My 1983 Ford f-250's dash lights and running lights recently quit on me. The first thing i checked were the fuses and the #4 fuse was blown. I replaced it and had dash lights for awhile then lost them again and now my headlights are not working either. I checked the headlight switch and the tan wire was fried at the switch. I replaced the headlight switch and fixed the burnt wire and still have no lights any ideas?

 

Any major maintenance been performed recently, radiator or transmission replacement say? One thing to check for, a common problem, is loose or even missing ground straps to frame and firewall.

 

You may have blown the fuse link L, as shown on Page 15 here: Charge & Power Distribution - Gasoline Engines - Gary's Garagemahal. The very bottom of Page 20 shows the location of that fuse link.

 

I had this happen once and the cause was the bright light/ dimmer switch on the floor.

 

After you fixed the burnt wire do any of the lights work? The tan wire feeds the running and dash lights only and is not related to the headlights at all. The headlights have their own feed from a fusible link like Gary said. I would check all fuses again, the tan wire has it's own fuse, the dash lights have their own fuse and if everything is working but the headights, it could very well be the dimmer switch in the floor.