Dashboard lights not working.

Hi Everyone,

I just bought a 2005 Prius with Navigation with 96k miles. I test drove the car during the day and by the time I took the car home it was night time. I noticed that the dashboard lights are not lighting up. The LCD in the speedometer works fine however lights for any of the buttons next to the Navigation screen and the Audio do not work. At night it is almost pitch dark. The dome lights work fine and so does all the external lights. I have checked almost all of the fuses and they all look ok.

The rheostat button on the left of the steering does nothing, even if I move it up or down. I am not sure if that is the issue, and how difficult would it be for someone to change that.

Any help on this would be greatly appericiated. The dealer would probably try not to have this fixed since I bought this as is. If only I had test driven this at night

I love my new Prius, I just hope I can get this fixed.

 

I did, I can move it all the up or down and nothing happens.

 

Ok, the first thing - When I roll the dimmer up and down, the speedometer does not dim - with or without the lights on.

Second - At first I did'nt notice the steering wheel buttons light up, but last night I sat in the car, and they do light up - very dimly - but they do. And the dimmer has no effect on those.

Thanks for replies guys - I really appreciate it.

 

My thinking is that either it is the actual bulbs or the dimmer switch. I have been doing a lot of research online and somewhere I read that if I move the dimmer up or down, it is supposed to have the Start button lights go dimmer or brighter. I also noticed that it has a 6 disc changer, and I put in 2 discs, and the lights for that turned on. So when I turn on the head lights, those lights and the clock lights go high or low, meaning if I turn on the headlights, the clock light would be brighter. But If I move the dimmer, the Start button lights do not go high or low(At night)

Two things - How easy would it be for someone like me (somewhat technical) to open up the dash and look around - Maybe there are some DIY guides for that .

Secondly - How much would the dealership charge me for something like this - I would probably not go to a dealership - I would prefer a local shop which has been excelent in the past.

 

I did check almost all the fuses already. There was one missing fuse in the engine compartment for DRL 7.5 A - I am thinking that is for the DRL system, and I went and got a new fuse and put that in, but that did not fix the problem.

One thing I would like to check when I get home tonight is to remove the DRL fuse and see if that had any affect on steering wheel lights. Like I was mentioning before, I bought the car on Saturday, and on my way home I noticed that none of the dash lights were working. So yesterday - on sunday - I put a new fuse for the DRL, and I noticed that the steering wheel button lights were lighting up. It still did not have any affect on the rest of the lights.

My main goal is to have the buttons next to the navigation light up.

I am really leaning towards the notion that the dimmer switch/rheostat needs to be changed. What do you all think?

BTW - Thanks Patrick - Thanks Marvinh - Thanks jelloslug - Thanks paprius4030 -

 

Also does anyone know of a DIY - Step by step guide - with pictures on how to remove the dash.

Patrick - Your pic was nice, but I know I would cause some major hell if I just start pulling panels and removing screws.:faint:

 

Thanks once again Patrick for this.

I will keep that as a last resort. If I can get this to work without having to tear apart the dash, that would be awesome.

 

Does anyone know where I can buy the rheostat / dimmer switch - The little round wheel button on the bottom left of the steering wheel?

 

Also does anyone know if that switch can be pryed out with a flat screwdriver, or would it be necessary for me to remove the dashboard.

 

Update: Took the car to the dealer and he said the dimmer connection was loose so thats what was wrong with it. Its working great now.

Thanks for all the help.

 

It didn't cost me anything. Like I mentioned before, I noticed it on the day I bought the car while I was driving away, so they fixed it free or charge. It wasnt a major fix anyways, since the dimmer switch was disconnected. Bummer that they made you pay 400.