So I was able to get my dash lights working again. When I purchased the truck a few months ago I didn’t realize the dash lights didn’t work. When I ended up driving the truck home in the evening I noticed I had no clue what speed I was going. What was weird was the lights for the heater controls worked, so so that ruled out the dash light switch being bad. Especially since the heater controls light dimmed when I rotated the rheostate on the light switch. I ended up changing all of the light bulbs which didn’t help. I realized I should check the fuse. It was bad, so I went on a fun and exciting wild goose chase to find the darn fuse for the dash lights. I ended up paying more in shipping than I did for a few of them. That, unfortunately, didn’t help. I was back to searching what could be wrong. I searched several threads in this forum and I came across one which suggested the printed circuit board was bad. I pulled the Dash again and started checking continuity between the light bulbs and each circuit (see below pictures). What I found was quite surprising. The plugs the lights go into were all good but one. One of them didn’t allow the metal pins to line up with the printed circuits so there was a break in continuity as you twisted it to get it tight. I scavenged through all the parts the previous owner gave me when I bought the truck and found another light bulb plug and it worked. I changed the plug and the continuity checked out. I installed the dash back in the truck. To my surprise I had illumination in the dash with the exception of two lights. My guess is I have two bulbs I need to change again as I used bulbs the previous owner gave me.

So in conclusion, a quick breakdown of what to check to fix the illumination for your dash lights:
1.) Dash light fuse.
a. This is the first thing to check. If the fuse is good, continue to next step. If it’s bad, replace it. The fuse is not available at Autozone, Lowes, or Home Depot. I had to search the interwebs for one at a reasonable price. i.e. 10 for about $12 with $6 shipping. Good Luck!
2.) Light Bulbs
a. If the fuse is good, pull the dash and replace all the dash light bulbs. If this doesn’t work, continue on. Sylvania bulb part number 194
3.) Headlight switch,
a. Do any of the lights turn on when you rotate the switch back and forth to dim or brighten the lights. If your dash lights do not come on, but your heater controls light comes on, continue on. If there are no lights that come on, change out your headlight switch. Autozone Part Number: SW154 Alternate Part Number: 3407b. Amazon Part: 4.) Printed Circuit Board
a. If after changing and/or checking all of the above and the dash lights still don’t work I’d suggest checking the printed circuit board and the continuity between the leads where the plug in the back go. If there is no continuity, there is a break somewhere and you can narrow down where the break is to determine if it’s the light bulb plugs, or the printed circuit board itself. b. LMC Part: Truck Parts and Truck Accessories


I figured I’d type this up as there are several threads which helped me. I wanted to add what I found in one place which should help a few others troubleshoot their dash lights if they aren’t coming on.

 

If I change ANY bulbs in the Instrument Cluster, then I change ALL of them; it's just not worthwhile to remove the IC a second time (or a third time, etc.) only to find that there's yet one more bulb to replace. It may be wasteful and extravagant, but the time savings can be huge. Besides, doing it that way will reduce the number of times you remove/replace the IC, which reduces the associated risk of breaking things.

Before replacing a flexible PC on the back of your IC, try to repair any traces that you can prove are broken. Rather than using a hot soldering iron or gun, try to use a cold repair technique, such as conductive glue or a conductive ink pen.

 

Good idea about not opening that any more than than you have too. If you only want to replace the bulbs once, I would suggest LED bulbs. Make sure they are dimmable type.

 

Good write up. I'm sure it will help future g**glers. Rep'd ya for it.

 

Thanks! I figured it'd help someone at some point. Easier to have it all in one place.

 

I was thinking of LED's, but I don't like my dash too bright. Do you have a link to dimmable LED's?