Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior ac reverse indiglo guage problems

about 3 days ago, i noticed my gauges would flicker once they first turned on, but then after i started driving, they were fine. the next day, the same thing happened but they stayed off for a while, then finally turned on after i was driving. today i got into my car, they flickered then didnt turn on the whole way home. they flickered here and there. i got home wondering wtf was the problem? i thought maybe i had a loose wire or something. so i popped the hood and checked my connections, everything seemed fine. i took apart my dash and took out my gauges and noticed the white wire (if any of you have the same faces as i do: ac reverse indiglo) that connects to the face looked burnt! like maybe it got too hot? and it also looks torn. like it ate thru the connection. only half of it is still connected. what could have caused this? im going to call up mb autosports tomorrow and ask if they can send me a replacement. anyone have any suggestions? thanks

Sounds like you have an irregularity in your car's power distrobution.

Often times when you install ANY set of gauge overlays, you clip down the celica's gauge hood onto the wires protuding from your new indiglo gauges... and without a washer between this area, after time your gauges get warn and the power begins to fluxuate.

because of that fluxuation, your gauges begin to start doing strange things. - in your case, they flickered and burnt through their own wire casing.

the way to provent this would have been to make sure your gauges were securly fastened so that the electronics between your celica's gauge boot did not have a chance to move around when you drive... but not so tight as to "crimp" the wires.

I currently have this problem happening with my set of gauges... for the past 12 months

Even after 12 months, they have not worn out and still work great!

the only times when they flicker/change color or turn off and on are when the weather is extreamly cold or Im making an over 100mile driving trip (from Los Angeles or Las Vegas or even San Diego)... but its no major problem

for the most part, my AC Autotechnic Gauge Overlays work flawlessly... it was possibly one of the easiest installs I could have done - and it always gets compliments from people riding shotgun

that happened to my old TRD reverse indiglos.

see the long black wire that connects to the top of the gauges? near the 7-8k rpm mark? THATS the connection that got fried. it looks as if maybe i could solder it back together? i called mb autosports and talked to jane. she said they can probably send me a new one as long as i send this one back to them but she has to talk to her manager still.. and her manager wasnt in at the time. ill call back in a few hours and see whats up. isaac, where exactly is that connection that you said has to be fastened correctly? i thought i did an excellent job installing everything..

heh.. the truth about indiglos...
i hate em

buy my gauges

its not a defect in the gauges. it just happens. indiglos arent made to last forever. they burn out. but what happened was that when you put ur gauge cluster back together, it pinched that black piece too hard. so it then short circuited thats what happened to my old TRD reverse indiglos.

EL sheets lasts for long time...
It's just how bad quality wiring and transformer is made makes it bad..
I think my transformer when bad..
It flicker onces and it stays off...
But all the wiring are fine...

Where can I get another box??

ok mb autosports told me they will replace them for me, i just have to send the old ones back. i have to pay the shipping charges but oh well. they will ship it to me for free. anyways, when i took out the gauges, i got to get an up close look at the burn spot. it actually burnt into the plastic housing the gauges sit in!! and burnt part of my factory gauges which were sitting behind it at the time. but the plastic coveres it all up.. so yeah. new gauges will be here soon.

Isaac is totall correct. I have the same exact problem but it does not happen all the time. Sometimes they would flicker extremely bright then go dim. Then flicker different colors. I have had mine ever since I bought my car 2000. Anyways it's not a big deal just annoying sometimes they will even go out for couple minutes and come back. I may try buying a new pair can't do nothing about it since the connections get clipped in between the speedometer and the plastic casing causing it to bend the plastic connector. That's where my problem is and it is getting a slight short. No worries.