Dimmer Switch???

[x2xtreme360]

You sure about that ground reading? Ground should be zero volts. This could potentially be your problem if you have voltage coming from the ground wire. That would indicate a short somewhere in the ground circuit which would normally blow the fuse. Possibly not enough current to blow it, idk.

If you ARE reading 5.6V at that ground wire, I would recommend (temporarily) cutting that black wire from the dimmer switch harness, temporarily install a new wire into the harness (leave a few inches so you can do the wiring of course) and ground the new wire to a good ground source. Try a new dimmer once you've done that, and see what happens.

[x2xtreme360]

I should also add:

That black ground wire goes to the 4 pin harness down by the fuse box. It's impossible to see without removing the kick panel that holds the hood release but it's a square shape and has 4 blade style pins in it. The harness from your dash goes to that connector and that's where that particular ground wire is located. You can easily find out if the short is coming from the dash harness or the body harness by checking the voltage at the harness down by that fuse box. If you read a voltage there, the short is further into the harness, if you read 0 volts, you now know that the short is in the dashboard harness.

[Mike-92RT]

I put the positive probe in each pin of the plug. WITHOUT the Rheostat plugged in. I had the headlights turned on, cars power was on, and i grounded the negative probe to a piece of steel thats underneath the center console (taken out)

I did those readings with the 20v setting. Those are the exact numbers reading from each pin.

[Mike-92RT]

im sorry, it was reading .05v lol... im starting to tear the dash out, i have mostly everything out besides the glove box, and the steering column

[x2xtreme360]

im sorry, it was reading .05v lol... im starting to tear the dash out, i have mostly everything out besides the glove box, and the steering column

I was going to say... that ground wire grounds more than one thing. Having 6V at that wire would just make no sense. Those readings all seem correct.

Does the rheostat instantly burn up when you put one in? One thing to remember is that you should keep the rheostat open whenever possible because if you don't that can cause it to get hot due to the internal resistance of it.

[Mike-92RT]

When i got the new(er) Rheostat from the junkers, i plugged it in while driving on a dark enough day where i can see if the lights turn on.
Soon as i plugged it in and turned it on, it got hot instantly, still no illumination. So i quickly unplugged it... It was almost too hot to touch.

Now when i plug her in, it stays cold, still no illumination. All my fuses underneath the kick panel are all good.

[Mike-92RT]

Here is a picture of my dash removed.. time for some new aluminum dash vents :P


Look at thattt... NEW electrical tape around the black/yellow wire hmmmmm.


Just as i thought... the wiring is fucked underneath there. TADAAA!!


Thanks for all your help people!

[x2xtreme360]

It appears that it was just tied into the existing factory wire down there? Not quite sure if that's why the dimmer is getting hot. Black/yellow is tied into black/yellow. Might need to do some more searching.

[Mike-92RT]

It appears that it was just tied into the existing factory wire down there? Not quite sure if that's why the dimmer is getting hot. Black/yellow is tied into black/yellow. Might need to do some more searching.

that wire isn't connected fully, about half of the single black/yellow wire isn't connected

[x2xtreme360]

Hard to tell from the pic blur, but I think I can see it now.

I'm not 100% sure how that is causing the dimmer switch to blow. I could just see that not allowing enough current to flow to the lights it's supposed to be controlling. I'd have to look into it some more and maybe someone else could chime in but that just confuses me.