I'm sure others have run into this problem...I have just finished repairing my radio which had lost the lights to show time & station...resoldered all the joints on the radio power supply and it fixed the problem. This seems to be a common problem on older Fords. Now I want to attack the next problem which drives me nuts! !!

When I put on the parking or headlights, ALL the lights in the info center (on the ceiling) and the radio dim to the point where I can barely see them. ALL other lights (dash, interior, parking, headlights) work perfectly (that is, they are bright)...it is just the info center and the radio that dim so much I can barely read them. Turn the parking or headlights to the off position and the radio/info center are bright as can be. Anyone run into this problem...I thought I read something about this awhile back, but can't find it. Thanks!

 

No ideas here, but I would like to know for future's sake.

 

Don't know if this relates, but after I installed my gauges, I have the brightness dial on the instrument cluster pretty much at max, where as before I had the dial about mid center. Paralleling the gauges in split enough current that at max it is just right for what I like. I wonder if the radio and info centered are under the same situation?

 

click your dash dimmer switch up or down one notch should brighten back up

 

No, I've tried the dimmer switch routine Cowboy...no matter where the dimmer switch is set, when you turn the headligh switch to parking lights OR full headlights the radio and info center lights dim considerably. If I have the headlights/parking lights on and then turn the dimmer switch down the radio and info center become unreadable long before the dimmer switch reaches its lowest setting. I keep the dimmer switch at its maximum setting (brightest).

It's funny, because I remember someone going through this before...though I don't know if they ever solved it.

 

OK, I am going to troubleshoot this problem today and need some expert advice...My reasoning goes as follows:

1) both the radio and the overhead console receive adequate voltage when the headlight switch is in the OFF position (evidence is that they are properly illuminated),

2) the probable reason the radio lights and the overhead console bulbs dim when the headlights are turned on is that they are either:

a) not receiving adequate voltage, or
b) that they have poor grounds

I'm reasoning that the grounds are the problem and that they only show when the system is making large draws of electricity to illuminate many things (dash lights, marker lights, headlights, etc). The grounds for the radio and the overhead console are separate from the dashboard lights - which leads me to the ground problem. BUT my manual shows them as ground G101 and G102. So two separate grounds, which diminishes the likelihood that two grounds are bad (sure wish they used a common ground for radio/overhead) simultaneously. BUT, the two grounds are in the same location...somewhere under the radio...

So, help me here...before I tear into this...do you think I am pursuing a somewhat logical approach? Has anyone messed around with either of these grounds before?

 

Most vehicles, the accessory lights will dim when the lights are turned on. My factory radio and aftermarket radio both did. I don't have an overhead.

 

The dimming is WAY more than it should be...there is a definite problem. I have checked this on other F350's and I saw no dimming (though I am near blind) of the radio/overhead console when the headlights/parking lights were turned on.

 

My truck does the same. I always drive with my lights on and have to turn them off to read the overhead display.

 

Have you connected your voltmeter to the battery & checked voltage? Should be around 14 volts with headlights on or off.

 

I am assuming that the low lighting example of these devices are during daylight. My PSD and T-Bird both dim when the Head lights are on. The low lighting on radio and other panel equipment are to limit cabin distraction at night. The dimmer switch usually changes the instrument light at a greater ratio than the radio or clock when the head lights are on. Turn the head lights off and the panel goes to daylight setting.

 

Wings...Now you have me really stumped . It appears then that somewhere in the production run, FORD in their wisdom, decided to have the overhead/radio dim to unbelievably low levels whenever the lights are turned on and I have one of the vehicles that have this stupid FORD improvement?!? Does anyone know if daytime running lights were an option on the late 1999's and if you have them (DRL), do your radio/overhead console dim when you run the truck? I'm just thinking that maybe there is a work around on the dimming problem by installing the relay (or whatever) for the DLR's.

 

From Wings message, I interpret that this is the way it is suppose to be...if so, it is among the dumbest ideas I have ever heard of for a lighting feature in a vehicle.

First Ford engineer: "Let's make the radio and overhead console so dim, if you turn on your headlights in the daytime, that it is unreadable."

Second Ford engineer: "Yeah, let's make them turn the headlights off to read the radio station or the overhead console during the day...this is a great safety feature. We'll teach them to want to be visible in the daytime by turning on their headlights".

 

nlemerise, I never said this was a good idea. My wifes Olds has auto headlights and the panel lighting doesn't change a bit, at least as I could notice, or I have just gotten used to it. I use my headllights during the day alot and you are right, it is not easy to read.

Just looked at the Olds lighting. The light color is a warmer amber/red, not the bright Green that the Fords use. I know that when I am flying at night, it is always recommended to use the least cabin light as posible and only use Red light flash light at night. The objective is retina recovery time from bright light when you are driving/flying at night. Ford may have been thinking of us after all.

 

I wasn't understanding you to say that this setup was a good idea...I was surmising that it was a stupid idea on the part of Ford (if this is what they intended). Every truck has a dimmer switch and, by god, I know how to use it. Leave it up to the owner to decide how bright is bright FORD! The way they have this setup, at least on my truck, is that if I want added visibility on the road by having my headlights on during the day, I forsake the ability to read my radio, clock, compass, miles per gallon, etc...

Another example I saw on Fords that makes no sense (they have since given up on it) is the radio buttons that ONLY light once it has been pressed...I think that was on early SuperDuty trucks with the highend stereo...

When I drove longhaul I switched out ALL the gauge and dashboard lights on my truck to red for the exact reason you stated. Makes it easy on the eyes...and god knows you need it after 12-20 hours of driving.

I hope others chime in with what happens on their trucks with the radio/console lighting when you turn the headlights on...Do they all dim or was this a "better idea" that got dumped?

Thanks for the input!

Neal