Bad dsashboard light rheostat?

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Peter_W_Levine@uhc.com - 05 Oct 2006 19:07 GMT

Hi,
I have a'95 Sentra. The radio light has been out for awhile & the black
LED characters for time/station are illegible (maybe because the light
is out?). Anyway, my question is abt the dashboard dimmer switch. Until
recently it was a little squirelly. The dashbaord light would be off
and I'd jiggle the dimmer thunbwheel to try to get it to come on &
sometimes it worked. But no longer. And the light on the auto-trans is
also out. I see a thread abt this that sez it might be the rheostat. I
took out the circuit board and the thumbwheel & looked at it. I thought
if there was a mechanical problem I might be able to see something
loose & tighten it. But nothing stood out as looking wrong. Anything I
can do before I order the part (which I think is what has been referred
to as the rheostat?)

Thanks,
Pete

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Peter_W_Levine@uhc.com - 06 Oct 2006 17:06 GMT

Hi,

I got it fixed. I checked all the fuses & they were all OK. So I took
the dimmer assembly out. (1) Took out the rectangular black plastic
next to the thumbwheel by slipping a knife blade under it. (2) Then I
could get to the dimmer assembly. (3) I pushed it out and then took the
white electrical connector off the back of the assembly and tested it
with a voltmeter to see if any voltage between the red and black wires
when I turned on the headlights (4) There was. So I turned off the
headlights. Then I bypassed the dimmer assembly, which I now knew was
bad, by slipping a wire into the backside on the white connecter into
the spots corresponding to the where the black and red wires entered on
the other side to complete the circuit. (5) Turned on the headlights
and the dashboard light, the light on the auto tran 'stick' and the
radio lights all came on.

The dimmer is now on max all the time when the headlights on but thats
what I always used anyway,

A local garage had estimated the fix would be $150 if 'all they had to
do' was to replace the bulb (which is what they) were planning to do.

Got this idea from another thread. Thanks!

> Hi,
> I have a'95 Sentra. The radio light has been out for awhile & the black
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> Thanks,
> Pete

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