who4ever

Hi all. I seem to feel that the dashboard lights on my 2000 Maxima (with 202,000 original miles!) do not seem as bright as they used to be, maybe by about 50%. The rotating light switch seems to work, an it is locked on to the maximum setting. The dashboard lights do not get dimmer and brighter with driving, nor do the headlights. What would be the most likely explanation for this? How many bulbs illuminate the dash and how many fuses come into play?
Thanks, Dave

Jasonxneo

The bulbs which are in the instrument cluster are probably old and going out. You can easily replace them by taking out the cluster and buying leds which drop right in. There is a write up on here which explains the whole process

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Better check your alternator. It could be on its way out.

yankeefan13

^This for sure, and IF it is your alternator, it will go out quickly.

who4ever

Thank you all for your replies.
To Jasonxneo, where is this write up? Can you give me a link?
To the Wizard and Yankeefan13, if it were the alternator, wouldn't the lights dim and brighten as the engine is revved or when I turn on some other electrical device?


Dave

who4ever

Can anyone please respond?
If it is the alternator, wouldn't the brightness vary as I revved the engine?
And if it were the bulbs that needed to be changed, since there are 4, wouldn't different areas of the instrument panel be of different brightness, which they are not?
Dave

Jasonxneo

Here is the write up to replace the bulbs in the instrument cluster:

Get 4 #74 bulbs. You can even get a set of 5 led bulbs that just plug in from walmart.com for 5 bux. Then remove the 2 philips screws from the trim above the instrument panel and remove the trim. Might have to force the bottom of because it's held in with push tabs but it doesn't break easily so don't be afraid. Unplug the switch on the left and the air temp sensor and set trim aside. Then remove the 3 philips screws holding on the instrument panel. Push it to one side and angle it to get it out. Unplug the wiring
Harnesses and flip it over. There's 4 twist in bulb holders lined up across the center. I believe they're Brown. Twist them and remove them. Pull the bulb out of each one. If you're replacing with regular #74 bulbs then transfer the blue rubber sleeves over from the old bulbs to the new bulbs. Those are there to disperse the light and eliminate hot spots. Reassemble in reverse order. If you're going the led route plug the wiring harness back in and test lights before putting everything back together because the led bulbs only work 1 way so if any don't work remove them and rotate 180 degrees and try again. Bulbs get dim over time so even if they still light up they should look better with new bulbs. Oh and if you get the 5 pack of led bulbs use the extra one to replace the bulb that back lights the odometer good luck

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As for the alternator being the problem, you can go to any autoparts store and have them load test the alternator. Its a similar process as load testing the battery but the voltage should be higher than the 12.6v-12.7v when the car is off.

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

Happened to me, then they went out completely. Every fuse was fine. Alternator was perfect.

Ended up being the dimmer switch.

who4ever

I tested the alternator as best I could with a multimeter and it seems ok.
Again, if the entire instrument cluster seems dim, chances are it is not the bulbs. There should be a difference in the brightness over different parts of the cluster, right? All 4 bulbs would not be dimming at the same level, right?
So, the dimmer switch! That sounds interesting. The only way to check that is to buy a new one and install it, right? And if I do that, I might as well replace the bulbs at the same time, since the panel is already disconnected, right?
Dave

Jasonxneo

The dimmer switch is actually located inside of the car to the left of the steering wheel. It looks like this.

Daniel VQ30life

iTrader: (2)

[QUOTE=Jasonxneo;8999826]Here is the write up to replace the bulbs in the instrument cluster:

Get 4 #74 bulbs. You can even get a set of 5 led bulbs that just plug in from walmart.com for 5 bux. Then remove the 2 philips screws from the trim above the instrument panel and remove the trim. Might have to force the bottom of because it's held in with push tabs but it doesn't break easily so don't be afraid. Unplug the switch on the left and the air temp sensor and set trim aside. Then remove the 3 philips screws holding on the instrument panel. Push it to one side and angle it to get it out. Unplug the wiring
Harnesses and flip it over. There's 4 twist in bulb holders lined up across the center. I believe they're Brown. Twist them and remove them. Pull the bulb out of each one. If you're replacing with regular #74 bulbs then transfer the blue rubber sleeves over from the old bulbs to the new bulbs. Those are there to disperse the light and eliminate hot spots. Reassemble in reverse order. If you're going the led route plug the wiring harness back in and test lights before putting everything back together because the led bulbs only work 1 way so if any don't work remove them and rotate 180 degrees and try again. Bulbs get dim over time so even if they still light up they should look better with new bulbs. Oh and if you get the 5 pack of led bulbs use the extra one to replace the bulb that back lights the odometer good luck

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i have the same problem with my 4th gen, is the LED process similar?

who4ever

Again, I appreciate all of you taking the time to respond. But no one has really answered my main question, so let me make it simple.
If the problem were the bulbs, doesn't is seem unlikely that the entire cluster would be dimmer to the same extent? I don't se how all 4 bulbs would dim at the same rate. There should be at least 1 bulb that has not dimmed. Also, what if I added that the radio and temperature displays seemed dimmer also. Would that give anyone a clue?

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

The old bulbs get dimmer as they age, it's normal and quite typical on these cars. You want to look for SEEDYROM 's post about the HPx3 Superbrightled replacements. All other LED replacements (pretty much) will not work well. If you are going to get something other than the ones I mentioned above, just get the OEM replacement bulbs, because anything in between will be crap.

who4ever

Tuner, again, nothing anyone in this thread has explained to me why the entire dashboard (cluster, radio, heater) seems uniformly dimmer. Assuming the alternator is functioning, what else would you look for?

King_Ten_Ahead

iTrader: (2)

You have received multiple answers to your question.

abg124

Have you checked to make sure the dimmer *** is all the way up, cause that will dim everything

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Your post reads to me like the gauge cluster bulbs are what you are referring to. I didn't get the impression you meant the entire cars illumination, my apologies. In that case the best route is to test the voltage in and out of the dimmer switch to see if it's the same, and ensure its 13.5+ volts while the engine is running

who4ever

Thank you!

Shinjiduo

iTrader: (106)

All the cluster bulbs are on a paralell circuit so unlike a serial circuit every bulb gets the electricity fed into it individually even though they are on the same circuit. This has the effect of have no one bulb taking on a higher level of stress at startup like with a serial circuit (for example christmas lights). Direct result? It is common for all of the gauge lights to wear and weaken at the same rate but it still rare for all of them to blow simultaenously.

Shinjiduo

iTrader: (106)

+1

Shinjiduo

iTrader: (106)

Sorry did not realize you had dimming problem with all interior lights. Dimmer is probably the reason. But since you car is old it could also be that all the lights on paralell circuit being fed electricity at the same time from a single source could all just be getting weak. Or you just have a grounding problem.