Thread: Very unique problem..please help UPDATE

Like always i do a good search and ive never come across this probelm before.....ever. My wife has a 94 g20 with highmiles on the clock. The car gets along fine but it started a very interesting problem today. Its dark now when she goes into work and comes home in the dark so i need to get this fixed asap. The issue is, this morning on her way in the dash lights went out along with the tailights. They both come on when you hit the brakes. The other lights like the check engine the bright light indicator and all that works still, the flashers still work. the radio lights work and the lights by the auto shifter go out to. But all the lights come back on when she steps on the brakes. Any clues to this issue?

Im no electrical guy by any means but it sounds like a short somewhere to me. Anybody help with this? Im stumped.

the gauges will light up when you have a taillight bulb out.

check all of them. possibly one is gone, or you have the wrong bulb in. it wont do it for a headlight or turn signal however. see if all the parking lights come on when you turn the lights on. the console bulb being out wont do all of that.

anyone?

check the fusible link next to the battery + term.

**** I have the same issue now on my s13!

I had this problem and solved it. My brake lights were burning out causing the dash to go dark. I kept replacing the bulbs only to find there was a short somewhere and I had to rewire the entire circuit.

find a wire thats loose an exposed an also hitting ground .. now the thing is the wire could be anywhere in the car. best place to start would be headlight an bumper light area. then go to rear bumper light n check all wiring around brake light an i mean all wiring from connector to connector.check for corrosion or green like acid **** coming from connectors that also is a bad sign.

Well a new update, the brake lights dont work now either. I replaced every bulb in the rear lights all 8. The brake light on the passenger rear, the one thats in the truck lid was actually burnt looking but none of the wire looks burnt..matter of fact all the connections are still very gold looking, like new actually.. Im tired of messing with it today ill dot it again tomorrow. The back up lights will work and so will the signal lights.. Im baffled. Oh yeah the battery connections look good so do the grounds and the headlights and driving lights just work..its just the tailights and brakes.

Do my symptoms sound like yours? Could be the headlight switch.

How to: Replace/diagnose the headlight switch - SR20 Forum

Cross-post for laziness.

Its probably your brake light switch, hi-top brake light bulb or a bad parking/sidemarker bulb.
All are on the same fuse as the dash lights.

- First change the under dash fuse AND fusible link for brakes lights.
- Next, check you hi-top brake light bulb (often overlooked but can cause the brake lights to stop working when blown).
Note: Also, when replacing the hi-top bulb, make sure its fully seated/pushed in and twist locked
else it will cause a break in the circuit & brake lights wont work..)
- Now, Turn on your parking lights and check front, back and sidemarkers for light out.
- If still no brake lights, replace the brake light switch.

BTW, the exterior light circuits are wired: headlamp circuit (left & right), left side parking light circuit and right side parking light circuit. Changing all of the rear will not fix the problem if the bad bulb is a sidemarker or front parking bulb. Exterior Parking Light bulbs & dash bulbs share the same fuses.

No time to take breaks on Saturday... Get it fixed ! !
Break time is Sunday Afternoon Football ! !