electrical gremlin - dash lights

[rentedmule]

I randomly lost my gauge and stereo lighting this morning but only with the headlights on. Everything still works in the stereo and gauges, just no backlighting while the headlights are on. The only thing I did differently this morning was turn on my fog lights - they hadn't been on since the trailer was hooked up/plugged in but I didn't pay attention to whether the backlighting shut off when I turned them on.

All fuses look fine in the dash panel and under the hood. Any suggestions on what I should check? I'm still on the road for a few more days but I picked up extra mini fuses and have my tools accessible.

[XTREME80]

Sounds stupid but check "wiggle" the dimmer control. I have only seen a million dimmer switches go bad on GM cars trucks. Just a thought.........:confused:

[renswic]

Also in the sounding stupid area. Check your light bulbs. I went through a TON of checking and replacing parts(wiring tracing, grounds, light switch, dimmer switch ect ect) with my Baja. And it ended up being the damn bulbs and for some reason the working ones from my parts blazer didn't work for it

[rentedmule]

I checked the switch and it didn't fix it but thats all i've done. I don't think its bulbs because my stereo dims out as well as the cluster and comes back on when i turn the lights off. Now that i'm not on the road i'll dig a bit deeper.

[TreasonAgainstCaesar]

I'm pretty sure this can be caused by a bad headlight switch.

I had the same problem a few years ago, and that was my problem. The other symptom I had was that my headlight reminder chime didn't work. I replaced the switch and all was well.

Check fuse 12 (that is probably the dash lights on yours, too)--see if you have power to that fuse both with the headlights on and off.

[rentedmule]

Thanks Jason - I'll check the headlight chime thing tonight to make sure. What's involved in changing the switch?

[TreasonAgainstCaesar]

No prob. Remove the trim panel that is cover the switch. Unbolt the switch from the dash. Unplug the connectors (2 of them I think) and plug the new one in.

When people say 'switch' it's the whole switch assembly. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-OEM-HEADLIGHT-FOG-SWITCH-98-04-CHEVROLET-S10-PICKUP-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQfitsZModelQ3aSonomaQQitemZ20050 3325668QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccesso ries) That's just an example; you can probably get one from the dealer for that price.

[rentedmule]

Great, thanks! Maybe this would be a good time to get a panel with fog lights included so I can run my envoys off a factory switch... :D

[TreasonAgainstCaesar]

The complication that you would run into with the fog switch is that it's only a momentary switch. Of course there would be ways of working around that problem, but don't expect it to be plug and play.

[DMP]

The complication that you would run into with the fog switch is that it's only a momentary switch. Of course there would be ways of working around that problem, but don't expect it to be plug and play.

x2. I made a plug and play harness for Jongo so he could use his foglights with his factory switch.

[Jongo88]

It can be plug and play.... DMP is the man!!!!

[TreasonAgainstCaesar]

Nice. I happily stand corrected on that one :)

[rentedmule]

Just for the record if people are searching this in the future I swapped out my headlight switch for a new one and it fixed the problem. Thanks!