Gauge lights won't turn off

[Beat95GST]

As some of you know, I picked up this car last Tuesday and it's been just about nothing but a nightmare but slowly but surely, it's getting better and better. I checked every fuse under the hood and by the kick panel on the drivers side and found the alternator fuse blown (when I first got it) along with the interior lights (without the key inserted you could open the door and no lights, but you could turn the key to on and everything would come on).

I replaced both fuses, replaced the alternator, and now I've got charging back in business, but now my gauge lights don't turn off (they're aftermarket white-faced units), but the other lights (rear view, kick panel lights, etc) dim and turn off. It doesn't blow the fuse, so I'm not sure if the dude that put them in blew the fuse installing the stuff and never wondered WHY the lights wouldn't come on when you would open the door, and wired it to 12v constant.

I'm not too familiar with those types of systems but I do see some wires with connectors plugged into each other and if I disconnect any of them, individual lights will go out (again with the key off). Anything in particular I need to look for? Also, the boost/oil pressure light on the cluster doesn't work, so I pulled the entire cluster out and saw a red X on the back of it where the lights don't work, are there standard bulbs that go out that need to be replaced? Although I'm installing a pod with boost, water temp, and oil pressure, it'd still be nice to have the whole thing lit up.

Would appreciate any help you guys could offer!

Thanks in advance!

Tony

 

[cincinnati4g]

The guy that installed them probably wired it into a constant source like the radio circuit or something. if you can get a test light and probe your fuse panel for a port that does not get current when the ignitions off, but does when its on, and get the power going to the gauges hooked from your fuse panel, just one way you could test it

 

[inthecease]

I would almost gurantee that the person that had the car before you didnt wire in the guages right because Ive seen a lot of crappy wire jobs because no one really knows how to do it right I would recomend that you pull your dash apart and check all of the connections to the guages and if that dosnt work look up the wiring diagram for your dash guages and see if there is something wired in the wrong way. I would alsmost say that something is messed up at the switch so you should probably check that first.