Lights on shift position

[Guest reattafun]

I have been meaning to ask,

I was wondering if there was supposed to be a light for the shift position on my 89 and how hard to replace the bulb if so?

Chris in Ohio

[Guest CL_Reatta]

If I remeber correctly, the 88's and 89's had electroluminescent lighting for the shifter, I don't think it can be changed easily, though I'm not sure.

[Guest TommyH]

the have to be replaced, which can be a problem, if you are good enough, you could buy some electroluminecent strips, and cut it to work, but i havent goten ther yet. yoour best bet is to buy one from jim finn or something.

[Howard]

If the Power Window Switch and the Mirror Control do not light, it's possible the inverter is bad. They all work off the same inverter. However, the failure of the PRNDL is very common. The items are connected in a series too. If one becomes disconnected, the others will not work. If I remember correctly, the white wire is the one that carries the current for the electrolum. lighting.

[Guest grkman1]

My shift lights and dashboard lights do not always come on right away. Sometimes I have to drive a while before they do. Are they by any chance attached to a light sensitive thingy to come on only when it is really dark outside?

Thanks

[jchudyk]

When the shift indicator lights don't come on with the headlight switch, turn on the fog lights. On my '89, the fog lights light up all of the interior dash and console lights. I've studied the schematic of wiring and can't figure out why it works as it does.

[padgett]

If the fog light turns everything on but the headlight swich doesn't, the problem is in the headlamp switch. Have been several posts on how to remove, disassemble, and clean. Mine healed by spraying tuner cleaner/lube in the cracks between the buttons while cycling the switch.

BTW - the shifter lights - is there supposed to be some indication of which gear is selected or do they all just light ?

[Guest TommyH]

the shift indicator is supposed to light a ring around which ever postion you have it on, but the letters are suposed to always be lit up. my window and mirror lights dont ever come on, but im not concered about them.

[Guest grkman1]

Thanks for the help I am thinking about taking the dash apart, getting the switch and spraying it like you said Padgett, with the spraying tuner cleaner/lube

Thanks

[Guest reattafun]

I pulled my shifter knob off pulled the shift indicater and looked closer and the shift indicater was unplugged. Plugged it in and it still would not work and I tried the one from my 88 and it would not light up. I thank you for the help and will try looking closer in the next few day's.

Chris in Ohio

[Guest TommyH]

here is whats under the cover, fyi. i think if i could get a sheet of this stuff, i ould cut it to replace whats already there. and sorry i couldnt zoom in far, its a VERY old camera.

[Guest DTerry]

As Howard previously stated, instead of a central supply with branches, the lights in the shifter panel, the window control and the mirror control are daisy-chained in series. I had one I couldn't get to light up, so I jumpered it to another. Seemed like a good idea, so I webbed them all together. All the lights have worked for 3 years now.

[DAVES89]

I replaced my shift lights using aftermarket lights, [see my post " console lights back on using aftermarket lights"] as I didn't think that replacements were available. The reason I am reposting is that Tommy H. has taken his apart and the pictures are in this post. This seems to be a common problem and I am offering a simple "factory look" alternative.