Hokearmy

I have a 2005 Aveo and the instrument / dash lights including the lights on the shifter no longer work. They went out once about a month or so ago. After a while they began to go out more often and now they are out completely. The lights for the radio and clock still work but they have flickered a few times but then quickly come back full strength.

I checked the fuse for the instrument lights (located in the fuse block in the engine compartment) with a tester. It does not appear that there is any power coming into the fuse. Another site suggested that it may be the splice pack. Any thoughts on what it would take to fix this?

I am getting tired of driving at night without any dash lights. I have searched a few sites and found that this is not a unique problem for Aveos. However, I have found no solutions. I suspect a loose ground or power wire but I am not sure where the most likely location would be at. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike

shawnvw

I'm going ot say that your problem is not at the grounding location. If your problem is specific to the lights, then it is not a ground problem. There are about 10-15 different modules\parts that ground at the same location as the dimmer circuit, and you say the problem is only with the lights

Do you have a dimmer switch in the car? does it help to play with the settings?

when you say you have checked the fuse...did you use a test light? also whihc fuse did you test? did you know that there are 2 fuses under the hood as well as a relay?
There is a fuse labelled ILLUM LAMP(20amp) that should have power all the time.
The headlight switch applies ground to the relay turning it on which then sends power to the fuse labelled ILLUM RH(10amp).

Make sure all this is happening and let us know the results. You may even try swapping the relay with another that looks exactly like it to test

Hokearmy

I was finally able to get out and check the fuses again. All fuses in both the engine compartment and along the right side of the dash are functioning. I used a test light and touched both sides of the fuse to be sure. I had previously swapped out relay switches but tried again and it had no effect.

The dimmer switch has no effect whatsoever. The only other thing that I found to be out is the headlight warning signal that should function when you turn off the car and leave the lights on.

I did discover that some of the fuses did not have power unless that item was switched on -- Ex. fuse for Hi Beam Rt / Lt only works only when the hi beams are turned on -- same for low beams.

I do not think that it is a burned out lightbulb since both the dash light and the shifter light went out at the same exact time. The fact that they were going on and off for a while also pretty much eliminates that possibility. The switch on the turn signal lever seems to be working. It turns on the lights fine and the hi beam indicator light comes on when the hi beams are on. The emergency flashers work as well.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

shawnvw

pull out the dimmer switch, and cross over pin 1(brn\white) and pin 3(blk). This will by-pass the dimmer switch and put the lights on the brightest setting. Be sure that you have pin 1. Pin 2 has the same coloured wire but will blow the fuse when you cross it over. If you accidentally get the worng one, no biggie, just put another fuse in and use the other wire.

If this fixes it, you can leave it like this, or put a new dimmer switch in it.
If it doesn't fix it, there is a splice in the underhood fuse box that might be worth checking out. 3 brown\white wires conect to a purple\white wire in there. If you still cannot track it down, it may just be easier to run a couple new wires.

Hokearmy

After going to the trouble of purchasing another dimmer switch with no effect, I eventually took the car to a repair place. They discovered that I had a short in the power distribution box. They ended up rewiring it from another location. "Rewired CKT 309 from splice to SP103" Given the large number of complaints about failing lights on Aveos, this clearly appears to be a manufacturing defect.

shawnvw

Glad you're all fixed up...thanks for the feedback

getitfixed

Your the man shawnvw! Same problem here, inside cluster lights and rear right illuminating light are both out. The plastic Splice connector in underhood fuse box is burnt to a crisp between the purple (rt illum light) and the first brown wire (cluster lgts). Called every U-pull-it yard around here to replace the connector, and all of them have been cut off and sold already. This is definately a defect that chevy is somehow able to avoid the recall on. I hope everyone reading this will contact chevy customer assistance @ 1-800-222-1020 and put in a complaint as well as the office of defect investigations (ODI) http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm if you are experiencing this same issue, even if you choose to fix it yourself. The squeeky wheel gets the grease ppl.
Hopefully my complaints help us all soon.

unusaly

Same from me.
I am happy to recieve PMs but not if they are merely questions that can go on the forum.

julasley

Okay, so my car just started doing this last night! Also I was leaving the gym this morning and my gear shift (it is automatic) would not shift, I had to use the release. Was this expensive to fix?? I am a girl and know nothing about cars... could I do it mysef??

shawnvw

all you have to do is find the splice pack, cut it out and connect all the wires by either soldering them or using a but connector