A couple weeks ago, I installed a new radio headunit in my girlfriend's 1997 Impreza OBS. When I was doing the wiring, I never reconnected the two illumination wires (a 12+ volt and ground) because the radio didn't have those wires. Instead I left the two wires seperated. When the shifter wouldn't light up, she thought it was no big deal so I left it like that for a couple weeks. Today, I wired those two illumination wires directly together, and now the dash lights won't turn on either! The fuse for the illumination circuit isn't blown, so what could it be?

What two wires. Its sounds like you wired the ground and hot together?

 

It also can be it was just time for the bulbs to burn out. Take a meter to the bulbs and see if the bulbs are good to start with.

 

nipper

To clarify, according to this link: http://www.geocities.com/svxdc/WRX-pinout.htm I connected the illumination+ (pin1) to the dimmer/illum- (pin7) together.

 

I really don't think it was just time for the bulbs to blow, as it happened as a direct result of me connecting those wires. Is there a relay in the circuit somewhere that could be stuck/fried/blown?

Looking at the chart it looks like pin 1 is a hot lead and pin 7 is a ground lead or a return of some sort. I don't believe you can just tie them together since they are supposed to tie to a load (the light bulb). I seem to remember something is different about the dimmer circuit in the newer cars. There may be a solid state controller in place of the old standard rheostat. If removing the connection you made doesn't make the lights work again, and there is voltage getting to the fuse you checked then, sorry to say, you may have damaged the light controller.

The dimmer itself is still a rheostat, but it feeds into the lighting module. There is no direct control through the dimmer itself. So yes you may have upset the module. The selector light comes right out of the module(at least on the legacy). Impreza shouldnt be too much different.

 

nipper

Thanks for the clarification Nipper. Perhaps there is another fuse in the circuit to the controller that may have blown out. Hopefully just removing the installed lead will solve the trouble.

Thanks for the clarification Nipper. Perhaps there is another fuse in the circuit to the controller that may have blown out. Hopefully just removing the installed lead will solve the trouble.

 

Lets hope so. Anything with the word module in it isnt cheap. i didnt see anything on my wiring diagram. i do know that there are a couple of differnt lighting circuits on the radio, lets just hop he tapped the frong one and got the module confused.

 

nipper

Hopefully just removing the installed lead will solve the trouble.

No such luck, unfortunately. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet (it was dark last night when I re-disconnected the wires). Any ideas where the lighting module might be located in a 97 OBS?

[...]Any ideas where the lighting module might be located in a 97 OBS?

Here's an old thread where we discussed the "rheostat"/"Illumination Control Module"/"Illumi Con Unit" replacement on '98-'99 Foresters, (starting with post #10): http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=64758 . I don't know offhand where the "Illumi Con Unit" is located in a '97 OBS, but it's probably in the vicinity of one of the locations listed in the thread I linked to, and the label on it should help to identify it.

So I went to the junkyard yesterday, and pulled an Illumi Con Unit from a 98 Forester. The thing was way up under the dash, just as the document OB99W linked me to said it would be. Pulled apart the dash to my gf's car, and lo and behold, the Illumi Con Unit isn't located there. Instead the door lock timer is. I pulled both the passenger and driver's lower dash panels off, looked everywhere, but still couldn't find the thing.

 

Has anyone actually replaced the Illumi Con Unit on a 93-97 Impreza?

My info says it is behind the center of the dash, in front of the console.

Yep, found it tucked behind the radio. Not too bad to replace when you know where it is, lol. Replaced the unit solved the dash light problem, but I'd still like to fix the shifter lighting issue. I figure a resistor in line would prevent the Illumi Con Unit from frying again. Just a matter of figuring out the appropriate ohm rating, I suppose.

The lights on the shifter went out in mom's legacy before. My dad said he "fixed" them by hitting the console. I'm guessing maybe you should look for a short, or bad bulb.

The shifter light issue could be due to a bad connection or burned out bulbs.

 

Glad you got the dash lights fixed.