Xvetteowner

I have a 1989, I can't lower the illumination of the gauges. The little illumination control **** has no effect. The gauges are alway bright, Headlights on or off, Day or night It's always the same. I just saw in the Owners Manual there is something called a "phototransistor for brightness control" Its between the idicator warning light and high beam light Does anybody know what that does? I'm pretty sure my problem is one of these controls. Anybody else had to fix this? Thanks for any input

Randy V

That's a photoelectric eye that detects ambient light levels and automatically adjusts brightness accordingly. Less bright in complete darkness, for example.

Regardless, you should still be able to adjust dash lighting using the dimmer control wheel.

Nicole

Have your dash lights been upgraded to LEDs? If so, the stock dimmer would no longer work properly.

drewthestu

I have what might be a similar problem with my 89 S4 automatic. When the headlights are off, I have full dashboard illumination but when I turn the **** to the right one click to raise the headlights the illumination on the dashboard goes dark and when I turn on the headlights by turning the **** one more click to the right nothing changes, the dashboard is dark. It's really the opposite of what I need. Driving in the daylight the dash is lit and when in the dark (when the headlights are on) the dash is dark. Any ideas?
By the way - my lights on the climate controls are never lit, nor the ***** that control the rear air.

Any ideas on where to start?

drewthestu

Is it possible that the phototransistor is not functioning? If so, what's the fix?