kirbymeister025

Hi guys im new to the site and have just got a mk5 fiesta ghia and thought the dash lights were a bit to dull so i bought some blue led lights to try and brighten up the speedo a bit and fitted them and got a little puff of smoke then took them out and now i cant get the dash to light at all even if i try the original bulbs. All the other lights work like heater controls, indicator, high beam, mileage display etc but i cant get the 2 upper dash lights to work at all so im wondering what has shorted out or gone wrong? Also now the engine check light has come up aswell. Im not to good with electrics so was wondering if its a fuse or something thats blown or just a matter of resetting something? Any help with this would be really appreciated guys. Cheers Rob

dazoriginal

check your fuses , also are you using the correct bulbs ?

kirbymeister025

Hi cheers for the reply. I bought 10 little leds which was advertised for dash bulbs as they fit right into the bulb holder. I checked the fuses in the engine bay. Is the one in the car under the steering wheel and to the right a bit? Im just really worried ive knackered it and will need to buy allsorts now. I changed the dash bulbd to leds in my civic and they worked perfectly with no problems so i thought this would be the same thing as its pretty straight forward to fit them. Cheers rob

kirbymeister025

Sorry about that last post its not very clear. I meant to say i checked the fuse box in the engine bay and there all fine and is the fuse box in the car located to the right of the steering wheel and down a bit near the little holder/tray thing. Im just wondering how this could make the engine light come on aswell as ive only just got the car and dont want to have to spend loads fixing the dash already. Thanks again Rob

dazoriginal

fuses are in car yes right hand side , just look at the panel and find out which is which
then replace the blown fuse . if in doubt replace dash bulbs with similar ones rather than
blowing fuses all the time

kirbymeister025

In your opinion do you think it sounds like ive blown a fuse somewhere then rather than broken or burnt something out in the dash itself. I was worried as i saw a little puff of smoke from the bulb holder then i took it out and since then couldnt get the lights to work and now the engine check light has come on aswell. Could i reset that by disconnecting the battery for 10 minutes or so? Cheers Rob

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

If you saw smoke then you have shorted something, and this would have blown a fuse, if you don't know the exact fuse check handbook, you can check the fuse by removing and visually inspecting a blown fuse will be identified by a break in the wire.

Should think it's likely to be a 10A fuse.

When it was shorted you may well have damaged something hence the EML, that may well have damaged something. Disconnect the battery for 10 minutes and re connect BUT make sure before you do so that you know your radio security code etc, usually found in your Audio brochure or handbook, this will erase any codes the ECU has in it's KAM.

Martin

kirbymeister025

Thanks for the help mate. Im gonna give all the fuses a check tomorrow and disconnect the battery. I only wanted to make the dash lights a bit brighter for driving in the dark as i found them very dull. If id of known it would cause this much trouble i wouldnt have bothered,lol. Hopefully it will just be a matter of changing a fuse and disconnecting the battery for a bit fingers crossed. Thanks again Rob

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

LOL, keep us posted, as it's a Ghia does it not have a Rheostat that you control the brightness of the dash on? Perhaps this is turned down?

Martin

kirbymeister025

I had a look around for a dimmer of some kind as my civic had one and a few other cars ive had in the past like my lexus had one aswell and as fiestas go the ghia is a pretty nice spec but i couldnt seem to find one, I found it weird that you cant adjust the height of the steering column either as i tried taking the whole speedo out but couldnt get it past the steering wheel and didnt want to take the whole thing apart really.

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

You shoulden't have to remove the any part of the steering I shoulden't think, maybe the steering cowling?

Martin

kirbymeister025

Well i took the upper steering column cover off and still couldnt get the clock out no matter which way i turned it and i didnt want to force it or anything. Im pretty good with cars and this is my 12th one and i love to tinker about with them but hate anything to do with electrics and i thought changing the dash bulbs was pretty easy but apparently not,lol. Changed them to leds in my old civic no problem so thought this was gonna be the same sort of thing.

kirbymeister025

Hey guys i disconnected the battery and left it for 10 mins then connected it all back up again and the engine management light has gone out thank god. I still cant get the 2 upper dash lights to work though and ive checked all the fuses and nothing seems to have blown either so i dont know what to check or try next really. Cheers Rob

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

Check the bulbs themselves as you may have blown them, more than likely I should think if the rest of the illumination is good.

Martin

kirbymeister025

The thing is when i got the little puff of smoke yesterday then the engine light came on i tried all 10 leds and none of them lit up even though i know the leds themselves work as i put one behind the little mileage clock and that one works fine, its just the upper 2 that are playing up and the fact no fuses have blown or anything confuses me.

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

Then you need to check you have power at the PCB, worst case scenario you may have damaged the dash itself.

Martin

kirbymeister025

The engine management light came back on again when i started the car this morning and still cant get the upper dash lights to work, starting to give up now,lol. I wouldnt have a clue how to check if theres power to the pcb or not as i know nothing about electrics unfortunately

OlRoadPirate