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Dashboard Lights Out After Work Done
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nrgins
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Aug 9, 2016, 6:29 AM
Post #1 of 14
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Dashboard Lights Out After Work Done
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Took my car (2003 Dodge Caravan SE) to a car place to have the passenger side power window regulator replaced. Then noticed last night my dashboard lights didn't work. All other lights, external and internal, worked, including dashboard indicator lights and odometer light. But the dashboard lights themselves didn't. Tried adjusting the brightness, etc. No effect.
Don't see what they could have done that would have affected the dashboard lights. They did unhook the battery, so I suppose it's possible that something shorted out? I don't know.
The guy says he'll check it out, but that since the tail lights are working, it wouldn't be a fuse, since, he said, the dashboard lights and the tail lights are on the same fuse.
So, two questions:
1) Is there any way that unhooking the battery and replacing a passenger-side power window regulator could cause the dashboard light to go out? I don't see a connection. But it's an awfully bizarre coincidence if not.
2) Does anyone know which fuse I would check for the dashboard light? I didn't see any fuse labeled for it in my fuse box.
Thanks!
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kev2
Veteran
Aug 9, 2016, 10:14 AM
Post #2 of 14
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Re: Dashboard Lights Out After Work Done
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gauges work just the illumination is NG -
And yo did set the dimmer to Hi ?
(This post was edited by kev2 on Aug 9, 2016, 10:37 AM)
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nrgins
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Aug 9, 2016, 12:35 PM
Post #3 of 14
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Re: Dashboard Lights Out After Work Done
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gauges work just the illumination is NG -
Sorry, not understanding what that means. Could you clarify?
And yo did set the dimmer to Hi ?
Yes, I tried that.
Thanks!
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Aug 9, 2016, 12:41 PM
Post #4 of 14
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Re: Dashboard Lights Out After Work Done
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? Most vehicles - any makes have a provision to dim or brighten dash illumination and even shut it off. Check for how it's supposed to work - they vary just to rule out something that silly,
T
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nrgins
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Aug 9, 2016, 12:53 PM
Post #5 of 14
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Re: Dashboard Lights Out After Work Done
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Yes, I tried that. Moved the dimmer all the way up and all the way down several times. No difference.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Aug 9, 2016, 4:11 PM
Post #6 of 14
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Re: Dashboard Lights Out After Work Done
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Do the driver and passenger doors courtesy lights work? The body control module supplies power to the lamps that illuminate the interior. The integrated power module supplies power to the running lights, so your mechanic is wrong that the interior lamps and running lamps share the same circuit on this vehicle.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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nrgins
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Aug 9, 2016, 5:35 PM
Post #8 of 14
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Re: Dashboard Lights Out After Work Done
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Resolved it. Someone in another forum suggested disconnecting the negative battery terminal for 5 minutes to let the Body Control Module reset itself. Did the trick!
Apparently when they disconnected the battery they must've touched the terminal to something that caused the BCM to glitch. Seems to be fine now.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Aug 9, 2016, 5:40 PM
Post #9 of 14
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Re: Dashboard Lights Out After Work Done
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That means the BCM is alive and able to light up the MAP lights. You also stated the ODO light is working, but none of the other instrument cluster illumination lamps? The switch panel lights are not working either. Just want to clarify what isn't working.
The BCM gets the signals from the headlamp switch to turn on illumination panel lamps and such. The BCM also send communicates with the front control module to turn on the parking lamps. So that means the switch and BCM are working. Sometimes if there is a short in a circuit the BCM powers, such as lamps, it will fire off a trouble code and shut off that particular circuit to protect itself. Might not hurt to check for trouble codes in the BCM. You'll need to have it scanned with a high end scan tool. Autozone won't have that tool. It may come down to actually doing some diagnostic circuit checks using a volt meter and wiring diagram to figure out what is going on.
Did this start after the regulator replacement. Maybe a wire got pinched.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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nrgins
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Aug 9, 2016, 6:35 PM
Post #10 of 14
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but none of the other instrument cluster illumination lamps?
No, everything else was working, including the instrument panel lights. Only the dashboard lights (lighting up the speedometer, etc.) weren't working.
It's getting dark now and I'm about to go out in my car, so I'll be able to see better if there are any other issues.
Did this start after the regulator replacement. Maybe a wire got pinched.
Yes, immediately afterwards. The shop owner (not the mechanic) said it couldn't be related to their changing the regulator, though I mentioned to him that they had disconnected the battery.
Perhaps they touched the battery terminal to metal?
What kind of wire would've gotten pinched to have caused this to have happened? I'm just curious.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Aug 9, 2016, 7:29 PM
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Really not to sure on that one. There are switch inputs from the door latches to turn on the lamps when you open the door and power door locks that the BCM is in charge of. Power windows get their power from the integrated power module and not the BCM. Really don't understand why disconnecting the battery would cause the BCM to inhibit the dash lamps. Might have gotten an answer or a better guess as to what happened if the BCM was scanned and found storing a code(s) saying such and such was shorted. BCM has to monitor the amount of current on those power circuits, so that it can turn them off if there is a fault. If the problem comes back, you might have an intermittent wiring issue and you'll need to do some diagnostics then.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Aug 9, 2016, 7:32 PM)
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nrgins
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Aug 9, 2016, 7:52 PM
Post #12 of 14
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Re: Dashboard Lights Out After Work Done
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I wonder if touching the battery terminal to something might've caused a jolt to the BCM? (Speaking out of ignorance here.)
Just got back from driving. Everything seems to be back to normal!
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Aug 9, 2016, 8:03 PM
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If you were to short the positive battery terminal, with the battery connected, you would just see a nice spark show and melting metal. It shouldn't cause a power surge because your not adding voltage or current to the rest of the system. You're actually causing a power interruption. Not sure if a brief power interruption or dip in voltage would cause the BCM to go schitzo. I'm not going to go and test that theory on a customer's van..haha. If you were to touch the battery terminals together with them disconnected, that won't do anything but discharge capacitors and cause a reset. If you touch any one of the terminals to anything with them disconnected from the battery, it won't do anything except cause a possible reset.
Don't have the answer to that one, sorry. Hopefully the problem stays gone.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Aug 9, 2016, 8:07 PM)
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nrgins
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Aug 9, 2016, 8:35 PM
Post #14 of 14
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Thanks, that answer is actually very helpful. At least I don't have to worry about it being due to carelessness on their part (I think).
The person in the other forum who recommended disconnecting the negative terminal wrote:
"disconnecting the battery can cause problems in various parts of the system. There's little you can do to prevent it."
So I guess he felt this was par for the course sometimes when you disconnect the battery. At least, that's the way I read that.
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