No dash/rear lights on 97 Suzuki Sidekick

Hi all,

I have what looks to be some sort of electrical problem with my 97
Suzuki Sidekick. When I turn on the lights, the headlights come on but
that's about it. No running lights come on, and none of the rear lights
come on at all. Also, the warning beep saying the lights are on when the
car is off does not come on. The radio and everything else as far as I
can tell works.

I have checked (with a continuity tester even) all of the fuses under
the hood and under the driver's side dash and they all are ok. I also
checked all of the bulbs in the rear and they were all good too. The
only bulbs in the back I didn't check were the bulbs that light the
license plate - I couldn't figure out how to get to them.

Anyone have any ideas on what else I need to check to get all my lights
working again? They just stopped working one day for no apparent reason.
I haven't done anything to the elecetrical system recently (I did
install a car radio myself about a year ago but never had any problems).
I do NOT have a trailer hitch/wiring installed.

Any help/hints would be much appreciated. Please post replies instead of
emailing. Thanks!

brian

I'd be ordering a copy of the wiring diagrams. It's typical for the
headlights to be on a seperate circuit from the tail and dash lamps, but
there should be a fuse. Could be a fusable link, bad ground, or bad
connection at the bulkhead, or many other things. That's why you need
the wiring diagram.

Brian Pipa wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have what looks to be some sort of electrical problem with my 97
> Suzuki Sidekick. When I turn on the lights, the headlights come on but
> that's about it. No running lights come on, and none of the rear lights
> come on at all. Also, the warning beep saying the lights are on when the
> car is off does not come on. The radio and everything else as far as I
> can tell works.
>
> I have checked (with a continuity tester even) all of the fuses under
> the hood and under the driver's side dash and they all are ok. I also
> checked all of the bulbs in the rear and they were all good too. The
> only bulbs in the back I didn't check were the bulbs that light the
> license plate - I couldn't figure out how to get to them.
>
> Anyone have any ideas on what else I need to check to get all my lights
> working again? They just stopped working one day for no apparent reason.
> I haven't done anything to the elecetrical system recently (I did
> install a car radio myself about a year ago but never had any problems).
> I do NOT have a trailer hitch/wiring installed.
>
> Any help/hints would be much appreciated. Please post replies instead of
> emailing. Thanks!
>
> brian
>

On 1/4/04 1:20 PM, in article
[email protected], "Brian Pipa"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I have what looks to be some sort of electrical problem with my 97
> Suzuki Sidekick. When I turn on the lights, the headlights come on but
> that's about it. No running lights come on, and none of the rear lights
> come on at all. Also, the warning beep saying the lights are on when the
> car is off does not come on. The radio and everything else as far as I
> can tell works.
>
> I have checked (with a continuity tester even) all of the fuses under
> the hood and under the driver's side dash and they all are ok. I also
> checked all of the bulbs in the rear and they were all good too. The
> only bulbs in the back I didn't check were the bulbs that light the
> license plate - I couldn't figure out how to get to them.
>
> Anyone have any ideas on what else I need to check to get all my lights
> working again? They just stopped working one day for no apparent reason.
> I haven't done anything to the elecetrical system recently (I did
> install a car radio myself about a year ago but never had any problems).
> I do NOT have a trailer hitch/wiring installed.
>
> Any help/hints would be much appreciated. Please post replies instead of
> emailing. Thanks!
>
> brian
>

When you installed the radio, did it have a place to connect the dash dimmer
wire? If not (most don't), did you seal off the unconnectable wire (tape it
up, etc.)? If that wire is still laying in there, it might have bounced
around until it shorted against something. The last two times I have seen
this problem, this was the cause. On many cars, the dash illumination and
the tail lights are on the same fuse.

Surely there is a fuse designated for either dash lights or tail lights?
Try replacing it anyway, even if it checked out as being good.

Well, I can't figure out what the problem is. I guess I'll take it to a
mechanic. For something like this, is it better to take it to the dealer
or to a good local mechanic?

--
---
MP3 Automagic CD Cover Creator
http://maccc.filenabber.com

E. Meyer wrote:

> When you installed the radio, did it have a place to connect the dash dimmer
> wire? If not (most don't), did you seal off the unconnectable wire (tape it
> up, etc.)? If that wire is still laying in there, it might have bounced
> around until it shorted against something. The last two times I have seen
> this problem, this was the cause. On many cars, the dash illumination and
> the tail lights are on the same fuse.
>
I just totally removed the radio and still no luck.


