Radio, climate control and trans lights

[billengelman]

Just purchased an '03 Vibe from private owner. Terrific car in great shape. Didn't notice at time of purchase, but there are no indicator lights for the radio, climate controls or transmission. The main radio panel works, but there are no button or control lights. Can't see the climate control system at all in the dark, nor what gear I'm in. Doesn't seem like a burned our bulb. Is there a fuse or something else that may be blown or burned out? It's a major negative for my wife who uses the car for a long daily commute.

[trb]

The dimmer switch is all the way on, and not off? It could be bad if there are no bad fuses. Maybe someone with a wiring diagram could let you know what wire to hook up to 12v power to bypass it and see if that might be the problem, or you can test it to see if it is getting power. My Mustang has an issue if you don't put the dimmer in just the right exact position, all of the interior lights and the exterior marker lights (tailights included) don't work.

[Chiadog]

Not sure about the transmission position indicator light, but the radio and climate control lighting is a common problem on gen1 vibes. Searching the forum should give you some help. My guess is that burned bulbs are the cause of the transmission lighting problem. Which reminds me, my 05 Base radio lights have been out for a year and the climate control lights went out about 6 months ago. lol.

[billengelman]

Checked the dimmer, and that doesn't seen to work at all.

[ColonelPanic]

So you can't even dim the gauges with the dimmer control?

[billengelman]

Checked it out further and found that the problem is somewhere in the circuit marked TAIL in the fusebox. The old fuse was blown so I took a 15 amp fuse out the the rear wiper circuit and as soon as I touched it to the TAIL slot, it blew again. Obviously there is a short in that circuit. I wonder if it's possible that the Tail relay switch could be bad. As I understand, it's kind of a pain to get at, so I don't want to take the whole thing apart to get at the relay if that's not the problem. My question is, if the relay is bad, would the fuse blow that easily? I don't know car electronics at all, but it would seem if the relay is bad, you wouldn't even get power to the fuse circuit. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[joatmon]

in forums.genvibe.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=41729 inthebasket recently found his TAIL fuse blowing all the time was caused by a bad parking light bulb.

if the TAIL fuse is blown, you get no rear parking/running lights, so until you get it resolved, whatever the problem is, remember that when driving in the dark, people behind you will have a hard time seeing you

[Chiadog]

Seeing as how you "don't know car electronics at all", I suggest you find a competent mechanic to troubleshoot your Vibes electrical problem. The Vibes electrical system is fairly complex and its components are very sensitive to "mistakes"!

[billengelman]

Thanks to all that replied. I'm taking it to my mechanic in the morning.

[billengelman]

Just a followup in case anyone is interested. Turns out the previous owner installed a wrong bulb in one of the running lights and it shorted out the circuit. Correct bulb installed and everything is fine.

[Chiadog]

Thanks for the follow-up! It's always nice to know what the cause of the problem was. Glad to hear it wasn't anything catastrophic like a shorted wiring harness.