Hey guys,

The back light on the odometer of my car seems to be almost out (very very dim). Someone mentioned to me that it just be the switch (headlight switch) what are the odds?
and also is the lighting system for it built in the LCD or is it a separate bulb like the rest of the cluster? or am i SOL?

Thanks!!

 

Anyone?

 

I would take a gamble and say one or two of the dash bulbs are out. Your probably seeing adjacent bulbs providing some residual lighting for the dash. They are a twist out and twist in bulb socket. then pull the bulb straight out and insert a new bulb. The dash essentially lifts out after you pull the bezel off, and installing new bulbs is very easy.

Here is a link to new LED bulbs for our dash. Bet thats all your problem is a burnt out bulb, I had to replace a couple of mine already.

2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Glove Box LED Replacement Bulbs | LED Lights for Cars | 12v | Super Bright LEDs

 

well i know i have at least one burnt out bulbs behind the gauges, i just wasn't sure if they LCD display was back lit the same way as the gauges or not, thanks man!

 

Did you figure it out?
I am in process now working on this. I was told that that are 4 resistors that need replaced. I will check all data pro tonight.

 

I"m interested in this also. My odometer/trip is super dim. It DID respond (brighten up) by hitting the trip button a bunch of times, but now it doesn't do anything. It just stays BARELY lit.

I heard it was a cap or resistors, but some confirmation of some sort would be great! I'm betting it's a fairly easy fix, let's hope!

 

I found a few posts about the situation, for instance, from BBEngineer:

"Dim or blank odometer is typically bad solder joints and/or fried power inductors on the cluster PCB

If you aren't up to repairing it yourself, I offer cluster repair services... Send me an email ( sales@bbengineer.com ) if you are interested

BBEngineer"

If someone could verify where the inductors are, or if the cold joints are typical (I'm assuming the ones right behind the odometer LCD), that'd be great!

 

I just recently had a similar problem with my Monte. The symptoms where: very, very dim odometer light and could not see where I was shifting my car. My radio light was very,very dim too. Also the DTRLs did not work, I had to manually pull the headlight switch for them to work. Another thing that led me to think it was my headlight switch was that I could not adjust my interior lighting. It stayed the same all the time. Turns out it was the head light switch itself. Some people said that they had blow fuses because of the burnt out switch but all my fuses were fine. This might be a good place to start if you have some of these same symptoms. Let us know how it turns out.

 

I just replaced mine. It is the resistors, I will locate the video on youtube later. It's pretty easy. I will also locate a picture of the board to show you wish ones, they are different than the regal.
I am at 141,xxx miles too.

 

That'd be great! Yeah, I know it's not the dimmer switch, as EVERYTHING else is working fine. But the damn odometer is BARELY legible. I was thinking cold solder joint, as "pushing" on the trip switch could have possibly connected/disconnected the joint - as to why it "lit up" those few times. But it could have just been coincidence or what have you.

A picture of video would be great!

Thanks again!