Do you mean the back lighting for the dash does not light up when you turn on the running lights or head lights, or are you referring to the various warning lights on the gauge cluster?
You do not have to replace the battery when it runs out, unless it is bad already. It just needs to be charged slowly with a portable charger, or it will charge enough to start the engine after driving for a few minutes after getting a jump-start. Regardless, you are likely going to have a stalling/hard start problem at first unless you hold the accelerator pedal down 1/4". We will address that later. It has a real simple fix.
The place to start with any electrical problem after replacing or jump-starting the battery is to check for blown fuses. It is common for a few to blow from the current surge when the battery or jumper cables are connected. There really is no actual defect, so you can just pop in a new fuse. The fastest way to check fuses is with a test light. One of the fuse boxes is under the hood, in the rear corner right next to the driver's side hood hinge. Each fuse has two tiny test holes on top to make the tests. Turn on the ignition switch and turn on any systems you want to test, then poke the test light's probe on those two test points. If the test light turns on at both test points, that fuse is good and the circuit is turned on. If the test light does not light up on either test point, that circuit is turned off. You are looking for any fuse where the test light turns on at one test point but not the other.
There is a second fuse box inside, under the dash, just above the brake pedal. Test those fuses the same way.
Check for anything else that does not work, in particular, the radio, heater fan, power windows, and wipers.
SPONSORED LINKS
Wednesday, November 29th, 2017 AT 2:30 PM
