Dash lights went out

[michael2938 24]

So here's another bug I've been trying to track down lately.  Sometime last fall, my dash lights went out and won't come back on even when adjusting the knob.  I have LED lights in there so I know all the bulbs are good and bright.  All the gauges work and the turn signals light up.  Pretty much everything is working except the dash lights in both the cluster and also on the clock.  The clock itself never worked, but the light used to.

 

I have replaced the small fuse for the dash lights and I also unplugged my headlight switch and connected it to a brand new switch.  Neither solved the problem.  Any ideas on what to go after next?

 

-Mike

[Midlife 814]

Check voltage on both small fuse clips with the key in ACC.  You should see the same voltage.  Sometimes the clips get corroded or bent and they don't make good contact with the glass fuse housing.  The clock light probably works on the same circuit, so that would rule out the dash cluster connector or circuit card.  Something is funky with your wiring.

 

I've seen a few factory splices go bad; they are buried within the harness.  Most likely, though, is the fuse box itself.

[barnett468 418]

I would start by scraping the terminals for the fuse clean if they look cruddy . you can have 12 volts on both sides but still not have the lights work.

[Hoover 12]

Did you replace your flasher with a led type flasher?

[danno 128]

Did you replace your flasher with a led type flasher?

You should not need to change the flasher if only the dash lights were changed to LED.  That is needed if the tail or front lights are changed to LED.

 

I wonder if you have a short in the circuit that is doing this?  You also have a dash light connector that goes to the dial light for the radio.  With the key switch in Accy, short between the power to the radio and the power to the radio light.  This will force 12 volts on the dash lights, bypassing the fuse block and light switch.  If the lights work with this, then it is probably the issue with the fuse block as others have mentioned.

[Midlife 814]

You should not need to change the flasher if only the dash lights were changed to LED.  That is needed if the tail or front lights are changed to LED.

 

I wonder if you have a short in the circuit that is doing this?  You also have a dash light connector that goes to the dial light for the radio.  With the key switch in Accy, short between the power to the radio and the power to the radio light.  This will force 12 volts on the dash lights, bypassing the fuse block and light switch.  If the lights work with this, then it is probably the issue with the fuse block as others have mentioned.

That's a neat idea!  I like it!  However, it should only be used for testing the lamp circuitry, and not a (semi-)permanent fix.

[michael2938 24]

With the key switch in Accy, short between the power to the radio and the power to the radio light.

 

Key switched to accessory... that part I can do.  :)  What do you mean by the rest?  How do I short the power exactly?

 

I'm hoping to get some time this weekend to go back out there and work on this one.

[Midlife 814]

There's a two prong female plug for the radio and lamp: wires are yellow/black and blue/red.  Some folks' cars already have that plug cut off for aftermarket radios, though.  Simply jumper the two female plugs on that molded connector.

[danno 128]

If you do not have the factory radio harness ( as most of us), then connect 12 volts from the cig lighter to the dash lights.  There is a wire to the dial light to the radio, if you can find it.   There is also a wire to the light bulb for the temperature control unit.  It goes to a connector right under the radio, just behind the temperature controller.    The wire should be blue with a red stripe. 

[michael2938 24]

Thanks, Danno.

 

After blowing the engine earlier today (as posted in another thread), I've lost motivation now to try and fix my dash lights.  But I'm sure I will come back to this in the near future.

[michael2938 24]

Well it seems the dash light issue is a problem in the fuse box.  It was one of the few things we didn't take off the car when it was restored.  I have a spare fuse box from a parts car I will be replacing it with.  Has anybody ever done this?  I'm wondering how much of the dash I will have to take apart to do it.

 

And if it's not one thing, it's another.  I was driving the car yesterday and suddenly smelled something hot and then had some smoke coming out of my dash.  After taking the pad, cluster, and radio out, I finally traced it back to a bad headlight switch.  It is barely a year old!

 

On the bright side, I drove my car my a total of 250 miles today without issue and have her safely in my garage again  :)

[RPM 1,190]

MidLife is probably still your guy.

[Mach1 Driver 560]

 After taking the pad, cluster, and radio out, I finally traced it back to a bad headlight switch.  It is barely a year old!

 

I've had repop switches fail- just stop working. Did yours short internally and then fry a wire? 

[michael2938 24]

I've had repop switches fail- just stop working. Did yours short internally and then fry a wire? 

 

It's still on the car, but I could see smoke coming from the internal switch itself.  I'll probably swap it out with another one next week.  As long as the headlights are off, it doesn't get hot/smoke and everything else that apparently goes through it works (e.g. brake lights).  I didn't see any burnt wires anywhere and the switch connector looks fine.

 

-Mike