The other week I did the 97 to 98/99 center console swap. Everything bolted right up and all plugs plugged right in. Come to see that the clock isnt working and the lights on the ashtray arent working together with the lighter. Its acting real real weird. When the car is off and I press the clock adjust panel the clock shows 1:00. Let go and it goes blank like it should. Once I start the car the clock has absolutely nothing to show. The ligarette lighter doesnt work. The light doesnt work at first then it comes on eventually. Its really weird. Anyone else done this swap and has had similar problems with a hopeful solution?

 

Sounds like your constant (always has power) wire has an issue.

Maybe you just blew a fuse for it, or there is a bad connection some how...

 

i checked all the fuses
i was thinking that too but how? i didnt do anything to tear wires

 

You said the light doesn't come on at first and it does eventually...
Sounds like your ground wire is loose.
Even if your constant power wire is working/attached perfectly, a bad ground will cause these problems.
Check the ground wire in your console harness or the ground point that it goes to...

In my Mustang I had an issue with this in the center console. When I turned on my headlights the entire dash would mess up (guages would fuck up, etc...). Turned out that all I had to do was re-attach the ground to a cleaner ground and everything worked perfectly after that.

 

I believe that is the problem. I believe that maybe when the car is off and i touch the panel all im doing is grounding the unit and getting the time. Maybe when the car is on and the load is larger the ground cant handle it.

 

Yeah, a larger draw will cause the completed circuit to cut out if it is loose.

Like I had said about my Mustang. Everything in my dash worked fine until I turned the lights on at night. Strange thing was that the ground wire that was causing the problem was in my center console (right in front of the shift boot), no where near the guages...