Drive light ?

[Diesel28]

Good day to all.i have a small minor question to ask .i have a 93 3.1 bighorn auto and was wondering,there is a small area on the dash that is between the revs and speed a vertical box ,is this to show you what gear you are in or is it nothing as was wondering if it had a thing to show you what gear you are in without looking at gear stick.
many thanks

[Dave]

I thought like all autos that it would have a light indicator on the dash (what you are describing?).
It should light up to show wehther you are in drive,park etc.
If it doesnt work, may have a minor electrical fault.

Dave

[Diesel28]

Thanks Dave,i had a diahatsu rocky b4 i got the horn and the light behind the spedo was blown so was curious if that is what has happend to my bighorn.Was just never sure if there was a indicator between the speedo and rev clocks.there is a small vertical block about 1/2 inch wide X 4 inch tall .can youtell me if this is for the park-drive-neutral indicator as not too sure.And if there is a blown bulb behind dah , can you or someone else tell me how to remove the dash to check on this .
Many thanks in advance .

[Dave]

If you look very closely, you should be able to make out the symbols on this (D,P etc). I thought that each of these would have a seperate bulb, rather than a single bulb for the whole lot , which, could possibly mean a poor connection off the shifter/gearbox.
Hopefully an auto sparky may shed some light on the problem (hint,hint Oleg ;D)

[Diesel28]

what city are u in dave ?
Chch here .
and do you know the trick to removing speddo part of dash to check out if there is a bulb behind there ?

[Diesel28]

Also ther eis a button down to the right of steering wheel that i dont know whatit does.i was once told it was to heat the il in transmission but not sure if that is right or not.Its like a transmission icon with a glow plug swirly like lines over it .can take a pic and email it if any one needs to see if to tell me what it is .it is situated right of steering wheel,below the spotlight,headlight washer button.

Any ideas ?

[morpheus]

^^ you are correct , its a preheat on cold mornings for teh transmission, it wont light up on a warm day
I think it diverts the exaust gas around it somehow

[Dave]

Is yours the square dash? (wipers,lights are knobs on the dash) or the later facelift?
My square dash only has 4-6 screws holding the cover on, and 4 holding the instrument cluster in.

Dave

[Diesel28]

yes my one is the square dash model,has the lights,wiper,hazard lights and dimmer on dash board around the speedo area.morpheus can you please explaine how the pre-heat thingy works please.do i need to push button in b4 i start truck or once i start it up .i tryed it once and heard it click in the fuse box area so it must be connected and noticed the rev's change slightly.i apoliage if i sound like im bugging ppl but dont know anyone else to ask so asking around here for help on this.
many thanks in advance

[geeves]

"explaine how the pre-heat thingy works please.do i need to push button in b4 i start truck or once i start it up .i tryed it once and heard it click in the fuse box area so it must be connected and noticed the rev's change slightly"
Its a simple device but works effectivly if its very cold (0 or below roughly) It does 2 things 1 it advances the injector timing 2 it restricts the exhaust via a flap either mounted in the exhaust manifold or lower in the exhaust. (this is regularly mistaken for an exhaust brake). The timing makes the engine prouce more heat and gives the diesel more time to burn The restriction holds the hot gas in the engine longer so the engine warms up to a normal temperature quicker. In the 6 years Ive owned my isuzu in Wellington the only time I used it was to see if it made a differance.

[Dave]

Dont worry about asking questions, the guys on here are always willing to help where they can.
All screws holding the dash cover on should be clearly visible, so once these are out all you should have to do is unplug the wipers etc to pull it free.
The instrument cluster is the same, about 4 screws holding it in, and then unplug looms to get it out.
If this doesnt work let me know and I'll look at mine again, its been 2 years since I took the dash off to get my stereo in.

Dave

[Dave]

Is the pre heat for the transmission or engine? The engine pre heat has a picture of an engine block with a coil inside. If it is a trans one, I am not familiar with this, but would somehow heat the trans at low temps.
They usually only activate at low temps, so if the temp is not low enough the light on the switch will not go. They will also automatically deativate themselves when there is sufficient temp.

Dave

[Diesel28]

Dave i had a quick look at it just now (9:34) and its bl**dy freezing out there now .You are right it is the block with a coil in the middle of it .I started up the engine and pressed the button in and no light came up on it .i also had a look for the screws for the dash and found 2 under the dash by the wheel and 2 down by the bottom of dash by the gear stick.
so will have a look tommorrow after work an see what the story is .many thanks for your assistance ,Much appericated .
Neil

[Graham]

I tested that button next to the steering column this morning and the light came on. While driving it really bogged down while I tried to accelerate, but then all of a sudden the power kicked in and it seemed to accelerate harder than normal. I tested this a couple of times and without the button pressed there was no lag, but with it on, hesitation under initial acceleration was very noticeable.

My auto doesn't shift into top gear until it's warmed up and this morning it actually took longer to find to gear than normal, even with the engine heater on.

When I left work tonight, it was too warm for the light to come on. I'm in Sydney, so the temp would be high single digits (Celcius).

Diesel28, if you want to get the gauge cluster out, the screws are a bit higher up. Look for too going up into the top of the dash in front of the speedo/tacho, and too around where the light & wiper buttons are on the side of the dash. Its been a while since I looked in there too, so my directions might not be accurate either.

Cheers! Graham.