ok, i installed my new cdplayer today, and now my dashlights dont work! might it be a wire i forgot to connect, or maybe just a blown fuse. im not gonna work on it til the morning, so i guesss im jus lookin to save some time. any help is appreciated! thanks guys!

-Doc

anyone?

I'd love to help you out Doc, but this is the first time I have heard anything like this happen. You're right, its probably just a loose or unconnected wire.

Hopefully we have some electrical gurus here that know how to fix this?

When you installed the head unit, did it come with a wiring diagram?

What, _none_ of them? In that case you probably have blown the fuse.

If it'* blown, disconnect your CD player first; I guarantee you the replacement fuse will blow otherwise as soon as you turn on the car lights again. It sounds like you connected something wrong.

Aftermarket units generally do their own backlighting from their main power supply; they plug into the backlighting circuit (the gray wires in the dash) in order to detect when you have the vehicle lights on, and read that as a signal to dim their display to match. They don't actually _use_ the backlighting power since that'* for incandescent bulbs, and aftermarket displays are usually LEDs and such that are lit at all times.

If only some lights in the dash are out, but others are still backlighting properly, then you have probably severed a gray wire that was feeding not only your old stereo but also some other components in the area.

definetly fuse

ok next question... which fuse is it? i check the fuse marked cluster, but its not blown... i connected the illumination wire this mornig and i will see tonite if they werk.. anyways, if u know wher i look for the fuse and whut its marked, i would greatly appreciate the info.. thanks agin!

thanks to everyone that helped, i found it... it was fuse 8b.