Dash lights/I'm electrically retarded

[Squamch]

92 4runner, 22re, w56 swap.
Hopped in to go hunting the other morning and my instrument illumination lights weren't working. Still have tail lights. Fuse is good.
Replaced the dimmer dial, something inside glowed, let the smoke out, and stopped glowing.

Dimmer dial has 3 wires, 2 are 12v+, one is ground.

I have no idea what to check or how. Please spoon feed me.

 

[Gravy]

Do you have power to the fuse. Start tracing and testing backward or forwards from that point

 

[Squamch]

Do you have power to the fuse. Start tracing and testing backward or forwards from that point

Yes I do have power to the fuse, and to the dimmer dial thing. Now since I let the smoke out of it, I don't know how I could check anything past that, or any other part of the system. I'd be happy to eliminate the dimmer dial, and just run the illumination at full stink, but I don't know how the hell to do that. If there is an easy way feel free to tell me!

 

[Steve300xcw]

One of my front blinkers lights up if I press the brake pedal hard. Wich would spaz out the blinker, if turned on..

Just stopped using that blinker. Problem solved

 

[Squamch]

Ripper the cluster out. Left 2 pins on this plug have 12v+ when I turn the headlights on, whether the dial is in place or not.

I think one should be a ground, based on looking at this. That plug plugs in at top right, the 2 pins in question are outermost.

 

[Squamch]

Also found this in an online 1993 FSM.

On the plug on my truck, terminals 1 and 2 (I think, could be 3) always have 12v+ when the headlights are on.

I think this means that somewhere that wire is getting juice when it shouldn't be.

I snipped the outermost wire on the plug shown and plugged everything back together with the intent of grounding it to see if my lights came back....and it has power coming out of the cluster too.

The fuck?!

 

[Squamch]

Aright. I give up. I'm gonna go to princess auto and buy some lights to jank in there.

 

[Thefishguy77]

Its an old Toyota . Turn the radio up and ignore the bit of the rig you dont like.