65 - no dash lights

[swing69]

65 Dart, all stock, slant 6. Electrical things that did not work:

1) left blinker indicator bulb.
2) dash lights.

Solved the blinker bulb issue. the bulb holder was a little loose. one tweak, on she went.

Dash lights. noticed the fuse was burnt out. replaced the fuse, checked for power across it. Yes. I have power, but no lights. Then I put my finger on the glass fuse, YIKES! pretty darn hot.

Obviously I have a short somewhere. But where? every other electrical bit works perfectly. Somewhere on the trace is my guess......

I decided to leave the fuse out and live with it for now.

BTW: just completed all the electical "mods". Headlight relays, B+ jumper, stereo install and adding a voltmeter (under dash). All is A-ok except for the dash lights. Even the cigar lighter works!!!!

 

[andy l]

I had the same problem and the solution was the headlamp switch put a new one in and no more problem

 

[cudamark]

I'd pull the big cannon plug off the back of the instrument cluster and see if you get power there for the dash lights. If not, you have a short or open between there and the light switch. If you have juice, does it still heat up the fuse? No? then there is too much of a current draw in the cluster. Still hot? a problem between the switch and plug. I'd also check the bulbs, sockets, and circuit board on the back of the instrument cluster while I had it out of the dash.

 

[slantsixdan]

Dash lights and tail/brake lights are on same circuit so you have in-car indication of safety-critical failure. Short probably where tail/brake wires pass through metal edges in trunk.

 

[swing69]

The car is not in front of me now, but if I remember correctly, the instrument lighrts are on the first panel fuse. the second fuse indicates stop/tail lights. That fuse is fine, no heat and is working properly.

Interesting idea about the HL switch. I may be easier to swap it out, than to pull and reattach the round big connector. The connector is right behind the dash support, so to get at it, I'll have to pull the cluster.

 

[cudamark]

The car is not in front of me now, but if I remember correctly, the instrument lighrts are on the first panel fuse. the second fuse indicates stop/tail lights. That fuse is fine, no heat and is working properly.

Interesting idea about the HL switch. I may be easier to swap it out, than to pull and reattach the round big connector. The connector is right behind the dash support, so to get at it, I'll have to pull the cluster.

You are correct, the instrument panel lights are on their own circuit. Power goes from the light switch to the fuse panel and then on to the circuit board on the back of the cluster. If there is no problem with the wiring from switch to fuse box (not common), the problem is in the circuit board and dash lights. If it has the wrong dash light bulb holder(s), they can short or ground out. The only decent way to check it is to pull the cluster and inspect each light and connections. You can try pulling the bulbs you can get to easily and retesting if you like but if the cluster hasn't been out in a while, it's a good time to lube the speedo, tighten connections, and replace bulbs.