Dash board lights turn off when I put the car in drive, except for reverse, for some reason, the "r" shows up.

I just got this vehicle as a salvage vehicle. It was stolen and they had to replace the ignition system. It is a used ignition. I drove it for the first time and I noticed that when I was driving and wanted to turn the lights on, the dashboard lights would turn off so I couldn't see how fast I was driving or what channel I was listening to. However, when I put the car in reverse, the "r" showed up. when I turn the lights off, all the lights on the dashboard work fine. I tried turning a little lever on the left of the steering wheel, above the fuse box, that had a picture of a light-bulb on it, but it didn't do anything. I couldn't find anywhere in the handbook regarding what that lever was for either. On either side of the lever/knob there are two buttons, one says TCS. The other one has nothing written and appears to be unactivated. I can't find anything in the manual that talks about these buttons and what they are for. Anybody have any ideas? They would be greatly appreciated.