Instrument panel lights not working
New User
Joined: Oct 2008
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the light switch has to come out first. you have to reach up underneath the dash and feel around, it should be on top of it. push the button and pull the light switch ****
edit - oops, way too late on that response, haha
edit - oops, way too late on that response, haha
Freshman User
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 43
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I have this exact same issue. I have not found a cure yet, but I have read on this forum that the connections can corrode on the light switch causing this problem. I am going to get into my switch and have a look-see today. I will post my findings.............
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Senior User
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 286
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Finally got time to work on it and got it fixed. The light switch needed to be cleaned up. New question, is there a light that it supposed to light the radio up?
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New User
Joined: Jan 2015
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I scoped the ashtray pigtail, not knowing what it was, and thought, "great, here's a nice ignition switch controlled source I can plug my radio into."
So I did. And it worked. For a bit.
Then I buttoned up the dash, and had no interior lights. I figured out that I had plugged the radio into the ashtray pigtail. I undid that, but was still unable to get things work. I thought I scoped the fuses, but I didn't find one that was out. So I replaced the switch with an LMC switch. Still didn't work. So after reading this I thought that I better double-check the fuse.
It was out.
I think the ashtray pigtail would have worked, as long as I didn't dim the lights. But it would keep blowing the 3A fuse.
Anyway, the only valuable bit of information I have to share is that I was able to just jam in a 3A littlefuse blade fuse into the socket, pinching it between the old fuse and the terminals. Not letter perfect, but works.
So I did. And it worked. For a bit.
Then I buttoned up the dash, and had no interior lights. I figured out that I had plugged the radio into the ashtray pigtail. I undid that, but was still unable to get things work. I thought I scoped the fuses, but I didn't find one that was out. So I replaced the switch with an LMC switch. Still didn't work. So after reading this I thought that I better double-check the fuse.
It was out.
I think the ashtray pigtail would have worked, as long as I didn't dim the lights. But it would keep blowing the 3A fuse.
Anyway, the only valuable bit of information I have to share is that I was able to just jam in a 3A littlefuse blade fuse into the socket, pinching it between the old fuse and the terminals. Not letter perfect, but works.
New User
Joined: May 2021
Posts: 1
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Dashboard lights not working
According to the wiring diagram I have, the fuses for the cigarette lighter and the hazard/stop lights are on a direct hot (yellow/black) line from the ignition switch. The light switch gets its power from a branch (black/orange) off that line, which it then directs to all of your interior lights.
First, the lighter. Do your hazard lights work? If they do, you have power on that line, which it shares with the lighter, and either the fuse for the lighter is blown, or the lighter itself is simply not functioning.
Next, the radio illumination. What kind of radio do you have? The one that was in my truck had its own illumination source, independent from the instrument lights. Whenever the radio was on, the light was on.
Finally, the instrument lights. This may be a stupid question, but have you tried turning the headlight switch **** with the lights on? It controls the brightness of the instrument lights. Barring that test, it sounds like either your switch is going bad or you have a broken wire to the fuse box. If your running lights and headlights work, then the switch itself is getting power...it just isn't being transferred to the fuse box.
First, the lighter. Do your hazard lights work? If they do, you have power on that line, which it shares with the lighter, and either the fuse for the lighter is blown, or the lighter itself is simply not functioning.
Next, the radio illumination. What kind of radio do you have? The one that was in my truck had its own illumination source, independent from the instrument lights. Whenever the radio was on, the light was on.
Finally, the instrument lights. This may be a stupid question, but have you tried turning the headlight switch **** with the lights on? It controls the brightness of the instrument lights. Barring that test, it sounds like either your switch is going bad or you have a broken wire to the fuse box. If your running lights and headlights work, then the switch itself is getting power...it just isn't being transferred to the fuse box.
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