> Surely there is a fuse designated for either dash lights or tail lights?
> Try replacing it anyway, even if it checked out as being good.
>
Just tried that too. Still no lights. Guess it's off to the mechanic.


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---
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http://maccc.filenabber.com

"Brian Pipa" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Well, I can't figure out what the problem is. I guess I'll take it to a
> mechanic. For something like this, is it better to take it to the dealer
> or to a good local mechanic?
>
> --
> ---
> MP3 Automagic CD Cover Creator
> http://maccc.filenabber.com
>
Hi, Brian. If u know a good local mechanic who's good in electricals,
he'd be usually cheaper. In our 3-town area, the new-car dealers all send
their "we couldn't fix it at the dealership electrics" to one local
independent mech--best around. Better believe I quickly made a personal
friend here!
Also, car mfg's. usually put dash and taillites on same fuse/circuit so
driver is warned when his taillites fail by the lack of lite in his dash.
HTH & good luck, sdlomi

(for those not familiar with my situation, I included my original post
at the bottom of this one)

Well, I took it to my local mechanic and he said the combination switch
is bad. He called the Suzuki dealer and it's $652 new (special order
too). I poked around online and found a used one for ~$150 shipped (with
90 day warranty).

He said they tried splicing the tail and dash wire into the headlight
feed and that seemed to work, but he didn't know if doing something like
that would work as a permanent solution. He said he wasn't sure if
adding the additional draw from the dash and tail-lights onto the
headlight path would blow the headlight power feed.

I looked on ebay and found some combination switches for other cars
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2453265477
and it looks like it is the part that has the turn signals on it and is
mounted just behind the steering wheel (on the column).

Would it be worth my while to call around to some local scrap/junk yards
and try to get one? is $150 shipped for a used one with 90-day warranty
a good price?

Any thoughts/advice would be most welcome. I REALLY don't want to spend
$650+ on this but I really know nothing about this. I definitely want to
get this fixed somehow though since the car only has 40K miles on it.

Help! Please post replies instead of emailing. Thanks!

Brian


Brian Pipa wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have what looks to be some sort of electrical problem with my 97
> Suzuki Sidekick. When I turn on the lights, the headlights come on but
> that's about it. No running lights come on, and none of the rear lights
> come on at all. Also, the warning beep saying the lights are on when the
> car is off does not come on. The radio and everything else as far as I
> can tell works.
>
> I have checked (with a continuity tester even) all of the fuses under
> the hood and under the driver's side dash and they all are ok. I also
> checked all of the bulbs in the rear and they were all good too. The
> only bulbs in the back I didn't check were the bulbs that light the
> license plate - I couldn't figure out how to get to them.
>
> Anyone have any ideas on what else I need to check to get all my lights
> working again? They just stopped working one day for no apparent reason.
> I haven't done anything to the elecetrical system recently (I did
> install a car radio myself about a year ago but never had any problems).
> I do NOT have a trailer hitch/wiring installed.
>
> Any help/hints would be much appreciated. Please post replies instead of
> emailing. Thanks!
>
> brian
>


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---
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http://maccc.filenabber.com

One more question. Anyone know if a combination switch from a Geo
Tracker of the same year would work? I am almost positive that their
parts are interchangeable - anyone know if this includes the
comabination switch?

I found four switches for Geo Trackers for $39-$60 - much cheaper than
the $113 for the Sidekick one.

Brian

--
---
MP3 Automagic CD Cover Creator
http://maccc.filenabber.com

On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 23:08:39 GMT, Brian Pipa
<[email protected]> wrote:

-One more question. Anyone know if a combination switch from a Geo
-Tracker of the same year would work? I am almost positive that their
-parts are interchangeable - anyone know if this includes the
-comabination switch?
-
-I found four switches for Geo Trackers for $39-$60 - much cheaper
than
-the $113 for the Sidekick one.
-
-Brian

Yes it would. They are the same vehicle with a different badge.

I drive a 92 Geo tracker, and when I looked for parts the Chevy
dealer referred me to Suzuki to see if I could get a better price, who
referred me back to the Chevy dealer because the Suzuki price was way
more expensive,

Ian