Gauge lights don't light

[Gonzomatic]

While I'm under the dash wiring up my off road lights I might as well address my lack of gauge lights.

The gen1, gen2, 4wd, low oil pressure, voltmeter, heater control and idiot lights all work. The speedo and fuel gauges do not light.

I've checked the fuse, it's fine. The under dash light controlled by the headlight switch works.

I was hoping for a simple fix, but haven't found it yet.

Any ideas?

cheers

 

[steelandcanvas]

Did you check the lamps?

 

[Gonzomatic]

Wow, that's a good question. I wanna say that I replaced the bulbs a few years ago with no results, but I can't remember.

I shall check ASAP.

 

[cpf240]

The common answer is that many people aren't familiar with the dash light dimmer built into the headlight switch, but, since you stated that the interior light works, I presume you know about that. Of course, the dimmer could be bad.

 

[Gonzomatic]

Ta da! That's why I love this community! I don't even have my multimeter at my house so I swapped over known good bulbs from other gauges and sure enough, let there be light. On the far left socket I had to remove said socket and scuff up the contacts to get it to work. I can't see back there, but I guess the sockets pull voltage directly off the printed circuit on the back of the cluster.

I had to remove the trim, the gauge lens, the steel bezel and the fuel gauge to get access to the front of the bulbs.

You can jam your hands up under the dash, but this was easier as the dash pad was already off my truck. The bulbs say 168 or 194 on them. I'm sure someone here can tell you which ones are supposed to go where, but I don't really care if some are brighter than others.

this little project has been bothering me for years!

now to clean out twenty some odd years of dust and figure out where all those tiny screws go....

thanks to steelandcanvas et al

 

[doghead]

Who would have ever thought of checking the bulbs before posting on the internet!

IIRC, it does matter which bulb is in the alternator lights.

 

[Gonzomatic]

That's the great thing about SSoldiers. The first post reminded me to start with the basics. As penance for my naïveté I thought I would share what I learned and what was involved in pulling the dash apart. It must be nice to never have to ask for advice.

 

[doghead]

I have a sense of humor.

And I do ask for advice occasionally.

 

[Gonzomatic]

Cool, me too. As I said, the flashlight taped to the steering column was running low on batteries so this project came about just in time. BTW does anybody have 2 blackout toggle switches for sale?

 

[steelandcanvas]

Cool, me too. As I said, the flashlight taped to the steering column was running low on batteries so this project came about just in time. BTW does anybody have 2 blackout toggle switches for sale?

Put your request in the "Parts Wanted" Section of the Classifieds, you might find someone there that may have some. I glad you scuffed the PCB to get good contact for your trouble-maker lamp, that was the next place we were going to go with the trouble-shooting. Doghead was being sarcastically humorous, his bark is worse than his bite.

 

[Gonzomatic]

I'm a pretty sarcastic guy, too. Someday they'll invent some new punctuation to indicate sarcasm.

Thanks again. I'll check out the classifieds. I don't have much experience with them yet.

Cheers, Gonz