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Dimmer problem on a '97 Camry

Hi,

I just bought a '97 Camry and when I was driving it at night I noticed that when I try to increase the brightness of the dash board, I can't see the speedometer, only one light is working - the one of the far right, so I only see part of the tachometer... It looks like I need to replace the other light(s) in the center of the dash board and on the left-hand side. I can't imagine that this would be a fuse or wires... What's the best way to fix that?

Also, I noticed that AC controls are not illuminated at all at night, I can only see the Defrost and the AC bottons. I can't see the controls for Low/High air flow or the Hot/Cold air control. Is this a design flaw or are these supposed to be illuminated wehn the lights are on at night?

Thanks in advance.

Pasha

Reply to
Pasha
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First, try turning the rheostat on the outboard side of the steering column clockwise. If that doesn't work, then you have to remove the instrument cluster to access the bulbs.

They should be illuminated when the lights are on.

Reply to
Ray O

You're welcome!

Reply to
Ray O

Is this a tough job Ray?...(I have one bulb out I think, can't see the gas gauge or the right side of that area at night)

Reply to
Gord Beaman

To be honest, I have not taken out an instrument cluster in a long time. If you can get at the screws surrounding the instrument cluster, you might get lucky and be able to pull it straight out. The trick is putting it back together with no parts left over ;-)

Reply to
Ray O

God yes, I'm famous for that, if I'd have kept all those excess pieces I'd have had enough to build another car by now... :)

Reply to
Gord Beaman

I've done this on my 97 Corolla (fuel gauge bulb went out). It was actually very easy (easier than other cars I've had to do this for). Just a couple of screws to remove the black plastic trim, then 4 screws holding the cluster to the dash. The Corolla engineering is wonderful in that there is enough slack in the cluster harness so that you can pull the cluster out and have enough room to look behind it and undo the various connectors.

Once you have the cluster out, the bulbs are easy. I would recommend replacing related bulbs in pairs (or whatever) since I found that another older bulb blew right after I replaced the first one. I also notice a slight color difference (I'm picky) - so I ended up just replacing them all. I think there were 5 or 6 for the corolla.

Cheers, Nirav

97 Corolla DX, 78k
Reply to
njmodi

Thank you Nirav, I have a 2000 Corolla so it's likely close...I'll just pick up the bulbs at my dealer's here.

Reply to
Gord Beaman

The bulbs are available at your local Autozone etc, as well. I think they are standard 194s or something similar.

Let me know if you have any questions. I would recommend unplugging the negative battery terminal before doing this (I just like to be careful when fiddling near the airbags).

Cheers, Nirav

Reply to
njmodi

LOL! I've got odds and ends stashed all over the place. I should try making a car out of it!

Reply to
Ray O

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