No instrument gauge lights or push button lights - 64 Dart

[dartcrusier]

Hello all - I recently bought a 64 Golden Anniversary Dart Convertible. Test drove it during the day...and of course the only dash lights that work are the blinkers and oil light. The gauge lights and push button gear lights are not operable.

The high & low beams and courtesy lights work. I've taken the cluster out and checked the bulbs, they were fine. The fuse was fine. Cannon connector fine. I wiggled the daylight out of the head light switch, nothing. The car has 68k miles on it and is in great shape but it was around salty air it's whole life. I'm thinking headlight switch but don't know if that's feasible. Thoughts?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Lee Robinson]

Hello all - I recently bought a 64 Golden Anniversary Dart Convertible. Test drove it during the day...and of course the only dash lights that work are the blinkers and oil light. The gauge lights and push button gear lights are not operable.

The high & low beams and courtesy lights work. I've taken the cluster out and checked the bulbs, they were fine. The fuse was fine. Cannon connector fine. I wiggled the daylight out of the head light switch, nothing. The car has 68k miles on it and is in great shape but it was around salty air it's whole life. I'm thinking headlight switch but don't know if that's feasible. Thoughts?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

If tail lights don't work as well, most likely a fuse. If it continues to blow fuses there is an ongoing problem.

 

[dartcrusier]

If tail lights don't work as well, most likely a fuse. If it continues to blow fuses there is an ongoing problem.

Thanks Lee! The tailights work just fine, the only thing not working, the gauge lights and push button lights. Fuses are all in good shape and I cleaned the contacts.

 

[Nigel Hely]

Not trying to teach you to suck eggs, but mine was doing a similar thing, intermittently. I tried cleaning the contacts with a bit of emery, no good. Replaced the fuse with brand new ones (rather than ones I had lying around, still no good. I found if I briefly (not long enough to cause a problem) bridged the fuse contacts with a wire lead with alligator clips, all worked fine. The fix ended up being (disconnect battery first) and cleaned the contacts THOROUGHLY using a very fine round file (like the ones for sharpening chainsaws) to clean all the crud off the contacts, spray with CRC (electrical lubricant/protectant) to stop further corrosion...

 

[dartcrusier]

Not trying to teach you to suck eggs, but mine was doing a similar thing, intermittently. I tried cleaning the contacts with a bit of emery, no good. Replaced the fuse with brand new ones (rather than ones I had lying around, still no good. I found if I briefly (not long enough to cause a problem) bridged the fuse contacts with a wire lead with alligator clips, all worked fine. The fix ended up being (disconnect battery first) and cleaned the contacts THOROUGHLY using a very fine round file (like the ones for sharpening chainsaws) to clean all the crud off the contacts, spray with CRC (electrical lubricant/protectant) to stop further corrosion...

Nigel:
Thank you for your input. I will give that a go tonight. Admittedly, I used a file as well but did not clean the majority of the surface. I'll clean it well and test with an continuity meter after. Thanks again.

 

[RedFish]

I'm not sure a 64 is wired the same as later models. Do you find one fuse that doesn't have power on either end of it until the park lamps are pulled on? Labelled "inst" maybe. That's the illumination fuse.
There is a way to ad a jumper on the headlight switch bypassing the rheostat. Full on dash lights at all times. The last new switch I purchased was about $13, so a jumper may not be worth the effort.

 

[dartcrusier]

I'm not sure a 64 is wired the same as later models. Do you find one fuse that doesn't have power on either end of it until the park lamps are pulled on? Labelled "inst" maybe. That's the illumination fuse.
There is a way to ad a jumper on the headlight switch bypassing the rheostat. Full on dash lights at all times. The last new switch I purchased was about $13, so a jumper may not be worth the effort.

Last night I thoroughly cleaned the fuse box, no dash lights. (everything else tied to the fuse box works) I have continuity through the fuse. I'm thinking it's the headlight switch too. Found it for $13 dollars @ carparts.com. It will be here on Apr 3rd. Fingers crossed. I contacted the guy I bought it from and he said the dash lights haven't worked in 35 years... the nice thing is no one else has tried tinkering with it. Thanks again for everyone's help.

 

[dartcrusier]

Last night I thoroughly cleaned the fuse box, no dash lights. (everything else tied to the fuse box works) I have continuity through the fuse. I'm thinking it's the headlight switch too. Found it for $13 dollars @ carparts.com. It will be here on Apr 3rd. Fingers crossed. I contacted the guy I bought it from and he said the dash lights haven't worked in 35 years... the nice thing is no one else has tried tinkering with it. Thanks again for everyone's help.

- Oh yeah, I also tried a jumper wire between the fuses just to see if the lights would illuminate even for a moment..nothing

 

[Nigel Hely]

Nigel:
Thank you for your input. I will give that a go tonight. Admittedly, I used a file as well but did not clean the majority of the surface. I'll clean it well and test with an continuity meter after. Thanks again.

Hi Dartcruiser, well worth a try, costs nothing. Although I will say I unbolted the fuse box from the dash shell so I could get good access to it and see what I was doing rather than scratching around lying on my back. 1964 Dart GT... Good luck with it...

 

[Nigel Hely]

- Oh yeah, I also tried a jumper wire between the fuses just to see if the lights would illuminate even for a moment..nothing

OK, first grab a multimeter and check you've got power both IN and OUT of the fuse panel. Then, I reckon you should see if your instrument cluster is properly grounded, loosen the screws then tighten again. Recommend adding an additional ground wire because there are a lot of opportunities for poor grounding (paint, plastics, rusty screws, the inside of dash shell is rusty, dirt, list goes on (I painted inside mine, which was where the problem began! LOL)

 

[dartcrusier]

OK, first grab a multimeter and check you've got power both IN and OUT of the fuse panel. Then, I reckon you should see if your instrument cluster is properly grounded, loosen the screws then tighten again. Recommend adding an additional ground wire because there are a lot of opportunities for poor grounding (paint, plastics, rusty screws, the inside of dash shell is rusty, dirt, list goes on (I painted inside mine, which was where the problem began! LOL)

Thanks Nigel - I don't think I need to check power in and out of the fuse box though seeing I have other items working that are also tied to the fuse panel. Such as, radio, wipers, blinker lights. ;)
I just ordered the bezel tool to take out the headlight switch and replace it with the new one.

 

[RedFish]

Most of us use a alternative tool, snap ring pliers for example, to remove the various bezel nuts. There's a square key that prevents the entire switch from rotating in the hole. There's usually a tad of wiggle room in that key fitment. Counter clockwise force on the bezel nut while reaching under and twisting the switch in that wiggle room usually gets the bezel nut broken loose turning.

 

[dartcrusier]

Most of us use a alternative tool, snap ring pliers for example, to remove the various bezel nuts. There's a square key that prevents the entire switch from rotating in the hole. There's usually a tad of wiggle room in that key fitment. Counter clockwise force on the bezel nut while reaching under and twisting the switch in that wiggle room usually gets the bezel nut broken loose turning.

Thanks for the tip! Got the switch out, replaced it, and now the dash lights are good to go! Had to order some 1895 LED bulbs for the gauges though. They were very dim.

 

[mopardude62]

Wow it’s hard to believe the previous owner put up with that for 35 years and it was just a bad switch! Glad you got it fixed!