okay so here's whats happening. i have a compass/thermometer in my overhead console and when i turn my low beams on it shuts that and my dash lights off, so when i drive in the dark ive got no light in my dash other than my aftermarket CD player which i had professionally installed. what could be causing this? ive checked my fuses and theyre all fine, none of them are blown.

help! please!

thanks all.

 

i dont know much about this kinda thing but it sounds like a bad ground or a short somewhere.

 

Did you check the dimmer switch (near the headlight switch on the dash)? If it is all the way down, it would result in no illumination of the gauges, etc.

 

ha ha yes, i checked my dimmer switch. an electrician i am not, nor am i an idiot. if i turn my interior lights on with the dimmer switch and then turn my low beams on, they go out as well.


still confused, pondering taking it to the local chevy dealer but dont really want to spend the big bucks to get something stupid fixed.

 

I was not implying that you were an idiot. Nothing of the sort. It always pays to state the obvious first.

About the problem, you likely have a shorted electrical connection in the dash somewhere. Is it only when you turn on the low beams or does the same thing happen if you have your high beams on?

 

haha, i know you werent calling me an idiot. so when i have my lot beams off, and my DRL's are on, my thermometer and compass are working correctly; when i flip the switch to engage either my low beams or my parking lights, the thermometer and compass go offwhen when they should dim, and the dash lights do not turn on, so if i were to be driving at night the only thing that would be lighting up the interior is the blue glow from my CD player.

so what i am assuming is that there is a short somewhere, but i cant seem to find it and it's driving me crazy

 

You do not happen to have a junkyard close by where you could grab a cheap headlight switch (w/ dimmer) and try that out.

 

i do indeed have one, wait, i have multiple ....but this is my last ditch effort before bringing it to some place to get it done right, because well lets face it....i dont know what im doing....there is soemthing new i found out about it today, the low beams work and all, but if i shut the vehicle off and take the key out, the warning tone doesnt go off...so if i dont remember to shut the lights off it will kill my battery


will that be caused by a faulty switch?