01 S40 Dash/Instrument Panel Lamps All Out - Tried Everythin

IrocD · Post by **IrocD** » 05 Feb 2013, 17:41

Hello all,

I have an 01 S40 1.9t in the USA. Yesterday I started my car at night and noticed I had no dash lamps whatsoever. My cluster and hvac were not lit up at all. The gages and controls work fine. I have replaced every fuse, and checked every relay both under the hood and under the dash. I have also swapped out my headlamp/dimmer switch assy, the CEM, and the ambient light sensor on the dash and nothing has worked! I am going nuts here and all I hear from my wife is how my car is a money pit and nothing but problems. There's no way every bulb blew all at once and I'm stumped. Please help! I can't drive my car at night!

IrocD · Post by **IrocD** » 06 Feb 2013, 20:07

Anyone? Anyone here at all? I know someone has an idea... At least the location and color of an illumination wire I could hot wire?

difflock54 · Post by **difflock54** » 11 Feb 2013, 15:22

I agree, it is unlikely that all the bulbs blew simultaneously but maybe they did?
Have you say quickly removed the headlight /dimmer switch panel and checked the neo wedge illuminating bulbs in the rear.
If they are all blown then it may be that they all have afterall.
suggest you replace with LED's if they are blown as they last a long time and draw less current also.

Post by **regent** » 11 Feb 2013, 16:09

Have you tried the prints:
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/downlo ... 40_V40.pdf
We have access to all kinds of electrical stuff thanks to this site

Is your dimmer switch illuminated? If yes, then check the green wire from it going to the CEM. Refer to page 39.
You could hotwire at the brown wire at B2-22 to check if ALL bulbs may be blown at the same time, but I doubt that. Most likely there is a recessed pin or a loose/corroded common ground connection.
Please post back what you found.
Thanks

IrocD · Post by **IrocD** » 14 Feb 2013, 19:51

I had thought this site would notify me of new replies, so I hadn't checked this thread and seen the replies. I bought a cluster from the ju kyard I work at, figuring that it was the last weak link. Well, that didn't fix it either. So now I have an extra CEM and cluster, and none of my bulbs are blown. I messed my dash up pretty good getting these clusters in and out, and I tried hot wiring right to one of the bulbs and succeeded in getting the cluster lit, but every time I press the cluster in, it grounds and blows the fuse on the hot wire. So I'm guessing I must be hooking the wires up backwards, it's hard to tell with auto bulbs cuz they work both ways. I'm no schematics expert, but how easy will it be to find this brown B2-22 at the CEM? Ugh I am DESPERATE cuz it is really disorienting to be completely in the dark while driving at night!

Post by **regent** » 15 Feb 2013, 11:28

You do not need to worry about being an expert - just look at the beginning of the schematics file; there is a very easy to follow 'how-to read the schematic diagram'. If you want to fix this yourself, you really need to take your time

Like I suggested earlier, did you check if power is going to the dimmer switch? Assuming you now have a new (healthy) dash cluster connected in there (it worked when hot-wired), then your problem is no power to the dimmer. (Suspect Fuse # 11B/7 or wiring from fuse to dimmer.)

Please post back once you have eliminated that.

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Thanks

IrocD · Post by **IrocD** » 16 Feb 2013, 18:36

I have literally tried hot wiring and testing every single wire in my harness that I suspected to be related to illumination. The only results I have are:

Hot wiring the cluster by attaching wires to the + and - on the bulb holder. I then found that the cluster received a ground in the back when docked to the plugs. So I left only the + hooked up to a source and put the cluster in the dash. The cluster lit, but soon was smoking and made a smell

I noticed a small burn in the path leading away from the hot-wired bulb. I think that those paths were not designed to carry the current that was drawn through it, probably to light the whole dash.

This told me that if a hot-wire was to be done effectively, I would have to hit an illumination wire outside of the cluster. So,

After taking apart the rear of one of my clusters and using a marker I tried to trace the paths of the connections on the flexible circuit paper to the wires on the harness, and tried to hit the wires going into that space in the harness. I was constantly apparently wrong because no wire I hit had any effect. And in fact most, after I tested them, turned out to be already carrying 12v.

I am stumped and I've gotten a lot of nice parts for my car the last weeks and I have to drive in a sexy ass s40 with a dash and cluster area all dismantled lol. Idk what to do anymore I am so tired of hacking ay my car's wiring. I want to be sure, and I can't figure the schematics.

IrocD · Post by **IrocD** » 17 Feb 2013, 18:53

So today, I was looking forward to a couple hundred miles of highway driving to find my wife a new car, as I figured it would settle my new H&R Sport springs. While filling up, I noticed that today, my dash was lit, and my clusters rather oddly. It was as if maybe whatever caused the issue had temporarily been corrected and I had just maybe messed up the cluster with all the hot wiring possibly.. Any thoughts?

Post by **regent** » 18 Feb 2013, 09:54

I don't want to sound too critical about your hacking (diagnostic) methods

but... I could not come up with any guesses for a possible solution of an equation with this many variables...

Apparently, you have fixed it somehow since everything now works, and that's what matters.
My best guess is that you just don't want too many of us to know how the heck you did it

bricklurv · Post by **bricklurv** » 18 May 2013, 21:04

Reading through all this I seem to have the same issue.

The Dash and HVAC illumination just dies and then returns later usually after a restart.

I haven't yet checked anything and will try the hotwire method to see if that works from another power source but id suspect a dry solder joint or bad earth somewhere to be the culprit.

I will also be upgrading to LED's in the Dash cluster.

Thanks for your more than helpful input Regent.