My dash lights are blown... please help

[Parsalian05]

Ok ill give you the background info... try not to laugh, and flaming me wont do much because i don't plan on trying to do anything that involves wiring so blindly ever again:

i recently installed a boost gauge on my 96 talon tsi awd, it works fine, but i could not get it to light up. so...

after searching this site and its forums endlessly for a simple diagram of where to tap the boost gauge light so that when the dash light is up, the gauge lights up, i decided to try my own luck. a friend suggested i try the cigarette lighter wires (i dont use the cigarrete lighter anyway so i thought, even if i mess this up, it wont matter), there are 2 black wires, a blue one and a green one. i removed the plastic on the driver side of the center console and simply cut the green wire of the cigarette lighter, spliced the wire from the boost gauge to it and then ground the other wire from the boost guage... it worked. i was in a hurry so i quickly put everything back together and drove myself to work. now of course, as soon as i get back in the car and turn it on, the gauge light stops working (at this point the dash lights were still working though).

i got back from work and checked all my wiring to make sure none of it had gotten messed up when i put everything back together. all of it was fine. this is when my frustration got the best of me . first i cut the blue wire and tried tapping it there... nothing. then the first black wire... nothing. then the other black wire... nothing. at this point i just gave up and decided to worry about it later. i drove over to my friends house only to realize that now my dash didnt even light up! just a note* my warning lights/signal lights etc still worked but my speedometer/tach/air conditioning lights did not work*. i drove back home, connected all of those 4 wires back where they belonged and still the dash did not work... and this is where i am now.

im thinking i blew some fuse or something. PLEASE, any help would be appreciated, if you need more details just ask, its late and i might have forgotten some. im going to bed... ill check back in the morning.

PS: yes i realize im a moron, especially when it comes to wiring, thanks.

-nate

 

[icedearth15]

Your dash lights not working is most likely a fuse, and I believe it is in the box under the hood, but I can't assure you of that. Just start checking for blown fuses.

Check in the box under the hood, in the "Radio" fuse set (there's two fuses.) Those can cause your dash lights to go out, so check those first.

(In case you aren't sure how to check this, the little connection visible between the two sides will be broken.)

As for a power source, here ya go. Towards the bottom, tap into the No. 7, Red 12v. Ground it anywhere you want (on metal, obviously.)

http://www.ecanfix.com/~aclifford/tree/images/index/mods/superafc/afc.jpg

 

[Parsalian05]

whoa thanks that was far easier than i thought it would be heh

 

[Coup D E'Tat]

No problem (I posted the above from my buddy's house, under his name.)