today i took the cluster out of my car and i ripped the electrical paper cover on the back , i noticed that two of the gold lines running thorough the green backing were ripped. so i decided to solder them back to each other, so i soldered them together but there so close to each other i just put one bead of solder and it connected both lines to each other with one bead of solder....i went to plug the cluster in and everything worked fine, then i turned on the lights (didn't light up) and noticed a little smoke from the large plug on the left in the pic below...so this means that the wires i soldered together shouldn't have been connected to each other...so i have a short right....i went to a local car electric store and they said like 300 bucks to find and fix the short...is there anything i can do to keep from having to pay this, could i just get a whole harness for a cluster from the junkyard...i mean where could the short be? and how could i find it?

so i just put the cluster in after i swapped out a whole new green backing on the back, and now everything works fine but the lights

sorry for the long post.....please help me fix this!

 

anyone?

 

ttt

 

i cant see anything at night!

 

??? interior lights or exterior lights ? I hope interior cuz that would suck if not. Try this replace the little dimmer switch on the left hand side of the stearing wheel then check all fuses and if I where you i would get a new gauge cluster cuz I wouldn't put any hack in my car

 

get a wiring diagram and learn how to use it. start at basics. light doesnt work. it has ground, all it needs is power. trace where it gets power from. current path is broken or diverted somewhere between the battery and the bulb. first check the fuse, if it is blown than you may have a short to ground. try replacing the fuse and if it blows immediately once you turn on the lights, you have a short to ground. if the fuse doesnt blow youve probably fixed it. if the fuse is good start running down the line and checking for power. obvoiusly if you have power out of the fuse, nothing but wires and switches between it and the bulb. its broken somewhere. trace it out and you will find it. if thats too much pay someone to do it. if you are unlucky and it is a short to ground start praying because sometimes you just have to start guessing. isolation is youre only tool. if you throw in a fuse and it blows immediately, try disconnecting something and throwing in another fuse(unless you have a circuit breaker or a special short finding tool). if it blows again you know the short is not dowstream from where you disconnected. if it does not blow you know it is downstream. keep disconnecting and isolating till you find it. sometimes that can mean a lot of fuses, a lot of time and a lot of profane words. also there are often not convenient connectors. cut and repair if needed. its all basic electricity, simple if you learn to use a wiring diagram. good luck.

 

ive checked all fuses and there all good still....but no interior lights still