My car came with the dumbest gauge setup I can imagine, a red gauge plate with red needles and a red redline. When I took out the dassh panels on the drivers side to do some work, I ran into the problem that after I reassembled everything, the guages won't light up. When all of the panels are out and the wires are just hanging, it works, but when I tuck the wires away, it quits working. Is it the wires or are speedhut gauge faces crap?

 

you have a short in one of the wires. when the bundle hangs free the connection is good, but when you tuck them away there must be some sort of tension on (possibly) the lead or ground. I'd check those first.

 

Check for any bare wires.

 

I've decided to rip them completely out and rewire them the way the directions say, since I did that with my pillar gauges and the work fine now.