Let me try to understand what you are saying.

When the controller is connected, the fuse blows and no lights on the dash work. Correct?

But when you disconnect the controller and ground the red wire of the connector, the fuse does not blow and some but not all dash/shifter lights turn ON. Correct?

 

any diagrams for getting to that bulb so i dont destroy my car???

 

A bad bulb would not cause fuse 30 to blow.

 

the bulb is still good

 

now when i put a new fuse in and everything is connected as it was and i try to turn them on they wont come on but the fuse doesnt blow

 

Okay. Does the fuse blow if you dial the controller to full bright?

I can help you more if you provide clear answers to the questions in my previous post.

 

ok i will be as clear as possible now... so when everything is plugged in as it is normally ..WITH a GOOD fuse ... i start the car and flip the headlights on... all dash lights work except for the light that illuminates the speedometer for nighttime driving...also the bar on the shifter that is supposed to illuminate with p r d4 d3 2 does not light up... however the same display for gears does display in the dash next to the fuel gage... yesturday when i would turn on the car and run through this the fuse would blow... today the fuses arent blowing... i checked the bulb inside the dash and it is good.... (throughout all of this i was changing the brightness controller with no results... now when i insert a wire into the connector for the controller to the red wire and connect the to the metallic body... (with a good fuse in and the car running and the headlights turned on) it does not remedy my problem

 

Okay, tell me whether I have this right.

1) Fuse 30 no longer blows but the controller fails to adjust the brightness of the dash lights that work.

2) The speedometer and gear shift lights don't work but other dash lights do work.

If these facts are correct, then you have two separate problems:

1) The dash light controller needs to be replaced and probably caused fuse 30 to blow in the first place.

2) The bulbs for the speedometer and shifter are blown. Alternatively, the wires/receptacles for these bulbs are corroded or damaged.

 

so some of your dash/cluster lights work? if some work then its either loose plug or bad bulb.
if its on the cluster. pull the cluster out, 2 screws ontop holding the black bezel on it and theres 2 TIGHT clips that hold the bottom part in. so it will take alot of force to pop them out. then its simply 4screws holding the cluster in and you can angle and pull it out.
check this bulb with the 2 black wires on it, it could be that the bulb socket simply isnt tightly turned/locked inplace...

see it also lites up the outter 2 bulbs on this piece as well.... that 2nd socket/bulb could also be loose keeping the other 2nd bulb on the other side not to work...



then just plug the cluster back in and see if bulbs lite up

 

i am just starting on cars and i have no clue what you mean by cluster but i have pulled that bulb out and put it back in because it wasnt broken



never mind... i reread it and got it