The plastic cluster back board that the printed circuit and all the bulbs etc fit to rots out.

This is may be the problem....(and has been since the 1970's).

From 1975 thru 1986, the cluster back board used on 1975/79 F Series trucks is the same one as used on Econolines. There are two different ones..with idiot lights, or without.

A thread recently went into details of the cluster boards. The boards were replaced by Ford in 1981 with better materials and use two new updated part numbers. These may still be available. The boards do NOT come with the printed circuits.

Junk yards: 1981 thru 1986 Econoline only.


E1PZ-10848-A Cluster Board-Use With Gauges

E1PZ-10848-B Cluster Board-use With Lights

 

im goin to advance auto now to buy me a switch and hopefully it will work ...

 

I would hold off on that only because you said that your Radio and Heater panel illumination works.


These are on the same circut. If the light switch was at fault those wouldnt work either.


I would check the bulbs in the cluster, and be prepared for the dreaded cluster rot.

The good news is that these clusters are very easily serviced if that is the problem etc...

 

I posted a new cluster reference regarding what years the Econolines used the better cluster back boards.

1981-1986

 

IMO the only thing that could be wrong would be corrosion on the contacts.

This is what happens when they corrode. notice the white stuff.

 

well ive tried 2 differnt board thangs and neither work and neither did the switch ...

 

my thang aint corroded either ...

 

Have you tried putting test light on the connector tab that runs the cluster lighting so see if there is power there ?

Have you verified all the bulbs are okay?

 

my daddy is gonna fool with it ....he said he can make it work , but it might not be like its suppose to be hahaha " RIGGED UP "

 

Cheaper to fix things right than to "rig them up". In my opinion.

Less likely to depreciate the value of the truck to do it right as well.



Do as Mil1ion suggests and put a test light on the "Blue/Red stripe" wire at the cluster connector. If you have power there at the connector, it has to be the Cluster back or printed circut.

A: Check the plastic carefully around the light holes and the place where the connector snaps in. If it doesnt fit snuggly or if there is any sign of cluster rot, it wont work right. (scrape the plastic with your fingernail, granuals will come off (the consistency of laundry detergent) on a cluster back just starting to rot).

B: If there is no power at the Blue/Red stripe wire at the cluster connector, trace that wire back. It goes back to a Splice in the wire harness "splice number 806" according to the diagrams. If you have heater control illumination, you have power to that splice. You will have to unwrap the wiring harness black protective wrap from the Cluster connector backwards untill you see the splice. The splice will be in or around the first wye you come to in the harness. Just rewrap it with high quality black electrical tape when finished repair.

The wire splice may be corroded and needs a new one, or the wire from the splice to the cluster connector may be broken somewhere. An ohm meter can tell you in seconds if it's the splice or the wire itself is at fault.


Hope this helps.

 

It's possible that your cluster lamps can be isolated from your other components, such as your radio, ash tray, A/C Heater controls, etc.

If you look at a wiring diagram, the Blue/Red striped wire coming out of the fuse panel splices in the main harness to make 5 different Blue/Red striped wires. One for Cluster lamps, one for your column lamp, one for the A/C Heater control lamps, one for your radio lamps, and one for the ash tray light.


Take your cluster out and make sure you have power at the Blue/Red striped wire coming out the the cluster connector. Sometimes those wires can get corroded in the connector or get pulled out. I would at least try to eliminate as many problems as you can. If it is a cluster problem, than you can get clusters really cheap. If it's a wiring problem, that this could just be a start of a major problem. At least I would want to know if somethings wrong with the wiring.

Here is a pic of a wiring diagram:

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...can10002-1.jpg

Here is a pic of the cluster connector and the Blue/Red striped wire to the right on the pic.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...y/IMG_0154.jpg

You can see the Blue/Striped wire coming out of the back of your fuse panel. Two wires actually orginated out of the back. One goes to the light switch and the other to the main harness and then splits in to 5 other wires like I said.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...y/IMG_0152.jpg


Also, don't forget to check the other things as previously mentioned by the other posts.

 

it cant be the wirin stuff ...because the " bright " headlight lamp works and the seat belt lamp them 2 light up ...so its something else .... my daddy thanks he can fix it so lets see wat he comes up with ...but im gonna unwrap the harness and find the splice in the morinin ...

 

The cluster illumination lights are separate from the other things that light up. I could be possible that everything else works except your illumination lights because of something wrong with that Blue/Red wire.

If all wiring checks out.......Get yourself a different cluster to just make sure. You can get them on ebay cheap if you want. Or at a salvage yard.

 

well see ive tried 2 differnet clusters already and neither worked ....so its gotta be the blue/red wire

 

Yep....I forgot that you already tried two different clusters.

You may also need to check the back of the fuse panel to make sure nothing is wrong there.