/ some electrical tape.. That was supposed to be temporary, but 8 months later I just now got around to soldering all the connections and using heat shrink to seal it all up, so with the shoddy job I did in the beginning, there's no telling what the problem really was. Might just try disconnecting the radio and seeing if that fixes the problem if it's aftermarket. Yes, the po did install or had installed and aftermarket radio. Haven't even thought of breaking that down. I did check all fuses and all are good. Only blown bulbs on all four corners, cluster out, and radio display out. Guess I will look into that too. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gager2002 Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 ok. bought a dimmer switch, headlight and blinker switch. They should arrive tomorrow. I already took apart the aftermarket radio, sterring column, and pulled out the dimmer switch to get ready for the replacement. Does anyone had the factory wiring diagram for the factory radio? Most fo the wires from the aftermarket are labled, but it looks like they used a nissan pigtail and spliced. Any ideas on checking wires on this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gager2002 Posted October 7, 2008 Author Share Posted October 7, 2008 Ok. Replaced the dimmer switch, blinker/headlight/cruise switch and the wiper switch - all with the radio pulled out and disconnected. Also had the taillight fuse blown, so replaced that one. Everything works. But i should have done it one item at a time so i knew what it was that was bad. lol I guess my best bet would be to check each wire for the aftermarket radio to make sure all is correct. Everyone agree with that? It is very possible that the original components that I removed are still good. If it was the radio to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Essentially, Yes. LOL, I have done the same. Replace several things at once and never really determine what the cause was. These days I try to be more methodical, but sometimes available time, frustration, etc takes over... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 (edited) Had a Similar problem once with my 91 D-21 HB, had no marker lights at all, turns out it was my fault to begin with. Being the moron I am, I had the plate frenched into the tailgate and when I wired the plate light I didn't pay atention to which side was ground/hot. Had it wired backwards, suprisingly didn't pop a fuse or fry a single bulb. Reversed the wires and never had a problem again for the rest of the trucks life(with the lights that is). Edited October 7, 2008 by nunya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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