Hello everyone, I currently own a 2000 Bonneville SE 3800 Series II. It is a great car, but I am having trouble with the interment panel illumination. At first I thought that there was a loose connection, but after fiddling around for a few hours, I took it apart. I see that there are 8 bulbs that create the illumination effect. I hooked one of the bulbs up to a 12volt power supply, and 4 of the 8 lit up (The one that i touched did not.) Which is fine, it is understandable that there are 4 bulbs are out after 10 years of life. Now the only problem is, why are the four not coming on when i plug the entire cluster in including the red bulb for the systems monitor? So at night, the only bulbs are are illuminated are the PRND321 lights, both blinkers, the MPH back light, and everything else that is LED. I am just wondering why no illumination light bulbs are working, but all of the LEDs are working. I am trying to diagnose, but trying to do such a thing with the ribbon cables is extremely difficult. If anyone has some insight into my situation, some tips, or best of all a Wiring Diagram of the Cluster/Dimming areas of the car, that would be great. Thanks for reading, and I really hope to hear back so I can finally drive my car at night.

Check for a open circuit. There may be a bad wire or something. Not the more familiar with that area of the car.

LED'* usually take less power to operate than incandescent type bulbs. The Dash Integration Module might have something to do with this as well and might be the reason why the required voltage is not getting to the cluster.

the incadescent bulbs that illuminate teh panel at night are very sensitive and burn out, LEDs can take more abuse than a normal bulb, there is no fix that anyone has found yet, I tried to get to them but you have to take apart the whole cluster and I don't know if everything would go back together properly after you do that

I just ordered the replacement incandescent lights, and have soldered the others off of the original board in preparation for the new ones. I have purchased a replacement dim module, and am hoping that that was the issue all together. If it wasn’t I am going to be at a complete stump and will have to contact a dealer. How much does it cost on average for a Tech II Checkup? I personally own a Tech II, but I am not super familiar with how to use it. Thanks for all of the help!

Just installed the replacement bulbs. They cost me a whole $0.41 a piece. The gauge cluster looks great, now I just need the new dim module so they actually light up, and I will be all set. Thanks for all of your help everyone! If anyone else has this problem, you can order the bulbs here: http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/25-940 They may look a little bigger when you get them, but they work just as good.

If you could do a write up with pictures that would help out a tonf of people, for example I need to have the milage reprogrammed on my cluster and I can take it to a place around here but they send them to florida overnight to have the work done and i'm worried that the trip will damage some of the bulbs

Sure I can do a quick writeup, I will try to do it tonight.